Environment - current issues: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes; inadequate potable water
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified:
Environmental Modification
Geography - note: there are 42 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (August 2001 est.)
People Syria
Population: 17,155,814 (July 2002 est.) note: in addition, about 40,000 people live in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - 20,000 Arabs (18,000 Druze and 2,000 Alawites) and about 20,000 Israeli settlers (August 2001 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 39.3% (male 3,467,267; female 3,264,639) 15-64 years: 57.5% (male 5,052,841; female 4,817,662) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 267,803; female 285,602) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.5% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 30.11 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Death rate: 5.12 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)
Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.)