President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Bashar al-Assad
Population
65,630,692
22,530,746
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
74.920 years
Capital City
Paris
Damascus
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Aleppo (population: 1,602,260)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.736
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$5,100 US
Literacy Rate
99%
79.6%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
2.1
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
12.4%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
12.300%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
republic
republic under an authoritarian military-dominated regime
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Sunni Muslim 74%, other Muslim (includes Alawite, Druze) 16%, Christian (various denominations) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo)
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
crude oil, minerals, petroleum products, fruits and vegetables, cotton fiber, textiles, clothing, meat and live animals, wheat
External Debt
$5,633,000,000,000 $
$7,074,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Syrian pounds (SYP) per US dollar - 46.5281 (2008 est.), 50.0085 (2007), 51.689 (2006), 50 (2005), 48.5 (2004) note: data for 2004-06 are the public sector rate; data for 2002-03 are the parallel market rate in 'Amman and Beirut; the official rate for repaying loans was 11.25 Syrian pounds per US dollars during 2004-06,
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
5.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
0
Location
Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey
Area
643,801 km sq
185,180 km sq
Coastline
0 km
193 km
Climate
mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus
