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126-616: The Umpqua Basin is a watershed in the U.S. state of Oregon . It includes the drainages of the South Umpqua River , North Umpqua River , mainstem Umpqua River and the Smith River . The basin lies primarily within three ecoregions (Coast Range, Cascades and Klamath Mountains ) and contains a wide variety of vegetation. 43°12′N 123°12′W  /  43.2°N 123.2°W  / 43.2; -123.2 This Douglas County , Oregon state location article

252-418: A Ba'athist party state into a totalitarian dictatorship marked by his pervasive grip on the party, armed forces , secret police , media, education sector, religious and cultural spheres and all aspects of civil society. He assigned Alawite loyalists to key posts in the military forces , bureaucracy , intelligence and the ruling elite. A cult of personality revolving around Hafiz and his family became

378-679: A wider region , broadly synonymous with the Levant, and known in Arabic as al-Sham . The modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BC . Damascus and Aleppo are cities of great cultural significance. During the Islamic rule, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital for

504-527: A Syrian nation that does not exist... by smoothing the rifts which still divide it" or "cultivate and maintain all the phenomena, which require our arbitration that these divisions give". De Caix added "I must say only the second option interests me". This is what Gouraud did. In 1925, Sultan al-Atrash led a revolt that broke out in the Druze Mountain and spread to engulf the whole of Syria and parts of Lebanon. Al-Atrash won several battles against

630-437: A common task in environmental engineering and science. In a closed drainage basin, or endorheic basin , rather than flowing to the ocean, water converges toward the interior of the basin, known as a sink , which may be a permanent lake, a dry lake , or a point where surface water is lost underground . Drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units , which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into

756-528: A core tenet of Ba'athist ideology , which espoused that Assad dynasty was destined to rule perennially. On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt initiated the Yom Kippur War against Israel. The Israel Defense Forces reversed the initial Syrian gains and pushed deeper into Syrian territory. The village of Quneitra was largely destroyed by the Israeli army. In the late 1970s, an Islamist uprising by

882-454: A drainage basin, and there are different ways to interpret that data. In the unlikely event that the gauges are many and evenly distributed over an area of uniform precipitation, using the arithmetic mean method will give good results. In the Thiessen polygon method, the drainage basin is divided into polygons with the rain gauge in the middle of each polygon assumed to be representative for

1008-540: A drainage boundary is referred to as watershed delineation . Finding the area and extent of a drainage basin is an important step in many areas of science and engineering. Most of the water that discharges from the basin outlet originated as precipitation falling on the basin. A portion of the water that enters the groundwater system beneath the drainage basin may flow towards the outlet of another drainage basin because groundwater flow directions do not always match those of their overlying drainage network. Measurement of

1134-470: A group of Syrian Ba'athist officers, alarmed by the party's poor position and the increasing fragility of the union, decided to form a secret Military Committee; its initial members were Lieutenant-Colonel Muhammad Umran , Major Salah Jadid and Captain Hafiz al-Assad. Syria seceded from the union with Egypt on 28 September 1961, after a coup and terminated the political union. The instability which followed

1260-646: A lesser degree Babylonia . The Egyptians initially occupied much of the south, while the Hittites, and the Mitanni, much of the north. However, Assyria eventually gained the upper hand, destroying the Mitanni Empire and annexing huge swathes of territory previously held by the Hittites and Babylon. Around the 14th century BC, various Semitic peoples appeared in the area, such as the semi-nomadic Suteans who came into an unsuccessful conflict with Babylonia to

1386-766: A major shift in relations with both other Arab states and the Western world, Syria participated in the United States-led Gulf War against Saddam Hussein . The country participated in the multilateral Madrid Conference of 1991 , and during the 1990s engaged in negotiations with Israel along with Palestine and Jordan . These negotiations failed, and there have been no further direct Syrian-Israeli talks since President Hafiz al-Assad's meeting with then President Bill Clinton in Geneva in 2000. Hafiz al-Assad died on 10 June 2000. His son, Bashar al-Assad ,

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1512-602: A multi-level hierarchical drainage system . Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks. In a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. About 48.71% of the world's land drains to the Atlantic Ocean . In North America , surface water drains to the Atlantic via the Saint Lawrence River and Great Lakes basins,

1638-583: A number of provinces under the Roman Empire (but politically independent from each other): Judaea , later renamed Palaestina in AD 135 (the region corresponding to modern-day Israel , the Palestinian Territories, and Jordan) in the extreme southwest; Phoenice (established in AD 194) corresponding to modern Lebanon, Damascus and Homs regions; Coele-Syria (or "Hollow Syria") and south of

1764-512: A semiarid steppe zone, to arid desert in the east. The country consists mostly of arid plateau, although the northwest part bordering the Mediterranean is fairly green. Al-Jazira in the northeast and Hawran in the south are important agricultural areas. The Euphrates , Syria's most important river, crosses the country in the east. Syria is one of the fifteen states that comprise the so-called " cradle of civilization ". Its land straddles

1890-645: A short-lived independent Kingdom of Syria was established under Faisal I of the Hashemite family. However, his rule over Syria ended after only a few months, following the Battle of Maysalun . French troops occupied Syria later that year after the San Remo conference proposed that the League of Nations put Syria under a French mandate. General Gouraud had according to his secretary de Caix two options: "Either build

2016-530: A suspected nuclear reactor under construction by North Korean technicians. The Syrian civil war is an ongoing internal violent conflict in Syria. It is a part of the wider Arab Spring , a wave of upheaval throughout the Arab World . Public demonstrations across Syria began on 26 January 2011 and developed into a nationwide uprising. Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad ,

