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
_Syria.jpg)
See regional map VI
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
