Circle the area on this map
D. Damascus is Syria’s capital and largest city, and it is several thousand years old. Amman is the capital of Syria’s southern neighbor Jordan; Ankara is the capital of Turkey to Syria’s north; and Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, Syria’s eastern and southeastern neighbor. Lebanon and Israel border Syria to the southwest.
A. Russia and Iran backed Assad in the civil war that killed more than 100,000 people and forced more than half of Syria’s population from their homes. Millions of Syrian refugees also fled the country. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United States, Britain, France, Israel, and the Netherlands all backed various rebel factions.
A. The Alawites are the third largest religious group in Syria, behind Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims. The Alawite mystical Islamic sect branched off from the Shia more than a 1,000 years ago. The rebels who took Damascus Sunday are a Sunni Islamist group which once was linked with the Islamic State.
C. The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria – about 10% of the total population. Early in the civil war, the Kurds established an autonomous region in northern Syria. They were a major U.S. ally in the 2014-2015 fight against the Islamic State. But, President Donald Trump pulled U.S. troops out of the area in 2019, allowing Turkish forces to attack the Kurds.