2142-452: A system that led to peaceful coexistence. Each ethno-religious minority— Arab Shia Muslim , Arab Sunni Muslim , Aramean - Syriac Orthodox , Greek Orthodox , Maronite Christians , Assyrian Christians , Armenians , Kurds and Jews —constituted a millet . The religious heads of each community administered all personal status laws and performed certain civil functions as well. In 1831, Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt renounced his loyalty to

2268-652: Is a presidential state that nominally permits the candidacy of individuals who do not form part of the Ba'ath -controlled National Progressive Front . Despite this, Syria remains a one-party state with an extensive secret police apparatus that curtails any independent political activity. The new constitution introduced single-handedly by the Assad regime , without participation of the Syrian opposition , has bolstered its authoritarian character by bestowing extraordinary powers on

2394-529: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Drainage basin Other terms for a drainage basin are catchment area , catchment basin , drainage area , river basin , water basin , and impluvium . In North America, they are commonly called a watershed , though in other English-speaking places, "watershed" is used only in its original sense, that of the drainage divide line. A drainage basin's boundaries are determined by watershed delineation ,

2520-543: Is extremely limited, and the country is ranked 2nd worst in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index . Syria is the most corrupt country in the Middle East and was ranked the 2nd lowest globally on the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index . The country has also become the epicentre of a state-sponsored multi-billion dollar illicit drug cartel , the largest in the world. The civil war has resulted in more than 600,000 deaths, with pro-Assad forces causing more than 90% of

2646-487: Is referred to as " watershed management ". In Brazil , the National Policy of Water Resources, regulated by Act n° 9.433 of 1997, establishes the drainage basin as the territorial division of Brazilian water management. When a river basin crosses at least one political border, either a border within a nation or an international boundary, it is identified as a transboundary river . Management of such basins becomes

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2772-437: Is represented by rectangular houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used containers made of stone, gyps, and burnt lime ( Vaisselle blanche ). The discovery of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidence of early trade. The ancient cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age. Archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria

2898-614: Is the Dead Sea . Drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important. For example, the English crown gave the Hudson's Bay Company a monopoly on the fur trade in the entire Hudson Bay basin, an area called Rupert's Land . Bioregional political organization today includes agreements of states (e.g., international treaties and, within

3024-729: The 1961 coup culminated in the 8 March 1963 Ba'athist coup . The takeover was engineered by members of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party , led by Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar . The new Syrian cabinet was dominated by Ba'ath members. Since the 1963 seizure of power by its Military Committee , the Ba'ath party has ruled Syria as a totalitarian state . Ba'athists took control over country's politics, education, culture, religion and surveilled all aspects of civil society through its powerful Mukhabarat (secret police). Syrian Arab Armed forces and secret police were integrated with

3150-713: The African Great Lakes , the interiors of Australia and the Arabian Peninsula , and parts in Mexico and the Andes . Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, adjacent closed basins. In endorheic bodies of water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this

3276-741: The Austro-Hungarian Empire . It ultimately suffered defeat and loss of control of the entire Near East to the British Empire and French Empire . During the conflict, genocide against indigenous Christian peoples was carried out by the Ottomans and their allies in the form of the Armenian genocide and Assyrian genocide , of which Deir ez-Zor , in Ottoman Syria, was the final destination of these death marches. In

3402-784: The Crusades and were known collectively as the Crusader states among which the primary one in Syria was the Principality of Antioch . The coastal mountainous region was also occupied in part by the Nizari Ismailis , the so-called Assassins , who had intermittent confrontations and truces with the Crusader States. Later in history when "the Nizaris faced renewed Frankish hostilities, they received timely assistance from

3528-607: The Eastern Seaboard of the United States, the Canadian Maritimes , and most of Newfoundland and Labrador . Nearly all of South America east of the Andes also drains to the Atlantic, as does most of Western and Central Europe and the greatest portion of western Sub-Saharan Africa , as well as Western Sahara and part of Morocco . The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to

3654-540: The Eleutheris river . Since approximately the 11th millennium BC, Syria was one of the centers of Neolithic culture (known as Pre-Pottery Neolithic A ), where agriculture and cattle breeding first began to appear. The site of Tell Qaramel in Aleppo Governorate has several round stone towers dated to 10650 BC, making them the oldest structures of this kind in the world. The Neolithic period ( PPNB )

3780-554: The European Union states , the Gulf Cooperation Council states , and other countries have condemned the use of violence against the protesters. China and Russia have avoided condemning the government or applying sanctions, saying that such methods could escalate into foreign intervention. However, military intervention has been ruled out by most countries. The Arab League suspended Syria's membership over

3906-639: The Greco-Roman world both the Arameans of Syria and the Assyrians of Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq ) to the east were referred to as "Syrians" or "Syriacs", despite these being distinct peoples in their own right, a confusion which would continue into the modern world. Eventually parts of southern Seleucid Syria were taken by the Jewish Hasmoneans dynasty upon the slow disintegration of

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4032-711: The Hellenistic Empire. Syria briefly came under Armenian control from 83 BC, with the conquests of the Armenian king Tigranes the Great , who was welcomed as a savior from the Seleucids and Romans by the Syrian people. However, Pompey the Great , a general of the Roman Empire , rode to Syria and captured Antioch , its capital, and turned Syria into a Roman province in 64 BC, thus ending Armenian control over

4158-566: The Hurrian and Hattian peoples to the northwest, in Asia Minor . Gifts from Pharaohs , found during excavations, confirm Ebla's contact with Egypt . One of the earliest written texts from Syria is a trading agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c. 2300 BC. Scholars believe the language of Ebla to be among the oldest known written Semitic languages after Akkadian . Recent classifications of

