Syria2

[|Map]

Relative Location: South of Turkey, West of Iraq, North of Jordan, and East of Lebanon.

Absolute Location: 33° 30' N 36° 20' E

History: Syria was occupied successively by Canaanites, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Arameans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Nabataeans, Byzantines, and, in part, Crusaders before finally coming under the control of the Ottoman Turks. Syria is significant in the history of Christianity; Paul was converted on the road to Damascus and established the first organized Christian Church at Antioch in ancient Syria, from which he left on many of his missionary journeys. Damascus, settled about 2500 B.C., is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It came under Muslim rule in A.D. 636. Immediately thereafter, the city's power and prestige reached its peak, and it became the capital of the Omayyad Empire, which extended from Spain to India from A.D. 661 to A.D. 750, when the Abbasid caliphate was established at Baghdad, Iraq. [|History of Syria]

Agriculture: //Products//--cotton, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruits and vegetables. //Arable land//--32% [|Agriculture]

Natural Resources: Crude oil and natural gas, phosphates, asphalt, rock salt, marble, gypsum, iron ore, chrome, and manganese ores [|Natural Resources]

Syria3