Most modern-day Syrians are described as Levantine Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history. Genetically, Syrian Arabs are a variety of diverse Semitic-speaking groups indigenous to the region.[6][7][8][9] With around 10% of the population, Kurds are the second biggest ethnic group in Syria, followed by Turkmen.
More than six million refugees left the country during the civil war,[10] of whom over five million are registered as refugees by the UNHCR as of mid-2019.[11] Most of them fled to neighboring countries such as Turkey,[12][13]Lebanon, Jordan,[14] and Iraq,[15] as well as European nations like Greece, Germany and Sweden. Since 2017, tens of thousands have returned.[16]
The war resulted in large-scale displacement in the country. The UNHCR estimates internally displaced people (IDPs) at seven million. A further 70,000 people were trapped on the border with Jordan at Rukban in 2016–18,[17][18] with up to 40,000 still there in 2019.[19]
A significant part of the population lives in territory outside government sovereignty. At its peak in 2015, ISIL ruled over ten million people across Syria and Iraq.[20] The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), commonly referred to as Rojava, has a population of around two million.[21] Areas controlled by the opposition have had a population in the millions. In mid-2017, UN OCHA estimated that around 540,000 persons were trapped in besieged areas as of June 2017, the majority besieged by government forces in Eastern Ghouta.[22] By the time the government retook Ghouta in April 2018, some 140,000 individuals had fled their homes and up to 50,000 were evacuated to Idlib and Aleppo governorates.[23] The latter rebel areas had an estimated population of 3 million (40% of them displaced from defeated rebel areas).[24][25]Fighting in Idlib has led to further displacements, of up to 250,000 people, and generating new refugee outflows to neighbouring Turkey.[26]
Displacement has led to demographic shifts. One example is the area in the North under control by Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Many human rights groups, including Amnesty International[27] and international organizations[28][29] have accused SDF forces of committing ethnic cleansing in Arab areas they were capturing from other war factions.[30] The accusation was repeated on 8 May 2019 by Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.[31] NGOs and the opposition have also accused the government of using the conflict to affect demographic restructuring.[32][33][34][35]
In April 2016, the UN estimated that 400,000 people had died in the war,[36] and casualties have continued since, with estimates for the total dead by mid-2019 of up to 220,000 civilians, 175,000 government combatants, and 174,000 anti-government combatants (see Casualties of the Syrian Civil War).
Population
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2023)
In 1200, the territories of modern-day Syria had an estimated population of 2.7 million.[37] This number sharply decreased due to the Plague epidemic in 1348–1353, which killed off an estimated third of the Levant's population. By 1937, the population reached an estimated 2,368,000, still considerably lower than 1200's estimated population.
Modern population
Since 1960, censuses have been conducted in 1960, 1970, 1981, 1994 and 2004.[42]
In 2014, 17,951,639, 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.[43]
In 2017, the head of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, Mohammad Akram al-Qash, said that the Syrian population was 28 million, of which, 21 million were living in Syria and that 7 million were refugees.[44] In 2018, the population was estimated to be 19,454,263 people.[45] Ever since the Syrian Civil War, the population has been steadily declining, however rebounded in 2023, with an estimated population of 23,022,427 people.
(2011-07-01) (Estimates, including Palestinian refugees)[46]
Age Group
Male
Female
Total
%
Total
10 794 000
10 330 000
21 124 000
100
0-4
1 428 000
1 347 000
2 775 000
13.14
5-9
1 384 000
1 270 000
2 654 000
12.56
10-14
1 232 000
1 198 000
2 430 000
11.50
15-19
1 191 000
1 088 000
2 279 000
10.79
20-24
1 035 000
944 000
1 979 000
9.37
25-29
864 000
873 000
1 737 000
8.22
30-34
674 000
697 000
1 371 000
6.49
35-39
601 000
628 000
1 229 000
5.82
40-44
545 000
551 000
1 096 000
5.19
45-49
437 000
433 000
870 000
4.12
50-54
387 000
405 000
792 000
3.75
55-59
293 000
280 000
573 000
2.71
60-64
254 000
227 000
481 000
2.28
65+
469 000
389 000
858 000
4.06
Age group
Male
Female
Total
Percent
0–14
4 044 000
3 815 000
7 859 000
37.20
15–64
6 281 000
6 126 000
12 407 000
58.73
65+
469 000
389 000
858 000
4.06
Population
This data is from CIA World Factbook:[45] In 2023, the Syrian population increased by 6.39%. This made Syria the country with the highest population growth. The birth rate was estimated at 22.19 births per 1000 people. The death rate is 4.07 deaths for 1000 people. The median age (estimated in 2020) for males is 23 years old, while for females it is 24 years old. Overall, the Syrian median age is 23.5 years old. The migration rate is 45.78 migrants for 1,000 people. The gender ratio is as follows:
Population centers as of 2004[49]6,133,652 Syrians among 17,921,000 total population live in the first 10: (1) Aleppo 2,132,100 (2) Damascus 1,711,000 (3) Homs 652,609 (4) Latakia 383,786 (5) Hama 312,994 (6) Raqqa 220,488 (7) Deir ez-Zor 211,857 (8) Al-Hasakah 188,160 (9) Qamishli 184,231 (10) Sayyidah Zaynab 136,427
60% of the population lives 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).
On 1 January 2011, Syria was estimated to have a population of 24 million people, distributed over its 14 governorates.[50] Arabs represent 80-85% of the population, with the rest being a mixture of many ethnic and religious sects, as shown in the table below:
Descendants of ethnic Turks, rather than Turkmens. These figures exclude the Arabic-speaking Turks. Only approximately 30% of Turkmen speak a Turkic language. The majority are Sunni Muslims.