4284-695: The Hurrians states and the Euphrates Valley down to the borders with Babylon. The army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam (modern Iran). Yamhad was conquered and destroyed, along with Ebla, by the Hittites from Asia Minor circa 1600 BC. From this time, Syria became a battle ground for various foreign empires, these being the Hittite Empire , Mitanni Empire, Egyptian Empire , Middle Assyrian Empire , and to

4410-521: The Lakhmids and Ghassanids dwelling in the deserts of southern Syria. Syriac Christianity had taken hold as the major religion, although others still followed Judaism , Mithraism , Manicheanism , Greco-Roman Religion , Canaanite Religion and Mesopotamian Religion . Syria's large and prosperous population made Syria one of the most important of the Roman and Byzantine provinces, particularly during

4536-673: The Levant , and from this point the Greeks applied the term without distinction between the Assyrians of Mesopotamia and Arameans of the Levant. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favors the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία , Assyria , ultimately derived from the Akkadian Aššur . The Greek name appears to correspond to Phoenician ʾšr "Assur", ʾšrym "Assyrians", recorded in

4662-626: The Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt . The modern Syrian state was established in the mid-20th century after centuries of Ottoman rule , as a French Mandate. The newly created state represented the largest Arab state to emerge from the formerly Ottoman -ruled Syrian provinces. It gained de jure independence as a parliamentary republic in 1945 when the new Republic became a founding member of the United Nations, an act which legally ended

4788-735: The Mississippi (3.22 million km ), and the Río de la Plata (3.17 million km ). The three rivers that drain the most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganges , and Congo rivers. Endorheic basin are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Endorheic basins cover around 18% of the Earth's land. Some endorheic basins drain to an Endorheic lake or Inland sea . Many of these lakes are ephemeral or vary dramatically in size depending on climate and inflow. If water evaporates or infiltrates into

4914-571: The Muslim Brotherhood was aimed against the government. Islamists attacked civilians and off-duty military personnel, leading security forces to also kill civilians in retaliatory strikes. The uprising had reached its climax in the 1982 Hama massacre , when more than 40,000 people were killed by Syrian military troops and Ba'athist paramilitaries. It has been described as the "single deadliest act" of violence perpetrated by any state upon its own population in modern Arab history In

5040-800: The Neo-Babylonian Empire and had been annexed by the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BC. Led by Cyrus the Great , the Achaemenid Persians retained Imperial Aramaic as one of the diplomatic languages of their empire (539 BC – 330 BC), as well as the Assyrian name for the new satrapy of Aram/Syria Eber-Nari . Syria was later conquered by the Macedonian Empire which was ruled by Alexander the Great c. 330 BC, and consequently became Coele-Syria province of

5166-809: The Nile River ), Southern , Central, and Eastern Europe , Turkey , and the coastal areas of Israel , Lebanon , and Syria . The Arctic Ocean drains most of Western Canada and Northern Canada east of the Continental Divide , northern Alaska and parts of North Dakota , South Dakota , Minnesota , and Montana in the United States, the north shore of the Scandinavian peninsula in Europe, central and northern Russia, and parts of Kazakhstan and Mongolia in Asia , which totals to about 17% of

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5292-411: The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat during the " Black September (also known as the Jordan Civil War of 1970)" hostilities with Jordan reflected this disagreement. The power struggle culminated in the November 1970 Syrian Corrective movement , a bloodless military coup that installed Hafiz al-Assad as the strongman of the government. General Hafiz al-Assad transformed

5418-410: The Presidency and a Ba'athist political committee continues to be responsible for authorization of political parties. The ruling Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party governs Syria as a totalitarian police state , through its control of the Syrian military and security apparatus. 50th edition of Freedom in the World , the annual report published by Freedom House in 2023, designates Syria as "Worst of

5544-457: The Schutzstaffel , to build up their armed forces and military intelligence capabilities. Defeat in this war was one of several trigger factors for the March 1949 Syrian coup d'état by Col. Husni al-Za'im , described as the first military overthrow of the Arab World since the start of the Second World War. This was soon followed by another overthrow, by Col. Sami al-Hinnawi , who was himself quickly deposed by Col. Adib Shishakli , all within

5670-470: The Scythians ravaged and plundered much of Syria. The last stand of the Assyrian army was at Carchemish in northern Syria in 605 BC. The Assyrian Empire was followed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire (605 BC – 539 BC). During this period, Syria became a battle ground between Babylonia and another former Assyrian colony, that of Egypt . The Babylonians, like their Assyrian relations, were victorious over Egypt. Lands that constitute modern day Syria were part of

5796-470: The Seleucid Empire (323 BC – 64 BC), with the Seleucid kings styling themselves 'King of Syria' and the city of Antioch being its capital starting from 240. Thus, it was the Greeks who introduced the name "Syria" to the region. Originally an Indo-European corruption of "Assyria" in northern Mesopotamia (Iraq), the Greeks used this term to describe not only Assyria itself but also the lands to the west which had for centuries been under Assyrian dominion. Thus in

5922-399: The groundwater . A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. Syria Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant . It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to

6048-511: The military committee of the Ba'ath Party established a one-party state and ran Syria under emergency law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending constitutional protections for citizens. Internal power-struggles within Ba'athist factions caused further coups in 1966 and 1970 , which eventually resulted in the seizure of power by Hafiz al-Assad . He effectively established an Alawi minority rule to consolidate power within his family. After Assad's death , his son Bashar al-Assad inherited

6174-428: The presidency in 2000. Since 2011, Syria has been embroiled in a multi-sided civil war , with involvement of different countries . Three political entities – the Syrian Interim Government , Syrian Salvation Government , and Rojava – have emerged in Syrian territory to challenge Assad's rule. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups . Arabs are

