Syria
An ancient Levantine crossroads remade by war
Syria is an ancient land at the crossroads of the Levant, where some of the world's oldest cities, Damascus and Aleppo among them, have flourished for thousands of years. Heir to Mesopotamian, Roman, and early Islamic glory, it stretches from a Mediterranean coast across fertile plains to the Syrian Desert. After more than a decade of devastating civil war that displaced millions and toppled long-entrenched rule, the country faces the immense task of rebuilding amid deep wounds.
Syria's geography runs from a narrow coastal plain backed by the coastal mountains to the fertile Orontes and Euphrates river valleys and the vast steppe and desert of the interior. Mount Hermon, on the southwestern border, is the highest point. The climate ranges from Mediterranean on the coast to arid inland. Agriculture, oil, and phosphates underpinned an economy shattered by war, sanctions, and the displacement of much of the population.
From the ancient kingdoms and the caravan city of Palmyra to the Umayyad caliphate centered on Damascus, Syria sat at the heart of empires. A French mandate gave way to independence in 1946 and decades of Baathist rule under the Assad family. The civil war from 2011 caused catastrophic destruction before the regime fell in December 2024. A transitional government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa has secured the lifting of most sanctions and largely integrated the Kurdish-led SDF in 2026, while Israeli troops remain in a southern buffer zone. Damascus remains the capital.