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Syria
Relevant information about Syria.
Syria is located in Asia, particularly in the west of this continent. The country is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, and it is Between Lebanon and Turkey. Syria has been advancing and is being modernized during the last few years. The country is full of historical places to visit, and many of Syrian´s cities have been declared by the UNESCO as Heritage sites, for instance: Damascus, Aleppo and Bosra. Syrians are well known as hospitable and gentle people who enjoy giving the tourist a warm welcome and they are considered as excellent host. Syria´s climate is Mediterranean with dry and hot summers and wet winters (specially near the coast). If the tourist wants to visit Syria, it is perfect to choose the spring to go there, because of the mild weather. Autumn can be chosen as a second option, because it is also appropriate. Syria is a great country which offers its visitors many places to visit, from ancient towns to enormous and wealthiest palaces. Syria is mostly appropriate for those tourists who want to have a different experience in shopping. It offer incredible original products, for instance, hand-engraved brass, hand printed cotton garments, pictures of epic heroes, beautiful mosaics, hand women rugs and sophisticated glasses with unique designs.
Syria´s population is about 21.000.000. Population density in Syria is 99 per km². Syrians Arabs make up over the 90% of the population. The largest and second ethnic group is the Kurds, who represents the 9%. Other ethnics groups (of less number) are Assyrians, Armenians, French and Circassia’s. The main religion is Muslim, followed by a tiny number of, Christian, Druze, Greek Catholics, and Protestants and in a minor scale, Jews. Arabic is the official language of Syrian Arab Republic, however Syrian Arabic is most popular and is most spoken by the inhabitants. Kurdish is mostly spoken in other regions of Syria. Many Syrians, who have access to a higher education can, speak French and English. The literacy rate in Syria is 86%, for males and 73% for females. Education in Syria has been influenced by the old French system. It is free and obligatory up to the 9th grade. At this grade students are exposed to make a test, which will define if they go to study to a technical secondary school or to a general secondary school. University level is similar to the French model of higher education, which includes a license, a master and finally, a doctorate. Syria is owner of a great amount of culture and history. It has a traditional ideology, based specifically on family, religion, self discipline and respect and intellectual knowledge. Family members demonstrate a serious respect to their previous generations, and they teach an unconditional faith in antique costumes. Syrian literature and poetry have been developed over the years demonstrating an interesting progress and enrichment. It has added a large number of cultural influences, for instance during the 20th century, when the country was under the French rule. Damascus, Syria´s capital city has been recognized as the centre of cultural and artistic originality, showing a special develop in classical Arab music. Syrian cuisine is a mixture between Greek, southern Mediterranean and Southwest Asian dishes. It presents a large number of exotic ingredients, like farina, Asian nuts and black and pure coffee. Some typical dishes are kibbeh, sujuk and ba´lawa, the last one is made by filo pastry, mixed with nuts and honey.
Syria´s economy has been characterized as a middle-income economy. It is particularly based on agriculture, tourism, industry and oil. Nowadays, Syria has to face up some economic challenges and conflicts, for instance, the great problem of the decreasing oil production, the instability of the public sector and the political corruption that also affects its economy. The main problem is that Syria presents a low rate of foreign and national investment. The agriculture sector has been affected by the worst climate condition that made the fields inappropriate to cultivate crops; another problem is the increasing of the price of the fertilizers. Damascus has implemented some rules, trying to combat the problem of economy. It used a liberal system, implementing some conventions, such as giving more place to private sector (opening banks, for example) and rising prices in some subsidized sectors, especially diesel.
Damascus is Syrian´s capital city. It is rich in historic places, such as the antique gates and walls which used to surround the old city. There are many churches that must be visited by tourists, for instance, Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus, House of Saint Ananias and the Chapel of Saint Paul. The city was chosen by the UNESCO in 2008 as the “Arab capital of culture”. The famous Arabian coffee has to be tasted in the large number of traditional coffee bars, which are named “coffee houses”, in this places the waiters also serve water pipes, and many leisure activities can be done, for example playing chess, cards or backgammon. There are several attractions that can be founded quite near from the capital city, and are truly interesting to be visited. Madaya is a little mountainous town, located near the capital and used as a holyday resort. Saidnaya is a beautiful city situated between the mountains at 1500 meters above the level of the sea. Bosra is an ancient city, well known because it contains one of the best preserved roman theatres that nowadays are visited by many tourists from the entire world. There are many roman and Nabataean monuments and it is interesting because the city combine some Christian style of architecture with the Islamic style as well. Another interesting city is Palmyra, which is full of ancient ruins and historical richness. The most outstanding building in this city is Ba`al, it has been considered as the most important religious monument of the 1st century. The Decumanus is another monument that must be seen, it is a kind of colonnaded street, which leads to the ancient centre of the city. Palmyra is well known, for been a metropolis where many excavations and archeological research have taken place.
A large number of tourists chose Syria as a medical destination, especially when they are looking for dental care. Cosmetic dental surgery has become the main reason (in medical tourism) for visiting Syria. It is also well known, that the prices are much cheaper than in USA, for example. There are many agencies which occupy of getting accommodation for the visitors and also arrange the flights; they assure that approximately, they send 15 persons per week to have a dental treatment in Syria.
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