6300-412: The total civilian casualties . The war led to a massive refugee crisis , with an estimated 7.6 million internally displaced people (July 2015 UNHCR figure) and over 5 million refugees (July 2017 registered by UNHCR ). The war has also worsened economic conditions, with more than 90% of the population living in poverty and 80% facing food insecurity . The Arab League , the United States ,

6426-459: The "northwest of the Arabian plate ". Petroleum in commercial quantities was first discovered in the northeast in 1956. The most important oil fields are those of al-Suwaydiyah , Karatchok , Rmelan near al-Hasakah , as well as al-Omar and al-Taym fields near Dayr az–Zawr . The fields are a natural extension of the Iraqi fields of Mosul and Kirkuk . Petroleum became Syria's leading natural resource and chief export after 1974. Natural gas

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6552-438: The 13th century BC, founding city states such as Amrit , Simyra , Arwad , Paltos , Ramitha , and Shuksi . From these coastal regions, they eventually spread their influence throughout the Mediterranean , including building colonies in Malta , Sicily, the Iberian peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal ), and the coasts of North Africa and most significantly, founding the major city-state of Carthage (in modern Tunisia ) in

6678-445: The 2024 Fragile States Index , Syria is one of the most dangerous places for journalists . Freedom of press is extremely limited, and the country is ranked 2nd worst in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index . It is the most corrupt country in the MENA region and was ranked the 2nd lowest globally on the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index . Syria has also become the epicentre of a state-sponsored multi-billion dollar illicit drug cartel ,

6804-412: The 2nd and 3rd centuries (AD). Syrians held considerable power during the Severan dynasty . The matriarch of the family and Empress of Rome as wife of emperor Septimius Severus was Julia Domna , a Syrian from the city of Emesa (modern day Homs ), whose family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the god El-Gabal . Her great nephews, also Arabs from Syria, would also become Roman Emperors,

6930-408: The 7th and 8th centuries AD, and was to be a vehicle for the spread of Christianity. The Assyrians named their colonies of Syria and Lebanon Eber-Nari . Assyrian domination ended after the Assyrians greatly weakened themselves in a series of brutal internal civil wars, followed by attacks from: the Medes , Babylonians , Chaldeans , Persians , Scythians and Cimmerians . During the fall of Assyria,

7056-492: The 8th century BC Çineköy inscription . The area designated by the word has changed over time. Classically, Syria lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, between Arabia to the south and Asia Minor to the north, stretching inland to include parts of Iraq, and having an uncertain border to the northeast that Pliny the Elder describes as including, from west to east, Commagene , Sophene , and Adiabene . By Pliny's time, however, this larger Syria had been divided into

7182-411: The 9th century BC, which was much later to become the center of a major empire, rivaling the Roman Republic . Syria and the Western half of Near East then fell to the vast Neo Assyrian Empire (911 BC – 605 BC). The Assyrians introduced Imperial Aramaic as the lingua franca of their empire. This language was to remain dominant in Syria and the entire Near East until after the Islamic conquest in

7308-418: The Andes. The Indian Ocean 's drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earth's land. It drains the eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf , the Indian subcontinent , Burma, and most parts of Australia . The five largest river basins (by area), from largest to smallest, are those of the Amazon (7 million km ), the Congo (4 million km ), the Nile (3.4 million km ),

7434-447: The Atlantic. The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U.S. interior between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains , a small part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan , eastern Central America , the islands of the Caribbean and the Gulf, and a small part of northern South America. The Mediterranean Sea basin, with the Black Sea , includes much of North Africa , east-central Africa (through

7560-440: The Ayyubids." After a century of Seljuk rule, Syria was largely conquered (1175–1185) by the Kurdish liberator Salah ad-Din , founder of the Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt. Aleppo fell to the Mongols of Hulegu in January 1260, and Damascus in March, but then Hulegu was forced to break off his attack to return to China to deal with a succession dispute. A few months later, the Mamluks arrived with an army from Egypt and defeated

7686-464: The Ba'ath party apparatus; after the purging of traditional civilian and military elites by the new regime. The 1963 Ba'athist coup marked a "radical break" in modern Syrian history , after which Ba'ath party monopolised power in the country to establish a one-party state and shaped a new socio-political order by enforcing its state ideology . On 23 February 1966, the neo-Ba'athist Military Committee carried out an intra-party rebellion against

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7812-409: The Ba'athist Old Guard ( Aflaq and Bitar ), imprisoned President Amin al-Hafiz and designated a regionalist, civilian Ba'ath government on 1 March. Although Nureddin al-Atassi became the formal head of state, Salah Jadid was Syria's effective ruler from 1966 until November 1970, when he was deposed by Hafiz al-Assad , who at the time was Minister of Defense. The coup led to the schism within

7938-425: The Eblaite language have shown that it was an East Semitic language , closely related to the Akkadian language . Ebla was weakened by a long war with Mari , and the whole of Syria became part of the Mesopotamian Akkadian Empire after Sargon of Akkad and his grandson Naram-Sin 's conquests ended Eblan domination over Syria in the first half of the 23rd century BC. By the 21st century BC, Hurrians settled in

8064-478: The Empire and overran Ottoman Syria , capturing Damascus. His short-term rule over the domain attempted to change the demographics and social structure of the region: he brought thousands of Egyptian villagers to populate the plains of Southern Syria , rebuilt Jaffa and settled it with veteran Egyptian soldiers aiming to turn it into a regional capital, and he crushed peasant and Druze rebellions and deported non-loyal tribesmen. By 1840, however, he had to surrender

