Disputes - international:
none
Illicit drugs:
a major international financial center vulnerable to the layering
and integration stages of money laundering; despite significant
legislation and reporting requirements, secrecy rules persist and
nonresidents are permitted to conduct business through offshore
entities and various intermediaries; transit country for and
consumer of South American cocaine and Southwest Asian heroin
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Syria
Introduction Syria
Background:
Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire during World War I,
Syria was administered by the French until independence in 1946. In
the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel.
Syrian troops - stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible
peacekeeping role - were withdrawn in April of 2005. Over the past
decade, Syria and Israel have held occasional peace talks over the
return of the Golan Heights.
Geography Syria
Location:
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and
Turkey
Geographic coordinates:
35 00 N, 38 00 E