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Switzerland (continued) network consists of 2,897 km 1.435-meter standard gauge and 74 km 1.000-meter narrow gauge track; 1,432 km double track, 99% electrified; the nongovernment network consists of 710 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 1,418 km 1.000-meter gauge, and 75 km 0.790-meter gauge track, 100% electrified

Highways: 62,145 km total (all paved), of which 18,620 km are canton and 1,057 km are national highways (740 km autobahn); 42,468 km are communal roads

Pipelines: 314 km crude oil; 1,506 km natural gas

Inland waterways: 65 km; Rhine (Basel to Rheinfelden, Schaffhausen to Bodensee); 12 navigable lakes

Ports: Basel (river port)

Merchant marine: 20 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 215,851 GRT/365,131 DWT; includes 4 cargo, 2 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 3 chemical tanker, 3 specialized liquid cargo, 8 bulk

Civil air: 89 major transport aircraft

Airports: 72 total, 70 usable; 42 with permanent-surface runways; 2 with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 17 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: excellent domestic, international, and broadcast services; 5,808,000 telephones; stations—6 AM, 36 (400 relays) FM, 145 (1,250 relays) TV; communications satellite earth stations operating in the INTELSAT (4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) and EUTELSAT systems

Defense Forces

Branches: Army, Air Force

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,800,211; 1,550,662 fit for military service; 44,154 reach military age (20) annually

Defense expenditures: $1.2 billion (1989 est.)  Syria



Geography

Total area: 185,180 km²; land area: 184,050 km² (including 1,295 km² of Israeli-occupied territory)

Comparative area: slightly larger than North Dakota

Land boundaries: 2,253 km total; Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km

Coastline: 193 km

Maritime claims:
 * Contiguous zone: 6 nm beyond territorial sea limit
 * Territorial sea: 35 nm

Disputes: separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Golan Heights is Israeli occupied; Hatay question with Turkey; periodic disputes with Iraq over Euphrates water rights; ongoing dispute over water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; Kurdish question among Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the USSR

Climate: mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast

Terrain: primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west

Natural resources: crude oil, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum

Land use: 28% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 46% meadows and pastures; 3% forest and woodland; 20% other; includes 3% irrigated

Environment: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Note: there are 35 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights

People

Population: 12,483,440 (July 1990), growth rate 3.8% (1990); in addition, there are 13,500 Druze and 10,500 Jewish settlers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights

Birth rate: 44 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 38 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 68 years male, 70 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 6.7 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Syrian(s); adjective—Syrian

Ethnic divisions: 90.3% Arab; 9.7% Kurds, Armenians, and other

Religion: 74% Sunni Muslim; 16% Alawite, Druze, and other Muslim sects; 10% Christian (various sects); tiny Jewish communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo

Language: Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian; French widely understood

Literacy: 49%

Labor force: 2,400,000; 36% miscellaneous and government services, 32% agriculture, 32% industry and construction); majority unskilled; shortage of skilled labor (1984)

Organized labor: 5% of labor force

Government

Long-form name: Syrian Arab Republic

Type: republic; under leftwing military regime since March 1963

Capital: Damascus

Administrative divisions: 14 provinces (muḩāfaz̧at, singular—muḩāfaz̧ah); Al Ḩasakah, Al Lādhiqīyah, Al Qunayţirah. Ar Raqqah, As Suwayd’ā, Dar‘ā, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Ḩalab, Ḩamāh, Ḩimş, Idlib, Madīnat Dimashq, Ţarţūs

Independence: 17 April 1946 (from League of Nations mandate under French administration); formerly United Arab Republic

Constitution: 13 March 1973

Legal system: based on Islamic law and civil law system; special religious courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: National Day, 17 April (1946)

Executive branch: president, three vice presidents, prime minister, three deputy prime ministers, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch: unicameral People's Council (Majlis ash Sha’ab)

Judicial branch: Supreme Constitutional Court, High Judicial Council, Court of Cassation, State Security Courts

Leaders: Chief of State—President Lt. Gen. Hafiz al-ASSAD (since 22 February 302