Location: The Middle East; Bordering Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and the Mediterranean Sea
Area: 185,180 sq km (71,498 sq miles)

Main Cities:
Damascus (the capital, with 4 million inhabitants); Aleppo; Homs; Latakia

Population:

• 21,000,000 (estimate 2007)
• Annual population growth 2.2%
• Estimated 4 million Syrians living abroad
• Population Density 100.4 per sq km
• 50 % of the population is 20 years old

Age structure:

• 0-14 years: 36.5 %
• 15-64 years: 60.1 %
• 65 years and over: 3.3 % (official estimate 2007)