Credit, LOUAI BESHARA/Getty Images
The old city of Damascus is home to symbols of Syria’s rich history, such as the 8th-century Umayyad Mosque
Once the center of the Islamic Caliphate, Syria covers an area that has been the target of invasions and occupations in virtually every era, from Romans to Mongols, Crusaders and Turks.
A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, Syria is home to diverse religious and ethnic groups, including Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Christians, Druze, Shia Alawites and Sunni Arabs – the latter making up the majority of the Muslim population.
Modern Syria gained its independence from France in 1946, but has since gone through periods of political instability, caused by conflicting interests of its many social groups. In 2011, political power, long held in the hands of a small Alawite elite, began to be disputed in a bloody civil war, which began in the context of the so-called Arab Spring.
The initial protests, harshly repressed by the Syrian regime, turned into a complex war involving regional and global powers, pro-democracy movements and jihadist organizations – including the radical and violent group Islamic State. In addition to causing the death of around 400,000 people, the conflict provoked a large population exodus, reducing the Syrian population from 21 million in 2010 to 17 million in 2019.
Before the war, Syria was a major tourist destination in the Middle East, with its Arab markets and ancient ruins attracting visitors from around the world. The ancient city of Palmyra, in the south of the country, was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. During the civil war, it was temporarily occupied by the Islamist group Islamic State, which destroyed part of the city’s ancient treasures.
Credit, Getty Images
Damascus was largely unaffected by the war, and its old market, or “souk,” remained bustling.
Getty Images
Capital: Damascus
Population17 million
Area185,180 square kilometers
main languageArabic
main religionsislam, christianity
Life expectancy66 years old (male), 78 years old (female)
Coinsyrian pound
Source: UN, World Bank
President: Bashar al-Assad
Credit, Getty Images
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has ruled with an iron fist since 2000, when he replaced his father in office.
In power since succeeding his father, Hafez al-Assad, in 2000, Bashar al-Assad is fighting for control of his country. Assad inherited from the dictator Hafez al-Assad an extremely repressive and tightly controlled political structure. The inner circle of power in the Assad dictatorship is dominated by the Shiite Alawite minority community, to which the president’s family belongs.
In 2011, he ordered the violent repression of street protests against his regime, a context that led to the beginning of the Syrian civil war. The crackdown has brought massive international pressure on Assad to step down, and the chaos that gripped Syria during the civil war has threatened his regime’s survival.
Assad, however, managed to re-consolidate his position in the conflict with the military help of allies Russia and Iran, as well as the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. Ten years after the protests against his regime, Assad has remained in power, but parts of Syrian territory remain under the control of other forces – such as Kurdish groups, jihadist fighters and troops from Turkey.
Credit, Getty Images
Press work in Syria became extremely dangerous during the country’s civil war.
Syria has a complex media market that has been changing rapidly, as a result of the internal conflict that started in 2011. The scenario is divided between vehicles in favor of the Syrian regime and those commanded by independent armed groups and the opposition.
According to Reporters Without Borders, at least 300 journalists – professionals and amateurs – have been killed since the beginning of the war. The number, however, could be much higher – RSF claims the total may actually be as high as 700. Social media is regularly used by government, opposition and armed groups alike.
Emperor Dom Pedro II’s international travels in the 19th century also included Syria. In 1876, the Brazilian monarch visited the country, which at the time was a territory of the Ottoman Empire. Diplomatic relations came with the Syrian independence process, in 1945, and in 1951, Brazil opened its representation in Damascus.
In the 21st century, as part of the Lula government’s foreign policy, in which rapprochement with emerging nations was encouraged, Brazil intensified contacts with Syria. The process included, in 2003, the trip of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Damascus – where the Brazilian head of state defended the return to Syria of the Golan Heights, taken by Israel in the 1967 war.
Other trips by high representatives took place in the following years, until, in 2010, Bashar al-Assad made an official visit to Brazil, the first by a Syrian leader to the country. Due to the civil war in the Arab country, in 2012 Brazil emptied its diplomatic representation in Damascus, reopened in 2018.
The conflict had a negative impact on bilateral trade between the two countries. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2010, the trade flow was US$ 594.8 million, having almost tripled since 2006. In 2019, however, after eight years of conflict in Syria, bilateral trade was only US$ $65.4 million. Since the outbreak of civil war, the Brazilian government has advocated a peaceful solution to the crisis in the country.
Important dates in Syrian history:
Antique – Region is taken by important civilizations and empires, such as the Assyrians, Babylonians and the Romans.
Credit, LOUAI BESHARA/Getty Images
The city of Palmyra, whose ruins were damaged in the civil war, is a legacy of Roman-era Syria
7th century – Soon after the death of the prophet Mohammed, his Muslim successors take over the region known as the Levant (present-day Lebanon and Syria).
1918 – In October, Arab troops led by Emir Feisal – and supported by British forces – capture the city of Damascus, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule.