8190-418: The French, notably the Battle of al-Kafr on 21 July 1925, the Battle of al-Mazraa on 2–3 August 1925, and the battles of Salkhad, al-Musayfirah and Suwayda. France sent thousands of troops from Morocco and Senegal, leading the French to regain many cities, although resistance lasted until the spring of 1927. The French sentenced Sultan al-Atrash to death, but he had escaped with the rebels to Transjordan and

8316-449: The Middle Assyrian Empire, who also annexed much of the west during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I 1114–1076 BC. With the destruction of the Hittites and the decline of Assyria in the late 11th century BC, the Aramean tribes gained control of much of the interior, founding states such as Bit Bahiani , Aram-Damascus , Hamath , Aram-Rehob , Aram-Naharaim , and Luhuti . From this point, the region became known as Aramea or Aram . There

8442-404: The Mongols in the Battle of Ain Jalut in Galilee . The Mamluk leader, Baibars , made Damascus a provincial capital. When he died, power was taken by Qalawun . In the meantime, an emir named Sunqur al-Ashqar had tried to declare himself ruler of Damascus, but he was defeated by Qalawun on 21 June 1280, and fled to northern Syria. Al-Ashqar, who had married a Mongol woman, appealed for help from

8568-449: The Mongols. The Mongols of the Ilkhanate took Aleppo in October 1280, but Qalawun persuaded Al-Ashqar to join him, and they fought against the Mongols on 29 October 1281, in the Second Battle of Homs , which was won by the Mamluks . In 1400, the Muslim Turco-Mongol conqueror Tamurlane invaded Syria, in which he sacked Aleppo , and captured Damascus after defeating the Mamluk army. The city's inhabitants were massacred, except for

8694-408: The Syrian Army. The insurgents unified under the banner of the Free Syrian Army and fought in an increasingly organized fashion; however, the civilian component of the armed opposition lacked an organized leadership. The uprising has sectarian undertones, though neither faction in the conflict has described sectarianism as playing a major role. The opposition is dominated by Sunni Muslims, whereas

8820-451: The Syrian government, 9,815–10,146 people, including 3,430 members of the security forces, 2,805–3,140 insurgents and up to 3,600 civilians, have been killed in fighting with what they characterize as "armed terrorist groups." To escape the violence, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled the country to neighboring Jordan , Iraq and Lebanon , as well to Turkey . The total official UN numbers of Syrian refugees reached 42,000 at

8946-417: The US, interstate compacts ) or other political entities in a particular drainage basin to manage the body or bodies of water into which it drains. Examples of such interstate compacts are the Great Lakes Commission and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency . In hydrology , the drainage basin is a logical unit of focus for studying the movement of water within the hydrological cycle . The process of finding

9072-531: The area back to the Ottomans. From 1864, Tanzimat reforms were applied on Ottoman Syria, carving out the provinces (vilayets) of Aleppo , Zor , Beirut and Damascus Vilayet ; Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon was created, as well, and soon after the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem was given a separate status. During World War I , the Ottoman Empire entered the conflict on the side of Germany and

9198-587: The artisans, who were deported to Samarkand . Tamurlane also conducted specific massacres of the Aramean and Assyrian Christian populations, greatly reducing their numbers. By the end of the 15th century, the discovery of a sea route from Europe to the Far East ended the need for an overland trade route through Syria. In 1516, the Ottoman Empire invaded the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt , conquering Syria, and incorporating it into its empire. The Ottoman system

9324-406: The basin, it can form tributaries that change the structure of the land. There are three different main types, which are affected by the rocks and ground underneath. Rock that is quick to erode forms dendritic patterns, and these are seen most often. The two other types of patterns that form are trellis patterns and rectangular patterns. Rain gauge data is used to measure total precipitation over

9450-864: The capital of empire to Baghdad . Arabic – made official under Umayyad rule – became the dominant language, replacing Greek and Aramaic of the Byzantine era. In 887, the Egypt-based Tulunids annexed Syria from the Abbasids, and were later replaced by once the Egypt-based Ikhshidids and still later by the Hamdanids originating in Aleppo founded by Sayf al-Dawla . Sections of Syria were held by French, English, Italian and German overlords between 1098 and 1189 AD during

9576-801: The city one of the richest in the Roman empire. Eventually, in the late 3rd century AD, the Palmyrene king Odaenathus defeated the Persian emperor Shapur I and controlled the entirety of the Roman East while his successor and widow Zenobia established the Palmyrene Empire , which briefly conquered Egypt, Syria, Palestine, much of Asia Minor, Judah and Lebanon, before being finally brought under Roman control in 273 AD. The northern Mesopotamian Assyrian kingdom of Adiabene controlled areas of north east Syria between 10 AD and 117 AD, before it

9702-917: The city, most of which were halted after his death. Syria is significant in the history of Christianity ; Saulus of Tarsus, better known as the Apostle Paul , was converted on the Road to Damascus and emerged as a significant figure in the Christian Church at Antioch in ancient Syria. Muhammad 's first interaction with the people of Syria was during the Invasion of Dumatul Jandal in July 626 where he ordered his followers to invade Duma, because Muhammad received intelligence that some tribes there were involved in highway robbery and preparing to attack Medina itself. William Montgomery Watt claims that this

9828-415: The conflict appears to have settled into a frozen state. Although roughly 30% of the country is controlled by opposition forces, heavy fighting has largely ceased and there is a growing regional trend toward normalizing relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Syria lies between latitudes 32° and 38° N , and longitudes 35° and 43° E . The climate varies from the humid Mediterranean coast, through

9954-639: The control of Vichy France until the British and Free French occupied the country in the Syria-Lebanon campaign in July 1941. Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalists and the British forced the French to evacuate their troops in April 1946, leaving the country in the hands of a republican government that had been formed during the mandate. Upheaval dominated Syrian politics from independence through