A significant number of these ethnic groups are Arabized, particularly those that adhere to Islam.
The CIA World Factbook cites the following figures for ethnic groups as at July 2018: approximately Arab 50%, Alawite 15%, Kurd 10%, Levantine 10%, other 15% (includes Druze, Ismaili, Imami, Nusairi, Assyrians, Turkmen, Armenian and Chechens).[5] However, Professor John A. Shoup said in 2018 that Kurds made 9% of the population, followed by Turkish-speaking Turkmen comprising 4-5%, Assyrians 4%, Armenians 2%, and Circassians about 1% of the total population.[51]
There has been no Syrian census including a question about religion since 1960, these are thus the last official statistics available:[53]
In 1991 Professor Alasdair Drysdale and Professor Raymond Hinnebusch said that some 85% of Syrians were Muslims and that the remainder were almost all Christians, however, both religious groups were subdivided into many ethnic sects.[54] Among the former, approximately 75% of Syrians were Sunni Muslim, of whom, 60% were Arabic-speaking and the remainder of Sunnis included Kurds 8.5%, Turkmen/Turkoman 3%, and Circassians (less than 1%).[54] In addition, Alawis formed 5.5%, Druze 3% and Ismailis 1.5% of the population. In regards to the Christians, they were subdivided into the Greek Orthodox 4.7%, Armenians 4% and Assyrians 1%.[54]
According to Pierre Beckouche, before 2011, Sunni Muslims accounted for 78% of Syria's population, which included 500,000 Palestinian refugees and the non-Arab Sunni Muslims, namely the Kurds 9-10% and the Turkmen/Turkoman 4%.[55] Other Muslims included Shias and Alawites 11%-16%, whilst the Christians made up 6% of the population.[55] There were also a few Jewish communities in Aleppo and Damascus.[55]
The CIA World Factbook cites the following figures for religious groups:
religions - Muslim 87% (official; includes Sunni 74% and Alawi, Ismaili, and Shia 13%), Christian 10% (mainly of the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches[56] - may be smaller as a result of Christians fleeing the country), Druze 3%.[5]
The first census which focused on the sectarian distribution was carried out in 1932 under the French mandate, however, this census was only carried out in the lands under the short-lived Government of Latakia (the Alawite State established by the French) which covered only 7,000 km2 (2,700 sq mi) out of modern Syria's total area of 185,000 km2 (71,000 sq mi).[57] A general census of Syria in 1943 gave details of religious groups of the population and the rate of growth of each and estimates of the population in 1953 from an unnamed source were as follows:
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.[59]
Arabic is the official, and most widely spoken, language. Arabic speakers make up 85% of the population. Several modern Arabic dialects are used in everyday life, most notably Levantine in the west and Mesopotamian in the northeast. A report published by the UNHCR points out that "while the majority of Syrians are considered Arabs, this is a term based on spoken language (Arabic), not ethnicity."[60]
^"World Microdata Inventory". IPUMS-International. University of Minnesota. 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
^ abcKhalifa, Mustafa (2013), "The impossible partition of Syria", Arab Reform Initiative: 3–5, archived from the original on 2019-03-27, retrieved 2019-03-27, Arabs constitute the major ethnic group in Syria, making up between 80 and 85% of the population. Kurds are the second largest ethnic group in Syria, making up around 10% of the Syrian population and distributed among four regions...with a Yazidi minority that numbers around 40,000... Turkmen are the third largest ethnic group in Syria, making up around 4–5% of the population. Some estimations indicate that they are the second biggest group, outnumbering Kurds, drawing on the fact that Turkmen are divided into two groups: the rural Turkmen who make up 30% of the Turkmen in Syria and who have kept their mother tongue, and the urban Turkmen who have become Arabized and no longer speak their mother language... Assyrians are the fourth largest ethnic group in Syria. They represent the original and oldest inhabitants of Syria, today making up around 3–4% of the Syrian population... Circassians are the fifth largest ethnic group in Syria, making up around 1.5% of the population... Armenians are sixth largest ethnic group in Syria, making up around 1% of the population... There are also a small number of other ethnic groups in Syria, including Greek, Albanian, Bosnian, Pashtun, Russian, and Azeri people...
^Shoup, John A. (2018), The History of Syria, ABC-CLIO, p. 6, ISBN978-1440858352, Syria has several other ethnic groups, the Kurds... they make up an estimated 9 percent...Turkomen comprise around 4-5 percent of the total population. The rest of the ethnic mix of Syria is made of Assyrians (about 4 percent), Armenians (about 2 percent), and Circassians (about 1 percent).
^Hassan, G; Kirmayer, L.J.; Mekki-Berrada, A.; Quosh, C.; el Chammay, R; Deville-Stoetzel, J.B; Youssef, A; Jefee-Bahloul, H; Barkeel-Oteo, A; Coutts, A; Song, S; Ventevogel, P (2015), Culture, Context and the Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Syrians(PDF), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, p. 10, archived from the original(PDF) on 2016-03-26, retrieved 2018-07-20, Given the lack of accurate census data, it is only possible to estimate the ethnic and religious composition of the current Syrian population. While the majority of Syrians are considered Arabs, this is a term based on spoken language (Arabic), not ethnicity. Around nine to ten percent of Syria's population is Kurdish (close to two million people), followed by Turkmen,...
^ abcdefghBehnstedt, Peter (2008), "Syria", in Versteegh, Kees; Eid, Mushira; Elgibali, Alaa; Woidich, Manfred; Zaborski, Andrzej (eds.), Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, vol. 4, Brill Publishers, p. 402, ISBN978-90-04-14476-7