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Syria:
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Other pages in this profile of Syria:
Geography, People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation,
Geography, People, Government, Economy, Communications & Transportation,
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Military branches |
Syrian Armed Forces: Syrian Arab Army (includes Syrian Arab Navy), Syrian Arab Air and Air Defense Force (includes Air Defense Command) (2005) |
Military service age and obligation |
18 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation - 30 months (18 months in the Syrian Arab Navy); women are not conscripted but may volunteer to serve (2004) |
Manpower available for military service |
males age 18-49: 4,356,413 females age 18-49: 4,123,339 (2005 est.) |
Manpower fit for military service |
males age 18-49: 3,453,888 females age 18-49: 3,421,558 (2005 est.) |
Manpower reaching military age annually |
males age 18-49: 225,113 females age 18-49: 211,829 (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP |
5.9% (2005 est.) |
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Disputes - international |
Golan Heights is Israeli-occupied with the almost 1,000-strong UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) patrolling a buffer zone since 1964; lacking a treaty or other documentation describing the boundary, portions of the Lebanon-Syria boundary are unclear with several sections in dispute; since 2000, Lebanon has claimed Shaba'a farms in the Golan Heights; 2004 Agreement and pending demarcation settles border dispute with Jordan; approximately two million Iraqis have fled the conflict in Iraq with the majority taking refuge in Syria and Jordan |
Refugees and internally displaced persons |
refugees (country of origin): 700,000 - 1.2 million (Iraq), 434,896 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) IDPs: 305,000 (most displaced from Golan Heights during 1967 Arab-Israeli War) (2006) |
Trafficking in persons |
current situation: Syria is a destination country for women from South and Southeast Asia and Africa for domestic servitude and from Eastern Europe and Iraq for sexual exploitation; women are recruited for work in Syria as domestic servants, but some face conditions of exploitation and involuntary servitude including long hours, non-payment of wages, withholding of passports and other restrictions on movement, and physical and sexual abuse; Eastern European women recruited for work in Syria as cabaret dancers are not permitted to leave their work premises without permission and have their passports withheld; some displaced Iraqi women and children are reportedly forced into sexual exploitation tier rating: Tier 3 - Syria does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so |
Illicit drugs |
a transit point for opiates, hashish, and cocaine bound for regional and Western markets; weak anti-money-laundering controls and bank privatization may leave it vulnerable to money laundering |
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Copyright 2008 World Sites Atlas (sitesatlas.com) |