10080-430: The discharge of water from a basin may be made by a stream gauge located at the basin's outlet. Depending on the conditions of the drainage basin, as rainfall occurs some of it seeps directly into the ground. This water will either remain underground, slowly making its way downhill and eventually reaching the basin, or it will permeate deeper into the soil and consolidate into groundwater aquifers. As water flows through

10206-441: The drainage area is dependent on the soil type. Certain soil types such as sandy soils are very free-draining, and rainfall on sandy soil is likely to be absorbed by the ground. However, soils containing clay can be almost impermeable and therefore rainfall on clay soils will run off and contribute to flood volumes. After prolonged rainfall even free-draining soils can become saturated , meaning that any further rainfall will reach

10332-697: The drainage basin to the mouth, and may accumulate there, disturbing the natural mineral balance. This can cause eutrophication where plant growth is accelerated by the additional material. Because drainage basins are coherent entities in a hydrological sense, it has become common to manage water resources on the basis of individual basins. In the U.S. state of Minnesota , governmental entities that perform this function are called " watershed districts ". In New Zealand, they are called catchment boards. Comparable community groups based in Ontario, Canada, are called conservation authorities . In North America, this function

10458-533: The east, and the West Semitic speaking Arameans who subsumed the earlier Amorites. They too were subjugated by Assyria and the Hittites for centuries. The Egyptians fought the Hittites for control over western Syria; the fighting reached its zenith in 1274 BC with the Battle of Kadesh . The west remained part of the Hittite empire until its destruction c. 1200 BC, while eastern Syria largely became part of

10584-715: The first being Elagabalus and the second, his cousin Alexander Severus . Another Roman emperor who was a Syrian was Philip the Arab (Marcus Julius Philippus), who was born in Roman Arabia . He was emperor from 244 to 249, and ruled briefly during the Crisis of the Third Century . During his reign, he focused on his home town of Philippopolis (modern day Shahba ) and began many construction projects to improve

10710-506: The former French mandate. French troops departed in April 1946, granting de facto independence. The post-independence period was tumultuous, with multiple military coup attempts shaking the country between 1949 and 1971. In 1958, Syria entered a brief union with Egypt , which was terminated in the 1961 coup d'état and was renamed as the Arab Republic of Syria in constitutional referendum . The 1963 coup d'état carried out by

10836-619: The government's response to the crisis, but sent an observer mission in December 2011, as part of its proposal for peaceful resolution of the crisis. The latest attempts to resolve the crisis has been made through the appointment of Kofi Annan, as a special envoy to resolve the Syrian crisis in the Middle East. Some analysts however have posited the partitioning the region into a Sunnite east, Kurdish north and Shiite / Alawite west. Twelve years into Syria's devastating civil war,

10962-435: The ground and along rivers it can pick up nutrients , sediment , and pollutants . With the water, they are transported towards the outlet of the basin, and can affect the ecological processes along the way as well as in the receiving water body . Modern use of artificial fertilizers , containing nitrogen (as nitrates ), phosphorus , and potassium , has affected the mouths of drainage basins. The minerals are carried by

11088-781: The ground at its terminus, the area can go by several names, such playa, salt flat, dry lake , or alkali sink . The largest endorheic basins are in Central Asia , including the Caspian Sea , the Aral Sea , and numerous smaller lakes. Other endorheic regions include the Great Basin in the United States, much of the Sahara Desert , the drainage basin of the Okavango River ( Kalahari Basin ), highlands near

11214-441: The kidnapping of Iranian nationals. The UN Commission of Inquiry has also documented abuses of this nature in its February 2012 report, which also includes documentation that indicates rebel forces have been responsible for displacement of civilians. Being ranked 8th last on the 2024 Global Peace Index and 4th worst in the 2024 Fragile States Index , Syria is one of the most dangerous places for journalists . Freedom of press

11340-450: The largest ethnic group, and Sunni Muslims are the largest religious group. It is now the only country that is governed by Ba'athists , who advocate Arab socialism and nationalism . The country's current Ba'athist government is a totalitarian dictatorship with a comprehensive cult of personality around the Assad family , and has attracted widespread criticism for its severe domestic repression and war crimes . Being ranked 4th worst in

11466-475: The largest in the world. Several sources indicate that the name Syria is derived from the 8th century BC Luwian term "Sura/i", and the derivative ancient Greek name: Σύριοι , Sýrioi , or Σύροι , Sýroi , both of which originally derived from Aššūr ( Assyria ) in northern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). However, from the Seleucid Empire (323–150 BC), this term was also applied to

11592-568: The late 1960s. In May 1948, Syrian forces invaded Palestine , together with other Arab states, and immediately attacked Jewish settlements. Their president Shukri al-Quwwatli instructed his troops in the front, "to destroy the Zionists". The Invasion purpose was to prevent the establishment of the State of Israel . Toward this end, the Syrian government engaged in an active process of recruiting former Nazis , including several former members of

11718-851: The leading government figures are Alawites , affiliated with Shia Islam. As a result, the opposition is winning support from the Sunni Muslim states, whereas the government is publicly supported by the Shia dominated Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah . According to various sources, including the United Nations , up to 13,470–19,220 people have been killed, of which about half were civilians, but also including 6,035–6,570 armed combatants from both sides and up to 1,400 opposition protesters. Many more have been injured, and tens of thousands of protesters have been imprisoned. According to

11844-537: The midst of World War I , two Allied diplomats (Frenchman François Georges-Picot and Briton Mark Sykes ) secretly agreed on the post-war division of the Ottoman Empire into respective zones of influence in the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. Initially, the two territories were separated by a border that ran in an almost straight line from Jordan to Iran . However, the discovery of oil in

