Syria
Syria, 1920 to today. Draft, not yet reviewed
Syria gained de jure independence as a parliamentary republic in 1945 when the First Syrian Republic became a founding member of the United Nations, an act which legally ended the French Mandate. The 1963 coup d'état carried out by the military committee of the Ba'ath Party established a one-party state, which ran Syria under martial law from 1963 to 2011. During the Arab Spring in 2011, members of the Syrian opposition organized protests against the Assad regime, which became known as the Syrian Revolution. In late 2024, HTS and other opposition forces launched a series of offensives, culminating in the fall of Damascus and the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024.
Seat of power: Damascus
Rulers
Bahij al-Khatib
President of Syria, 1939–1941
He was a French-appointed Syrian Head of State from July 8, 1939 to April 4, 1941. Al-Khatib was staunchly loyal to the continued French administration of Syria and opposed all aspirations for independence.
Portrait of Bahij al-Khatib: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Shukri al-Quwatli
President of Syria, 1946–1949
He was the first president of post-independence Syria. Quwatli utilized his connections with Saudi Arabia to help finance the Great Syrian Revolt.
Portrait of Shukri al-Quwatli: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
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Hashim al-Atassi
President of Syria, 1949–1951
He served as the President of Syria on three occasions from 1936 to 1939, 1949 to 1951 and 1954 to 1955. He studied public administration at the Mekteb-i Mülkiye in Istanbul, and graduated in 1893.
Portrait of Hashim al-Atassi: uknow, Public domain, file
Sami al-Henaaui
President of Syria, 1949–1949
He was a Syrian politician and military officer. On October 30, 1950, al-Hinnawi was assassinated in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, by Hersho al-Barazi, a cousin of Muhsin al-Barazi, the Prime Minister who had been overthrown and killed in Hinnawi's coup.
Portrait of Sami al-Henaaui: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Fawzi Selu
President of Syria, 1951–1953
He was a Syrian military leader, politician and the President of Syria from December 3, 1951, to July 11, 1953. He had a successful military career, and when Syria became fully independent in 1946, he became the director of the academy.
Portrait of Fawzi Selu: Not credited, Public domain, file
Adib Shishakli
President of Syria, 1953–1954
He was a Syrian military officer who served as President of Syria briefly in 1951 and later from 1953 to 1954. He was overthrown and later assassinated.
Portrait of Adib Shishakli: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Hashim al-Atassi
President of Syria, 1954–1955
In 1919, after the defeat of Ottoman Turkey during World War I, he was elected chairman of the Syrian National Congress, the equivalent of a modern parliament.
Portrait of Hashim al-Atassi: uknow, Public domain, file
Shukri al-Quwatli
President of Syria, 1955–1958
He began his career as a dissident working towards the independence and unity of the Ottoman Empire's Arab territories and was consequently imprisoned and tortured for his activism. Quwatli was immediately sentenced to death by the French who took control over Syria in 1920, following the Franco-Syrian War.
Portrait of Shukri al-Quwatli: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Nazim al-Kudsi
President of Syria, 1961–1963
He served as the president of Syria from 14 December 1961 to 8 March 1963. Qudsi was the last democratically elected President of Syria before the 1963 Syrian coup d'état.
Portrait of Nazim al-Kudsi: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
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Amin al-Hafez
President of Syria, 1963–1966
He was a Syrian general, politician, and member of the Ba'ath Party who served as the president of Syria from 27 July 1963 to 23 February 1966.
Portrait of Amin al-Hafez: The original uploader was Zozo2kx at English Wikipedia., Attribution, file
.jpg){kind=link}
Nureddin al-Atassi
President of Syria, 1966–1970
He served as the president of Syria from 1966 to 1970. Atassi was the first Syrian president to address the United Nations General Assembly, and the only one until Ahmed al-Sharaa did so in September 2025.
Portrait of Nureddin al-Atassi: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
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Ahmad al-Khatib
President of Syria, 1970–1971
He served as the sole ceremonial head of state of Syria, appointed by Hafez al-Assad to replace the ousted president Nureddin al-Atassi. Al-Khatib was a civilian member of the ruling Syrian Ba'ath Party and served as the country's acting president for only four months.
Portrait of Ahmad al-Khatib: Not credited., Public domain, file
Hafez al-Assad
President of Syria, 1971–2000
He served as the president of Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. Assad was a key participant in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, which brought the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power. Assad died in 2000, and he was succeeded by his son, Bashar.
Portrait of Hafez al-Assad: Government of Syria, Public domain, file
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Bashar al-Assad
President of Syria, 2000–2024
He served as the president of Syria from 2000 until his overthrow in 2024 after the Syrian civil war. He is the son of Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria from 1970 to 2000. In 1994, after his elder brother Bassel al-Assad died in a car crash, Assad was recalled to Syria to take over Bassel's role as heir apparent.
Ahmed al-Sharaa
President of Syria, 2025 to today
He has served as the president of Syria since 2025. Ahmed al-Sharaa became Syria's de facto head of state and was formally appointed president of Syria at the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference on 29 January 2025. He led the decisive Syrian opposition offensives that resulted in the fall of the Assad regime in 2024.
Portrait of Ahmed al-Sharaa: Original photo by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, used under CC BY 4.0. Cropped by HurricaneEdgar., CC BY 4.0, file
Culture
- A country of fertile plains, high mountains, plateaus, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups.
- Levantine Arabs are the largest ethnic group, while Sunni Muslims constitute the largest religious group.
- The country is also home to six UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Picture
Damascus is the capital and largest city of Syria and the oldest capital city in the world.
Image: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.