ـ[بَحْرُ الرَّمَل]ــــــــ[02 - 11 - 2010, 02:24 م]ـ
SYRIA
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Background
Syria has been inhabited for several thousand years.
From the 3rd millennium BC it was under the control
variously of Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Egyptians,
Hittites, Assyrians, and Babylonians. In the 6th
century BC it became part of the Persian Achaemenian
dynasty, which fell to Alexander the Great in 330
BC. Seleucid rulers governed it from 301 BC to c. 164
BC; Parthians and Nabataean Arabs then divided the
region. It flourished as a Roman province (64 BC–AD
300) and as part of the Byzantine Empire
(300–634) until Muslims invaded and established
control. It came under the Ottoman Empire in 1516,
which held it, except for brief rules by Egypt, until
the British invaded in World War I. After the war it
became a French mandate; it achieved independence
in 1945. It united with Egypt in the United
Arab Republic (1958–61). During the Six-Day War
(1967), it lost the Golan Heights to Israel. Syrian
troops frequently clashed with Israeli troops in
Lebanon during the 1980s and ’90s
Location:
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey
Area:
total: 185,180 sq km
Climate:
Hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus and the interior
Natural resources:
petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower
Population:
21,762,978
country comparison to the world: 52
Ethnic groups:
Arab 90.3%, Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%
Religions:
Sunni Muslim 74%, other Muslim (includes Alawite, Druze) 16%, Christian (various denominations) 10%, Jewish (tiny communities in Damascus, Al Qamishli, and Aleppo)
Languages:
Arabic (official); Kurdish, Armenian, Aramaic, Circassian widely understood; French, English somewhat understood
Government type:
Republic
Capital:
name: Damascus
Administrative divisions:
14 provinces (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Hasakah, Al Ladhiqiyah (Latakia), Al Qunaytirah, Ar Raqqah, As Suwayda', Dar'a, Dayr az Zawr, Dimashq (Damascus),, Halab(Aleppo), Hamah, Hims, Idlib, Rif Dimashq Tartus
National holiday:
Independence Day, 17 April (1946)
ـ[بَحْرُ الرَّمَل]ــــــــ[02 - 11 - 2010, 02:30 م]ـ
TUNISIA
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Background
From the 12th century BC the Phoenicians had a series
of trading posts on the northern African coast. By
the 6th century BC the Carthaginian kingdom encompassed
most of present-day Tunisia. The Romans
ruled from 146 BC until the Muslim Arab conquest in
the mid-7th century AD. The area was fought over,
won, and lost by many, including the Abbasids, the Almohads,
the Spanish, and the Ottoman Turks, who finally
conquered it in 1574 and held it until the late
19th century. For a time it maintained autonomy as
the French, the British, and the Italians contended for
the region. In 1881 Tunisia became a French protectorate.
In World War II, US and British forces captured
it (1943) to end a brief German occupation. In 1956
France granted it full independence; Habib Bourguiba
assumed power and remained in office until
1987.
Location:
Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Algeria and Libya
Area:
total: 163,610 sq km
Climate:
temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south
Natural resources:
petroleum, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc, salt
Population:
10,486,339 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 77
Ethnic groups:
Arab 98%, European 1%, Jewish and other 1%
Religions (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html?countryName=Tunisia&countryCode=ts®ionCode=af#2122):
(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2122.html?countryName=Tunisia&countryCode=ts®ionCode=af&#ts)
Muslim 98%, Christian 1%, Jewish and other 1%
Languages (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/docs/notesanddefs.html?countryName=Tunisia&countryCode=ts®ionCode=af#2098):
(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2098.html?countryName=Tunisia&countryCode=ts®ionCode=af&#ts)
Arabic (official and one of the languages of commerce), French (commerce)
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