Syria is located in West Asia and is officially known as the Syrian Arab Republic. It shares a border with Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea in the west, Iran in the east, Turkey in the north, and Jordan and Israel in the south and southwest. Damascus is the capital of this country, while Aleppo is the largest city. It covers a total area 185,180 square kilometers and is the country of around 17,064,854 people. The official language of Syria is Arabic.
Syria is a country consisting of deserts, mountains, and fertile lands. It is the country of people belonging to different ethnicities, some of which are Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds and Turks. The Sunni Arabs makes up the most of the population, but this country is home to not only Sunnis but also Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, and Yazidis.
5 Fun And Interesting Facts About Syria
The country which is currently under a state of war was once peaceful with a rich culture. Here are five fun facts about Syria:
- An ancient river, Euphrates River, passed through Syria and is considered the birthplace of the world’s first civilization, the Mesopotamian Civilization. This is the area where the ancient city of Elba was, which thrived from 1800 BC to 1650 AD.
- There are also many legends about the first murder. According to these legends, Cain killed his brother Abel on Mount Qasioun which is near Damascus.
- There is a valley in Syria called the Shouting Valley. This valley is the meeting point between Syria and its three neighboring countries which are Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. It is an echo point and people used to visit this valley to communicate with their relatives, who are present on the other side of this valley.
- John Paul II is the only pope to ever visit a mosque. In 2001, the pope visited the Umayyad Mosque located in Damascus.
The Ruins of Palmyra
- The ruins of Palmyra are in Syria as well. Palmyra is an ancient state, located in an oasis in the dessert. It was the rival of Rome in the east.

Syria War Facts: Bombered Tank in Azaz Syria
5 Things to Know About the Syria Crisis and Syrian War
- The demonstrations against the government started in March 2011. Though the protests were peaceful, after the government’s crackdowns, things escalated fairly quickly and the once-peaceful protesters now became the rebels fighting against their own government.
- As of July 2011, many army deserters and Syrian civilians have taken up arms against the government and made an organization called Free Syrian Army.
- The total count of casualties in the civil war after five years is 250,000, according to an estimate. Around half of these casualties are Syrian civilians.
- In October 2015, Russia attacked the ISIS targets residing in Syria for the first time. The attacks have not stopped ever since and around 2000 civilians have been killed in these attacks.
- Many Syrians are fleeing to their neighboring countries, Jordan and Lebanon. Some are even fleeing to the newly opened borders of Iran. Even though the neighboring countries are helping hundreds of fleeing Syrians every day, the help may not last long as these countries have limited resources, which are insufficient to support their own citizens much less the fleeing Syrians.
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