Syria contains roughly 23 million people as of the latest reliable pre-conflict census data, though displacement since 2011 makes precision impossible. The Syrian Arab Republic extends across 185,180 square kilometers between Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Lebanon and Israel to the west. Damascus operates as the capital. The Mediterranean coastline runs along the western edge. Arabic is the official language. Islam is the majority religion, with Sunni Muslims forming the largest portion, followed by Alawites concentrated in the coastal mountains and Druze communities primarily in Jabal al-Druze in the south. Christians form a historic minority, including Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac Orthodox, and Maronite communities. Kurdish populations inhabit northeastern regions near the Turkish border and speak Kurdish dialects alongside Arabic.
Damascus claims status as the oldest continuously inhabited city on earth, with archaeological evidence of settlement extending back 11,000 years. The name Syria derives from Assyria, the ancient empire that controlled portions of the territory. Arameans established kingdoms across the region during the late Bronze Age. The Aramaic language they spread became the lingua franca of the Near East for centuries and remains in liturgical use among Syriac Christian communities. Ebla, near modern Idlib, was a powerful city-state around 2500 BCE whose archives were discovered in the 1970s. Ugarit on the Mediterranean coast developed one of the earliest alphabets around 1400 BCE. Phoenician city-states controlled coastal areas. The region passed under Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Macedonian control in succession. After Alexander's death, the Seleucid Empire governed from Antioch. Rome annexed Syria in 64 BCE. Palmyra emerged as a wealthy caravan city under Roman patronage during the first three centuries CE, reaching its apex under Queen Zenobia who briefly established an independent Palmyrene Empire from 267 to 272 CE before Roman Emperor Aurelian crushed the rebellion and captured Zenobia.
Philip the Arab, born in Shahba in southern Syria, became Roman Emperor in 244 CE and celebrated Rome's millennium in 248 CE. Christianity spread early through Syria. Saint Paul's conversion occurred on the road to Damascus around 33-36 CE. The Chapel of Saint Ananias in Damascus marks the location associated with the Christian who baptized Paul. By the fourth century, Syria was predominantly Christian with Antioch serving as one of the five patriarchal sees of early Christianity. Simeon Stylites spent 37 years atop a pillar near Aleppo in the fifth century, attracting pilgrims whose donations funded the massive Saint Simeon's Basilica complex. The Byzantine Empire controlled Syria until Arab Muslim armies conquered Damascus in 634 CE and completed control of the region by 640 CE. The Umayyad Caliphate established Damascus as its capital in 661 CE under Muawiyah I. The Umayyad Mosque, built between 706 and 715 CE by Caliph al-Walid I, repurposed the site of a Roman temple to Jupiter and a Christian basilica dedicated to John the Baptist. The mosque's architecture established models for Islamic sacred architecture across the expanding caliphate.
The Abbasid revolution in 750 CE moved the caliphate's capital to Baghdad, reducing Damascus to provincial status. Fragmentation followed. The Fatimid Caliphate based in Cairo competed with Abbasid authority. Seljuk Turks conquered Syria in the eleventh century. Crusader armies captured Antioch in 1098 CE and established the Principality of Antioch and County of Tripoli. The Kingdom of Jerusalem controlled southern regions. European Crusaders built Crac des Chevaliers between 1142 and 1271, a castle that exemplifies medieval military architecture with concentric walls and capacity to garrison 2,000 soldiers. Nur ad-Din, ruling from Aleppo and Damascus from 1146 to 1174, unified Muslim Syria against the Crusader states. Saladin, born in Tikrit but rising to power in Egypt and Syria, defeated Crusader forces at the Battle of Hattin in 1187 and recaptured Jerusalem. Saladin died in Damascus in 1193 and is buried there. His Ayyubid dynasty controlled Syria until Mongol invasions. The Mongols sacked Aleppo in 1260, killing tens of thousands. Mamluk forces from Egypt defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 and established control over Syria that lasted until 1516.