11970-708: The northeastern city of al-Qamishli . Signs of rioting were seen in the cities of Qamishli and Hasakeh . In 2005, Syria ended its military presence in Lebanon. Assassination of Rafic Hariri in 2005 led to international condemnation and triggered a popular Intifada in Lebanon , known as "the Cedar Revolution" which forced the Assad regime to end its 29-year old of military occupation in Lebanon . On 6 September 2007, foreign jet fighters, suspected as Israeli, reportedly carried out Operation Orchard against

12096-701: The northern east parts of Syria while the rest of the region was dominated by the Amorites . Syria was called the Land of the Amurru (Amorites) by their Assyro-Babylonian neighbors. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages . Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia . Ugaritic

12222-576: The original pan-Arab Ba'ath Party : one Iraqi-led ba'ath movement (ruled Iraq from 1968 to 2003) and one Syrian-led ba'ath movement was established. In the first half of 1967, a low-key state of war existed between Syria and Israel . Conflict over Israeli cultivation of land in the Demilitarized Zone led to 7 April pre-war aerial clashes between Israel and Syria. When the Six-Day War broke out between Egypt and Israel, Syria joined

12348-714: The overthrow of his government, and an end to nearly five decades of Ba’ath Party rule . Since spring 2011, the Syrian government deployed the Syrian Army to quell the uprising, and several cities were besieged, though the unrest continued. According to some witnesses, soldiers, who refused to open fire on civilians, were summarily executed by the Syrian Army. The Syrian government denied reports of defections, and blamed armed gangs for causing trouble. Since early autumn 2011, civilians and army defectors began forming fighting units, which began an insurgency campaign against

12474-418: The rainfall on the area of land included in its polygon. These polygons are made by drawing lines between gauges, then making perpendicular bisectors of those lines form the polygons. The isohyetal method involves contours of equal precipitation are drawn over the gauges on a map. Calculating the area between these curves and adding up the volume of water is time-consuming. Isochrone maps can be used to show

12600-463: The region of Mosul just before the end of the war led to yet another negotiation with France in 1918 to cede this region to the British zone of influence, which was to become Iraq. The fate of the intermediate province of Zor was left unclear; its occupation by Arab nationalists resulted in its attachment to Syria . This border was recognized internationally when Syria became a League of Nations mandate in 1920 and has not changed to date. In 1920,

12726-403: The region which had lasted two decades. Syria prospered under Roman rule, being strategically located on the silk road, which gave it massive wealth and importance, making it the battleground for the rivaling Romans and Persians. Palmyra , a rich and sometimes powerful native Aramaic -speaking kingdom arose in northern Syria in the 2nd century; the Palmyrene established a trade network that made

12852-631: The responsibility of the countries sharing it. Nile Basin Initiative , OMVS for Senegal River , Mekong River Commission are a few examples of arrangements involving management of shared river basins. Management of shared drainage basins is also seen as a way to build lasting peaceful relationships among countries. The catchment is the most significant factor determining the amount or likelihood of flooding . Catchment factors are: topography , shape, size, soil type, and land use (paved or roofed areas). Catchment topography and shape determine

12978-461: The river rather than being absorbed by the ground. If the surface is impermeable the precipitation will create surface run-off which will lead to higher risk of flooding; if the ground is permeable, the precipitation will infiltrate the soil. Land use can contribute to the volume of water reaching the river, in a similar way to clay soils. For example, rainfall on roofs, pavements , and roads will be collected by rivers with almost no absorption into

13104-420: The same year. Shishakli eventually abolished multipartyism altogether, but was himself overthrown in a 1954 coup and the parliamentary system was restored. However, by this time, power was increasingly concentrated in the military and security establishment. The weakness of Parliamentary institutions and the mismanagement of the economy led to unrest and the influence of Nasserism and other ideologies. There

13230-418: The speed with which the runoff reaches a river. A long thin catchment will take longer to drain than a circular catchment. Size will help determine the amount of water reaching the river, as the larger the catchment the greater the potential for flooding. It is also determined on the basis of length and width of the drainage basin. Soil type will help determine how much water reaches the river. The runoff from

13356-519: The strength of Syrian military technology, as it seemed feasible that Syria might attempt to retake İskenderun . Only heated debates in the United Nations lessened the threat of war. On 1 February 1958, Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli and Egypt's Nasser announced the merging of Egypt and Syria, creating the United Arab Republic , and all Syrian political parties, as well as the communists therein, ceased overt activities. Meanwhile,

13482-415: The time taken for rain to reach the river, while catchment size, soil type, and development determine the amount of water to reach the river. Generally, topography plays a big part in how fast runoff will reach a river. Rain that falls in steep mountainous areas will reach the primary river in the drainage basin faster than flat or lightly sloping areas (e.g., > 1% gradient). Shape will contribute to

13608-477: The time taken for runoff water within a drainage basin to reach a lake, reservoir or outlet, assuming constant and uniform effective rainfall. Drainage basins are the principal hydrologic unit considered in fluvial geomorphology . A drainage basin is the source for water and sediment that moves from higher elevation through the river system to lower elevations as they reshape the channel forms. Drainage basins are important in ecology . As water flows over

13734-694: The time, while unofficial number stood at as many as 130,000. UNICEF reported that over 500 children have been killed, Another 400 children have been reportedly arrested and tortured in Syrian prisons. Both claims have been contested by the Syrian government. Additionally, over 600 detainees and political prisoners have died under torture. Human Rights Watch accused the government and Shabiha of using civilians as human shields when they advanced on opposition held-areas. Anti-government rebels have been accused of human rights abuses as well, including torture, kidnapping, unlawful detention and execution of civilians, Shabiha and soldiers. HRW also expressed concern at

