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Taking a Look at Syria

Decent Essays

Syria which formerly was called Al Sham or Levant is located in Western Asia. This country has borders with Turkey to the north Iraq to the east Jordan to the south Israel to the south east and Lebanon and Mediterranean Sea to the west. Before 1516 Syria was part of Mamluk Empire centered in Egypt. In 1516 the Ottoman Sultan, Selim, conquered Syria, after defeating the Mamluk near Aleppo in Northern Syria. After sometimes he changed the whole Syria into one Eyalat named Sam (Syria). During the course of history the number of Eyalats was growing and in 1877. It had six provinces which were Aleppo Vilayet, Sanjak of Zor, Beirut Vilayet, Damascus vilaytat, Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon and Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem. Now the modern Syria which was established after First World War has fourteen governorates or Muhafazat. Each of the governorates is divided into sixty districts or Mantiqa, which are further divided into sub districts (Nahiya). Every Nahiya encompasses villages which are considered the smallest administrative unite. Each governorate is governed by a governor and is appointed by the ministry of interior and must gain the approval of the cabinet. The capital of the Syria is Damascus, which is located in the south of Syria.
Syria is a diverse country and is consisted of different ethnic groups including Sunni 75% , Kurds 10 to 15% , Alawites (a shia sect) 8 to 15%, Christians 10%, Ismailis, (branch of the shia sect) comprise a small percentage of the population

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