republic under an authoritarian military-dominated regime
Independence date
12 March 1968 (from UK)
17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration)
Religions
Hindu 48%, Roman Catholic 23.6%, Muslim 16.6%, other Christian 8.6%, other 2.5%, unspecified 0.3%, none 0.4% (2000 census)
Sunni Muslim 74%, other Muslim (includes Alawite, Druze) 16%, Christian (various denominations) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo)
Languages
Creole 80.5%, Bhojpuri 12.1%, French 3.4%, English (official; spoken by less than 1% of the population), other 3.7%, unspecified 0.3% (2000 census)
clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses, fish
crude oil, minerals, petroleum products, fruits and vegetables, cotton fiber, textiles, clothing, meat and live animals, wheat
External Debt
$5,205,000,000 $
$7,074,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Mauritian rupees (MUR) per US dollar - 27.973 (2008 est.), 31.798 (2007), 31.656 (2006), 29.496 (2005), 27.499 (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
0.300%
5.900%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
1
0
Location
Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey
Area
2,040 km sq
185,180 km sq
Coastline
177 km
193 km
Climate
tropical, modified by southeast trade winds; warm, dry winter (May to November); hot, wet, humid summer (November to May)
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
