Population and administrative divisions:
The population of the Syrian Arab Republic is about 17.5 million inhabitants, 4 million of which live in Damascus, the capital. The country is divided into 14 provinces known as governorates (muhafazat pl), each of which is divided generally into many districts and so on into towns and villages. The village is the smallest administrative unit. There are two main ports on the Mediterranean coast which are Tartoos and Lattakia. There is also Banias port which is a special port for oil exports.        

The Syrian Arab Republic is located on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The borders are Turkey on the north, Iraq on the east, Palestine and Jordan on the south and the Mediterranean Sea on the west.
The general area of the Syrian Arab Republic is 18517971 hectares, 6 millions agricultural lands and the rest are mountains and semi-deserts. The Syrian semi-desert is good for plants and is used as grass lands in case of enough rain.
Geographically, Syria can be divided into 4 regions:
1- Coast region enclosed between mountains and sea.
2- Mountain region including mountains and heights stretching from north to south parallel to Mediterranean Sea.
3- Internal region or plain’s region including plains of Damascus, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Hasaka, and Derra’a. It is located at the east of mountains region.
4- Semi-desert region, it contains desert plains at the east south dimension of the country near Jordan and Iraq.  

Capital : Damascus.
Area  : 185180 Km2.
Population: 17 millions inhabitants according to 1999 statistics.
Language : Arabic, French, English.
Electric power: 220 Volt/ 60 Hertz.
Weight and measures: M and Kg.
Currency : Syrian Pound equating 100 pennies.
Bank notes in circulation in Syria: 5, 20, 25, 200, 200, 500, and 1000 pounds.
Coins in circulation: 5, 10, 25 SP.
Working hours: Ministries and official organizations from 8 to 14 (recently to 15.30)
Commercial stores:  Winter   from 10 to 14
                                               from 16 to 20
                                  Summe from 10 to 14
                                               from 16 to 21
Official days off: Friday (recently Saturday also) and official days.
Daylight saving time : starts on October and lasts until March + 2 H GMT

The Syrian economy :
is a multi-resource economy. It depends on agriculture, industry, trade, tourism and services. In addition to the oil sector which has drastically developed in terms of oil and gas extraction.
As a system, Syrian economy has economic multiplicity as its backbone. The public sector in Syria supervises the main strategic sectors. Moreover, there are the private and joined sectors that contribute to most economic fields.
There is a tendency towards allowing the private sector to access industrial fields that had been exclusive for the public sector. Some measures have been taken in the process of transition to market oriented economy in most economic fields, gradually though.
Syria’s moderate atmosphere is convenient for establishing big industrial projects knowing that the total area of Syria amounts up to 18518 hectares. In addition, Syria’s geographical position in West Asia on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea is justly described as extremely strategic for commercial exchange at the meeting point of the three continents (Asia, Europe, Africa).
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As a country Syria enjoys a well-established feeling of security and social domestic life. An abundance of qualified educated work force is available, all encouraging foreign investors to come and attracting  further bigger successful investments with low risk factors and high prospects.