deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; depletion of water resources; water pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes; inadequate potable water
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification
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
agricultural land: 75.8% (2018 est.)
arable land: 25.4% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 5.8% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 44.6% (2018 est.)
forest: 2.7% (2018 est.)
other: 21.5% (2018 est.)
urban population: 57.4% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 5.38% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies:due to civil conflict and economic crisis - the latest available nationwide food security assessment estimated that about 12 million people, 60% of the overall population, were food insecure in 2021, a slight decline from 12.4 million in 2020, but 5 million more than at the end of 2019, mostly due to constrained livelihood opportunities and a rapidly worsening economy (2022)
particulate matter emissions: 25.14 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 28.83 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 12.93 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 4.5 million tons (2009 est.)
municipal solid waste recycled annually: 112,500 tons (2010 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 2.5% (2010 est.)
Euphrates (shared with Turkey [s], Iran, and Iraq [m]) - 3,596 km; Tigris (shared with Turkey, Iran, and Iraq [m]) - 1,950 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth
Indian Ocean drainage: (Persian Gulf) Tigris and Euphrates (918,044 sq km)
municipal: 1.48 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 620 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 14.67 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
16.8 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Syria on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Syria 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Syria 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 04 May 24, Copyright © 2024 ITA all rights reserved.
