Demographics of Syria

Religion

There has been no Syrian census including a question about religion since 1960, these are thus the last official statistics available. In the next census of 1970, the religion statistics were no longer mentioned.: 92.1% Muslims(4,053,349) including 75% Sunnis, 11% Alawis, 3% Druzes; 7.8% Christians (344,621) and 0.1% Jews (4,860).

Languages

Arabic is the official, and most widely spoken, language. Arabic speakers make up 85% of the population (this includes some 500,000 Palestinians). Many educated Syrians also speak English and French. The Kurds, a majority of whom speak Kurdish, make up 9% of the population and live mostly in the northeast corner of Syria, as well in pockets all along the northern borders of Syria with Turkey, and demographically dominate the district of Afrin, west of Aleppo, though sizable Kurdish communities live in most major Syrian cities as well. Armenian and Turkmen are spoken among the small Armenian and Turkmen populations respectively. Aramaic is still spoken in two forms, the Syriac used by Assyrians and Western Neo-Aramaic used by a few inhabitants in the villages of Bakh'a, Jubb'adin and Ma'loula. 1,500 people of Greek descent lived in Syria. The majority of them were Syrian citizens.

Disposition

60% of the population live in the Aleppo Governorate, the Euphrates valley or along the coastal plain; a fertile strip between the coastal mountains and the desert. Overall population density is about 118.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (306/sq mi). Education is free and compulsory from ages 6 to 11. Schooling consists of 6 years of primary education followed by a 3-year general or vocational training period and a 3-year academic or vocational program. The second 3-year period of academic training is required for university admission. Total enrollment at post-secondary schools is over 150,000. The literacy rate of Syrians aged 15 and older is 86.0% for males and 73.6% for females.

Since 1960, censuses have been conducted in 1960, 1970, 1981, 1994 and 2004.

Civil war's effect on population

More than four million refugees have left the country during the course of the war. Most of them fled to neighboring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, as well as Germany.

The war also affected the birth rate. The annual birth rate in Syria has fallen by more than half since the country plunged into turmoil in March 2011, from about 500,000 births per year before 2011, to about 200,000.

Life expectancy

Prior to the civil war, the life span in Syria was 75.9 years, but that number has since fallen to an estimated 55.7 years.

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

17,951,639 in 2014, a massive decline due to nearly 4 million Syrian refugees leaving the country because of the Syrian Civil War and furthermore because of the death in the war. This is a drop of 9.7% from the previous year.

Age structure

0–14 years: 35.2% (male 4,066,109/female 3,865,817)
15–64 years: 61% (male 6,985,067/female 6,753,619)
65 years and older: 3.8% (male 390,802/female 456,336) (2011 est.)

Median age

total
21 years male
21.7 years female
22.1 years (2011 est.)

Population decline rate

0.797% (2012 est.)

Birth rate

2.35 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Death rate

3.67 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

Net migration rate

-27.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and older: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 71.19 years
male: 69.8 years
female: 72.68 years (2009 est.)

Nationality

noun: Syrian(s)
adjective: Syrian

Ethnic groups

Religions

Languages

Literacy

definition: age 15 and older can read and write

Urbanization

Major urban areas - population

As of 2011: