| Population | 20,384,316 (July 2021 est.) note: approximately 22,900 Israeli settlers live in the Golan Heights (2018) |
| Nationality | noun: Syrian(s) adjective: Syrian |
| Ethnic groups | Arab ~50%, Alawite ~15%, Kurd ~10%, Levantine ~10%, other ~15% (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Nusairi, Assyrian, Turkoman, Armenian) |
| Languages | Arabic (official), Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian, French, English major-language sample(s): ???? ????? ??????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ????????? ??? ????????? ???????? (Arabic) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. |
| Religions | Muslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili, and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (includes Orthodox, Uniate, and Nestorian), Druze 3% note: the Christian population may be considerably smaller as a result of Christians fleeing the country during the ongoing civil war |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 33.47% (male 3,323,072/female 3,170,444) 15-24 years: 19.34% (male 1,872,903/female 1,879,564) 25-54 years: 37.31% (male 3,558,241/female 3,679,596) 55-64 years: 5.41% (male 516,209/female 534,189) 65 years and over: 4.46% (male 404,813/female 459,417) (2020 est.) |
| Dependency ratios | total dependency ratio: 55.4 youth dependency ratio: 47.8 elderly dependency ratio: 7.6 potential support ratio: 13.2 (2020 est.) |
| Median age | total: 23.5 years male: 23 years female: 24 years (2020 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 5.32% NA (2021 est.) |
| Birth rate | 23.25 births/1,000 population (2021 est.) |
| Death rate | 4.36 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.) |
| Net migration rate | 34.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population NA (2021 est.) |
| Population distribution | significant population density along the Mediterranean coast; larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs); more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley note: the ongoing civil war has altered the population distribution |
| Urbanization | urban population: 56.1% of total population (2021) rate of urbanization: 5.38% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major cities - population | 2.440 million DAMASCUS (capital), 2.004 million Aleppo, 1.362 million Hims (Homs), 940,000 Hamah (2021) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female 25-54 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 55-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2020 est.) |
| Maternal mortality rate | 31 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 16.27 deaths/1,000 live births male: 17.95 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 74.01 years male: 72.54 years female: 75.57 years (2021 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 2.85 children born/woman (2021 est.) |
| Drinking water source | improved: urban: 99% of population rural: 99.3% of population total: 99.4% of population unimproved: urban: 1% of population rural: 0.7% of population total: 0.6% of population (2017 est.) |
| Physicians density | 1.29 physicians/1,000 population (2016) |
| Hospital bed density | 1.4 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
| Sanitation facility access | improved: urban: 99.6% of population rural: 98.6% of population total: 99.1% of population unimproved: urban: 0.4% of population rural: 1.4% of population total: 0.9% of population (2017 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | <.1% (2020) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | <1,000 (2020) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | <100 (2020) |
| Food insecurity | exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies: due to civil conflict and a stagnant economy - a nationwide food security assessment estimates that about 12.4 million people (60% of the overall population) are now food insecure in 2021, 5.4 million more than at the end of 2019, mostly due to constrained livelihood opportunities and a rapidly worsening economy; although some international food assistance is being provided, Syrian refugees are also pressuring host communities' resources in neighboring countries (2021) |
| Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 27.8% (2016) |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight | 5.8% (2009/10) |
| Education expenditures | NA |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 86.4% male: 91.7% female: 81% (2015) |
| School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) | total: 9 years male: 9 years female: 9 years (2013) |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
