Natural resources: petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores,
asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum
Land use: arable land: 28% permanent crops: 3% meadows and pastures: 46% forest and woodland: 3% other: 20%
Irrigated land: 10,000 sq km (1992)
Environment:
current issues: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion;
desertification; water pollution from dumping of raw sewage and wastes
from petroleum refining; inadequate supplies of potable water
natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms
international agreements: party to - Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified
- Biodiversity, Desertification, Environmental Modification
Note: there are 42 Jewish settlements and civilian land use sites in
the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (August 1994 est.)
@Syria:People
Population: 15,451,917 (July 1995 est.)
note: in addition, there are 31,000 people living in the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - 16,500 Arabs (15,000 Druze and 1,500
Alawites) and 14,500 Jewish settlers (August 1994 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (female 3,639,776; male 3,826,154)
15-64 years: 49% (female 3,691,862; male 3,854,989)
65 years and over: 3% (female 219,251; male 219,885) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 3.71% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 43.21 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)