13860-471: The war and attacked Israel as well. In the final days of the war, Israel turned its attention to Syria, capturing two-thirds of the Golan Heights in under 48 hours. The defeat caused a split between Jadid and Assad over what steps to take next. Disagreement developed between Jadid, who controlled the party apparatus, and Assad, who controlled the military. The 1970 retreat of Syrian forces sent to aid

13986-440: The west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast , Jordan to the south , and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest . It is a republic comprising 14 governorates . Damascus is Syria's capital and largest city. With a population of 25.0 million across an area of 185,180 square kilometres (71,500 sq mi), it is the 57th most populous and 87th largest country. The name "Syria" historically referred to

14112-691: The world . Yamhad (modern Aleppo ) dominated northern Syria for two centuries, although Eastern Syria was occupied in the 19th and 18th centuries BC by the Old Assyrian Empire ruled by the Amorite Dynasty of Shamshi-Adad I , and by the Babylonian Empire which was founded by Amorites. Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh , Qatna ,

14238-789: The world's land. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean . Its basin includes much of China, eastern and southeastern Russia, Japan, the Korean Peninsula , most of Indochina, Indonesia and Malaysia, the Philippines, all of the Pacific Islands , the northeast coast of Australia , and Canada and the United States west of the Continental Divide (including most of Alaska), as well as western Central America and South America west of

14364-631: Was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet , considered to be the world's earliest known alphabet. The Ugaritic kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC in what was known as the Late Bronze Age Collapse . Aleppo and the capital city Damascus are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in

14490-420: Was already envisaging something of the expansion which took place after his death", and that the rapid march of his troops must have "impressed all those who heard of it". William Muir also believes that the expedition was important as Muhammad followed by 1000 men reached the confines of Syria, where distant tribes had now learnt his name, while the political horizon of Muhammad was extended. By AD 640, Syria

14616-625: Was also a synthesis between the Semitic Arameans and the remnants of the Indo-European Hittites , with the founding of a number of Syro-Hittite states centered in north central Aram (Syria) and south central Asia Minor (modern Turkey), including Palistin , Carchemish and Sam'al . A Canaanite group known as the Phoenicians came to dominate the coasts of Syria, (and also Lebanon and northern Palestine ) from

14742-643: Was conquered by the Arab Rashidun army led by Khalid ibn al-Walid . In the mid-7th century, the Umayyad dynasty , then rulers of the empire, placed the capital of the empire in Damascus. The country's power declined during later Umayyad rule; this was mainly due to totalitarianism, corruption and the resulting revolutions. The Umayyad dynasty was then overthrown in 750 by the Abbasid dynasty , which moved

14868-702: Was conquered by Rome. The Aramaic language has been found as far afield as Hadrian's Wall in Ancient Britain, with an inscription written by a Palmyrene emigrant at the site of Fort Arbeia . Control of Syria eventually passed from the Romans to the Byzantines , with the split in the Roman Empire. The largely Aramaic -speaking population of Syria during the heyday of the Byzantine Empire

14994-433: Was discovered at the field of Jbessa in 1940. Syria contains four terrestrial ecoregions: Syrian xeric grasslands and shrublands , Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests , Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests , and Mesopotamian shrub desert . The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 3.64/10, ranking it 144th globally out of 172 countries. Syria

15120-567: Was elected president in an election in which he ran unopposed. His election saw the birth of the Damascus Spring and hopes of reform, but by autumn 2001, the authorities had suppressed the movement, imprisoning some of its leading intellectuals. Instead, reforms have been limited to some market reforms. On 5 October 2003, Israel bombed a site near Damascus , claiming it was a terrorist training facility for members of Islamic Jihad . In March 2004, Syrian Kurds and Arabs clashed in

15246-663: Was eventually pardoned. He returned to Syria in 1937 after the signing of the Syrian-French Treaty. Syria and France negotiated a treaty of independence in September 1936, and Hashim al-Atassi was the first president to be elected under the first incarnation of the modern republic of Syria. However, the treaty never came into force because the French Legislature refused to ratify it. With the fall of France in 1940 during World War II , Syria came under

15372-604: Was fertile ground for various Arab nationalist , Syrian nationalist , and socialist movements, which represented disaffected elements of society. Notably included were religious minorities, who demanded radical reform. In November 1956, as a direct result of the Suez Crisis , Syria signed a pact with the Soviet Union . This gave a foothold for Communist influence within the government in exchange for military equipment. Turkey then became worried about this increase in

15498-505: Was not burdensome to Syrians because the Turks respected Arabic as the language of the Quran , and accepted the mantle of defenders of the faith. Damascus was made the major entrepot for Mecca , and as such it acquired a holy character to Muslims, because of the beneficial results of the countless pilgrims who passed through on the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. Ottoman administration followed

15624-515: Was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only that of Mesopotamia . The earliest recorded indigenous civilization in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib , northern Syria. Ebla appears to have been founded around 3500 BC, and gradually built its fortune through trade with the Mesopotamian states of Sumer , Assyria , and Akkad , as well as with

15750-494: Was probably not exceeded again until the 19th century. Prior to the Arab Islamic Conquest in the 7th century AD, the bulk of the population were Arameans , but Syria was also home to Greek and Roman ruling classes, Assyrians still dwelt in the north east, Phoenicians along the coasts, and Jewish and Armenian communities were also extant in major cities, with Nabateans and pre-Islamic Arabs such as

15876-409: Was the most significant expedition Muhammad ordered at the time, even though it received little notice in the primary sources. Dumat Al-Jandal was 800 kilometres (500 mi) from Medina, and Watt says that there was no immediate threat to Muhammad, other than the possibility that his communications to Syria and supplies to Medina would be interrupted. Watt says "It is tempting to suppose that Muhammad

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