Syria (Arabic Suriyah), officially Al Jumhuriyah al Arabiyah as Suriyah (Syrian Arab Republic), republic in northwestern Asia, bounded on the north by Turkey, on the east by Iraq, on  the south by Jordan and Palestine,  and  on  the west  by  Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea.

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                   Syria has an area of about  185,000  sq  km  (about 71,500 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Damascus(Arabic Dimashk). Syria has an east-to-west distance         of  about  830  km   (about 515 mi)  and   an   north-to-south   distance   of   about   740  km    (about 460 mi). Mount Hermon  is  the  highest  point  in the country at 2814 m (9232 ft).

                                                  The Euphrates (Arabic Al Furat), is the longest river in Syria.It flows diagonally  across  the  country  from  Turkey  in  the north to Iraq on the east. The second longest  river ,  the  Orontes  (Arabic Al Assi) ,  originates  in  the  Lebanese  portion  of   the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and flows north through western Syria to Turkey.  

                        Arabs constitutes about 90 percent of the population. The largest non-Arab  minorities  are  Kurds  and  Armenians.  The   population   of   Syria   is  about 15,000,000   with   density   of    about   80   persons   per  sq  km .  Population  growth   is  estimated at 3.6 percent a year.

                                      Damascus ,     Capital       (    Arabic Dimashk    )

                                                  Aleppo                                       (        Arabic Halab        )

                                                  Hims                                           (        Arabic Homs         )

                                                 Hamah                                       (      Arabic Hamah       )

                                                 Lattakia                                      (Arabic Al Lathikyah)

                        The overwhelming majority of the Syrian population is Muslims. Non-Muslims in Syria are mostly Christians, primarily Greek and Armenian orthodox.

                         Education in Syria is free in all levels, from primary level till end of the high levels (Universities).The primary education is compulsory for all children.                          

                    Syria has universities in Damascus, Aleppo, Hims and Lattakia.

                       As early as about  3960  BC  King  Beleucus  is  thought  to  have established his capital Halab in Syria. King Hadad was mentioned in  Mary  as  the  first  king  in  north syria, 2850 BC.

The kingdom of Assyria was conquered by Hammorabi of Babylonia as early as about 1800 BC. Parts of the region were conquered successively by the  Egyptians  and  the  Hittites , in the  6th  century  BC ,  the  region  passed  first  to  the  Chaldeans  and  then  to  the Persians. Alexander the Great made it a part of his empire in 333 BC, and then it was appropriated by Seleucus ,  one  of  Alexander's  generals,  who founded Antioch (Arabic Antakia). In  64  BC Syria   was  made  a  Roman   province,  till   the  Islam   entered   Syria   in  year   636 .   In 661 Damascus became the seat of the powerful Umayyad Caliphs.

                                          Euphrates  (Arabic Al Furat),  river  in  southwest  Asia,  rising  in  Turkey  and  flowing  through  Syria  and  Iraq  before  joining  the Tigris (Arabic Dejla)   to  form  the Shatt  al  Arab. The Euphrates, along     with the Tigris  River,  provided  much  of  the  water  that  supported  the   development    of    ancient   Mesopotamian   culture.    Mesopotamia  literally means “between the rivers” in Greek, and this area  was the site of such early states as Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria.

                                                   The Euphrates is about 2700 km (about 1700 mi) long. Although less than 30 percent of the river’s  drainage  basin  is  in Turkey,  roughly 94 percent of the river’s water originates in the Turkish highlands. The  Euphrates  reaches  Syria  about 120 km (about 75 mi) northeast of the city of Halab (Aleppo). In eastern Syria it is joined by the Khabur River, a major tributary originating in southeastern Turkey.

                                                    The course of the Euphrates roughly parallels that of the Tigris River; shortly after the rivers enter Iraq they are never more than 160 km (more than 100 mi) apart. In northern Iraq  the  Euphrates  forms the   western  boundary of the area known as Al Jazirah  (Arabic for “The Island”),    while  the   Tigris  forms  the  eastern  boundary.   To the southeast the alluvial lands between the two rivers was the  site  of  the glorious Babylonian civilization  of  ancient  times. After  flowing  within 40 km  (25 mi) of the Tigris, the Euphrates splits into two branches, and comes together again about 180 km (about 110 mi) away. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers join in southeastern Iraq near Al Qurnah to form the Shatt al Arab, which empties into the Arabian Gulf.

                                                  The Euphrates has an average annual flow of 28 billion cu m (990 billion cu ft); the flow is heaviest in the months of April and May. Major cities on the Euphrates include Ar Raqqah and Dayr az Zawr in Syria, and Karbalaa, Al Hillah, and An Najaf in Iraq.