Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. It is a republic that consists of 14 governorates as subdivisions. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including the Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Greeks, Armenians, Turkmens, Kurds, Albanians, and Chechens. Religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Alawites, Jews, and Druze. The capital and largest city is Damascus. Arabs are the largest ethnic group, and Sunni Muslims are the largest religious group. Syria is now the only country that is governed by Ba'athists, who advocate Arab socialism and Arab nationalism.
The name "Syria" historically referred to a wider region, broadly synonymous with the Levant, and known in Arabic as al-Sham. The modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BC. In the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital for the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The modern Syrian state was established in the mid-20th century after centuries of Ottoman rule. After a period as a French mandate (1923–1946), the newly created state represented the largest Arab state to emerge from the formerly Ottoman-ruled Syrian provinces. It gained de jure independence as a parliamentary republic on 24 October 1945 when the Republic of Syria became a founding member of the United Nations, an act which legally ended the former French mandate. Although French troops did not leave the country until April 1946, granting de facto independence.
The post-independence period was tumultuous, with multiple military coup attempts shaking the country between 1949 and 1971. In 1958, Syria entered a brief union with Egypt, which was terminated in the 1961 coup d'état and was renamed as the Arab Republic of Syria in constitutional referendum. The 1963 coup d'état carried out by the military committee of the Ba'ath Party established a one-party state and ran Syria under emergency law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending constitutional protections for citizens. Internal power-struggles within Ba'athist factions caused further coups in 1966 and 1970, which eventually resulted in the seizure of power by Hafiz al-Assad. He effectively established an Alawi minority rule to consolidate power within his family. After Assad's death, his son Bashar al-Assad inherited the presidency in 2000. Since 2011, Syria has been embroiled in a multi-sided civil war, with involvement of different countries. Three political entities – the Syrian Interim Government, Syrian Salvation Government, and Rojava – have emerged in Syrian territory to challenge Assad's rule.
The country is a totalitarian dictatorship with a comprehensive cult of personality around the Assad family. Being ranked 3rd last on the 2022 GPI and 5th highest in the 2023 Fragile States Index, Syria is one of the most dangerous places for journalists. Freedom of press is extremely limited, and the country is ranked 2nd worst in 2024 WPFI. Syria is the most corrupt country in the WANA region and was ranked the 2nd lowest globally on the 2022 CPI. The country has also become the epicentre of a state-sponsored multi-billion dollar illicit drug cartel, the largest in the world. The civil war has resulted in more than 600,000 deaths, with pro-Assad forces causing more than 90% of the total civilian casualties. The war led to a refugee crisis, with an estimated 7.6 million internally displaced people (July 2015 UNHCR figure) and over 5 million refugees (July 2017 registered by UNHCR), making population assessment difficult in recent years. The war has also worsened economic conditions, with more than 90% of the population living in poverty and 80% facing food insecurity.