1920 – The San Remo conference divides the newly created Arab kingdom by placing Syria and Lebanon under French control and Palestine under British control.
1920-21 – Syria is divided by France into three autonomous regions, with a separate area for the Alawites on the coast and another for the Druze in the south. Lebanon is entirely separate from the rest.
1925-26 – Nationalist agitation against French rule turns into revolt. French forces bombard Damascus.
Credit, Getty Images
Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire, which in 1917 was represented by Governor Jamal Pasha
1936 – France agrees to work for Syria’s independence and dissolves the autonomous regions. The European power, however, continues its military and economic dominance and maintains Lebanon as a separate state.
1941 – British and French troops occupy Syria. General De Gaulle promises to end the French mandate in the region.
1943 – Veteran nationalist Shukri al-Kuwatli is elected Syria’s first president and leads the country towards complete independence three years later.
1946 – Independence from Syria.
1947 – Michal Aflaq and Salah-al-Din al-Bitar found the Arab Socialist Baath Party.
1958-61 – Short union between Syria and Egypt, as United Arab Republic.
1963 – In March, Baathist Army officers take power.
1966 – In February, Salah Jadid leads an internal coup against the Baathist civilian leadership. Hafez al-Assad becomes defense minister.
1967 – In the Six Day War, against Egypt, Jordan and Syria, Israel takes the Golan Heights from Syria and destroys much of the Syrian air force.
1970 – Hafez al-Assad derruba o presidente Nur al-Din al-Atasi and prende Salah Jadid.
1973 – Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack against Israel in October in an attempt to reverse losses suffered in 1967.
Credit, AFP
Hafez al-Assad (arm raised) seized power in 1970 and ruled until he died, handing over to his son
1976 – Syria intervenes in the Lebanese civil war. From then on, it maintained a military presence in Lebanon for the next three decades and exerted significant influence on Lebanese politics.
1981 – Israel formally annexes the Golan Heights.
1982 – A Muslim Brotherhood uprising in the city of Hama is violently suppressed in a month-long siege by the Syrian Army, which kills tens of thousands of civilians.
1990 – Iraq invades Kuwait. Syria joins the US-led coalition against Iraq, which leads to an improvement in Damascus’ relations with Egypt and the US.
2000 – President Assad dies and is succeeded by his son Bashar. In November, the new president orders the release of 600 political prisoners.
2001 – In June, Syrian troops leave Beirut, being redeployed to other areas of Lebanon, after pressure from critics regarding the Syrian presence in the country.
2005 – Syrian forces withdraw from Lebanon after international pressure caused by the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri in a bomb attack in Beirut.
2011 – Protests inspired by the uprisings in the region, known as the Arab Spring. The regime’s repression and clashes with oppositionists became a civil war. The conflict attracts the involvement of other countries and causes a major refugee crisis.
2012 – US, UK, France, Turkey and Persian Gulf states formally recognize the opposition National Coalition as “legitimate representatives” of the Syrian people.
2013 – In August, opposition-held areas in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, are attacked with weapons containing sarin gas. Hundreds of people are killed. The opposition and Western powers accuse the Syrian regime of carrying out the attack, but Damascus says the bombing was carried out by oppositionists.
2014 – In June, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group declares the creation of a “caliphate” in the territory that goes from the city of Aleppo to the eastern province of Diyala.
Credit, Getty Images
The civil war has destroyed much of Syria’s infrastructure, including buildings and streets in the city of Aleppo.
2015 – In January, Kurdish forces expel the self-styled Islamic State (IS) from the city of Kobane, on the border with Turkey, after four months of fighting.
2015 – In May, IS fighters take the ancient city of Palmyra, a world heritage site, in central Syria, and begin to destroy monuments from periods prior to the arrival of Islam in the region.
2015 – September – Russia carries out its first air strikes in Syria, saying it is targeting the so-called Islamic State, but the West and the Syrian opposition say the strikes are mainly aimed at rebels fighting Assad’s regime.
2015 – December – The Syrian army allows the rebels to leave the city of Homs, thus returning the third largest city in the country to government control after four years.
2016 – In December, government troops, backed by Russian airstrikes and Iranian-sponsored militias, retake Aleppo, the country’s largest city. With that, the rebels lose their biggest urban base in the war.
2017 – In March, Syrian forces definitively recapture the ancient city of Palmyra from the so-called Islamic State. In October and November, the IS is expelled from the city of Raqqa, which functioned as its capital in the country, and from Deir al-Zour.
2018 – In July, the Syrian Army recaptures almost all of the south of the country, up to the borders with Jordan and the territory dominated by Israel.
2019 – The US withdraws its troops from northern Syria, which leads Turkey to attack, in the same area, Kurds who were allies of the US. IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghadadi dies in a US strike on his hideout in Idlib province.
2023 – In early February, the northwest region of Syria, around the city of Aleppo and close to the border with Turkey, is hit by a strong earthquake that causes hundreds of deaths.