20,384,316 (July 2021 est.)
note: approximately 22,900 Israeli settlers live in the Golan Heights (2018)
noun: Syrian(s)
adjective: Syrian
Arab ~50%, Alawite ~15%, Kurd ~10%, Levantine ~10%, other ~15% (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Nusairi, Assyrian, Turkoman, Armenian)
Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian, French, English
printed major-language sample:
كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Muslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili, and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (includes Orthodox, Uniate, and Nestorian), Druze 3%
note: the Christian population may be considerably smaller as a result of Christians fleeing the country during the ongoing civil war
0-14 years: 33.47% (male 3,323,072/female 3,170,444)
15-24 years: 19.34% (male 1,872,903/female 1,879,564)
25-54 years: 37.31% (male 3,558,241/female 3,679,596)
55-64 years: 5.41% (male 516,209/female 534,189)
65 years and over: 4.46% (male 404,813/female 459,417) (2020 est.)
total dependency ratio: 55.4
youth dependency ratio: 47.8
elderly dependency ratio: 7.6
potential support ratio: 13.2 (2020 est.)
total: 23.5 years
male: 23 years
female: 24 years (2020 est.)
5.32% NA (2021 est.)
23.25 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)
4.36 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)
34.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population NA (2021 est.)
significant population density along the Mediterranean coast; larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs); more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley
note: the ongoing civil war has altered the population distribution
urban population: 56.1% of total population (2021)
rate of urbanization: 5.38% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
2.440 million DAMASCUS (capital), 2.004 million Aleppo, 1.362 million Hims (Homs), 940,000 Hamah (2021)
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2020 est.)
31 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.)
total: 16.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 17.95 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 14.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)
total population: 74.01 years
male: 72.54 years
female: 75.57 years (2021 est.)
2.85 children born/woman (2021 est.)
improved: urban: 99% of population
rural: 99.3% of population
total: 99.4% of population
unimproved: urban: 1% of population
rural: 0.7% of population
total: 0.6% of population (2017 est.)
1.29 physicians/1,000 population (2016)
1.4 beds/1,000 population (2017)
improved: urban: 99.6% of population
rural: 98.6% of population
total: 99.1% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.4% of population
rural: 1.4% of population
total: 0.9% of population (2017 est.)
<.1>
27.8% (2016)
5.8% (2009/10)
N/A
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 86.4%
male: 91.7%
female: 81% (2015)
total: 9 years
male: 9 years
female: 9 years (2013)
total: 35.8%
male: 26.6%
female: 71.1% (2011 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Syria on this page is re-published from the 2021 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Syria 2021 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Syria 2021 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 16 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.