Syria (Arabic: سوريا), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية), is a country in the Middle East. It borders Lebanon to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north. Israel once occupied the Golan Heights in the southwest of the country; a dispute with Turkey over the Hatay Province now seems to have subsided. Historically, Syria has often been taken to include the territories of Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and parts of Jordan, but excluding the Jazira region in the north-east of the modern Syrian state. In this historic sense, the region is also known as Greater Syria or by the Arabic name Bilad al-Sham.

Name

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The name Syria comes from the ancient Greek name for the land of Aram at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea between Egypt and Arabia to the south and Cilicia to the north, stretching inland to include Mesopotamia, and having an uncertain border to the northeast that Pliny the Elder describes as including from west to east Commagene, Sophene, and Adiabene, "formerly known as Assyria" (N.H. 5.66). By Pliny's time, however, this larger Syria had been divided into a number of provinces under the Roman Empire (but politically independent from each other): Judaea (or "Judea" and later renamed Palestine in AD 135—the region corresponding to the modern states of Israel and Jordan and the Palestinian territories) in the extreme southwest, Phoenicia corresponding to Lebanon, with Damascena to the inland side of Phoenicia, Coele-Syria (or "Hollow Syria") south of the Eleutheris river, and Mesopotamia.
Syrian people, however, call their country "Souria" or "Sooria." This name is a variation of "syria," and is used in Arabic as well.

History

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Syria - Twitter Search

newStream ©: Iran, Syria Discuss Closer Military Cooperation http://bit.ly/6zPjcS
greychampion (greychampion) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:36:48 -0000
newStream ©: Iran, Syria Discuss Closer Military Cooperation http://bit.ly/6zPjcS
Syria News بليكس: التفتيش عن أسلحة الدمار الشامل بالعراق كان مسرحية http://url4.eu/wOB6
SyriaNews24 (Syria News) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:02:59 -0000
Syria News بليكس: التفتيش عن أسلحة الدمار الشامل بالعراق كان مسرحية http://url4.eu/wOB6
Syria News إسرائيل تنتقد الأمر القضائي البريطاني باعتقال ليفني لتورطها في جرائم الحرب الإسرائيلية بغزة http://url4.eu/wNxj
SyriaNews24 (Syria News) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:51:21 -0000
Syria News إسرائيل تنتقد الأمر القضائي البريطاني باعتقال ليفني لتورطها في جرائم الحرب الإسرائيلية بغزة http://url4.eu/wNxj
Israeli Military Intelligence: Tel Aviv Area Endangered by Missiles of Hizbullah, Syria, Iran http://cli.gs/b4Ud0
1913Intel (Matthew Wilson) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:47:21 -0000
Israeli Military Intelligence: Tel Aviv Area Endangered by Missiles of Hizbullah, Syria, Iran http://cli.gs/b4Ud0
MI chief: Syria is not natural member of ‘radical axis’ http://ff.im/-cYHLj
aberean (Berean Ministries) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:45:27 -0000
MI chief: Syria is not natural member of ‘radical axis’ http://ff.im/-cYHLj
New free audiobook - History Of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria Vol. 3 by Gaston Maspero - http://bit.ly/6Bbqvf - LibriVox
librivox (librivox) Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:43:34 -0000
New free audiobook - History Of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria Vol. 3 by Gaston Maspero - http://bit.ly/6Bbqvf - LibriVox

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