Syria
Syria (full name, The Syrian Arab Republic) covers an area of approximately 185,000 sq km. Its terrain consists of a semiarid and desert plateau with a narrow coastal plain and mountains in the west. Syria borders Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and has 193 km of coastline. The country is divided into 14 provinces: Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah, Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq, Halab, Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Rif Dimashq and Tartus. Damascus is the capital, with a time difference of 2 hours ahead of GMT. The currency is the Syrian pound, and exports include oil and gas. The population of approximately 20,200,000 people comprises an ethnic makeup that is 90.3% Arab. The primary language is Arabic, and the predominant religion is Islam.