Syria THE PEOPLES
Unavailable
Figure 7. Distribution of Ethnic Groups
A busy street in Dayr as Zawr
Courtesy Mona Yacoubian
The society is composed of a number of cohesive groups
recognizing a common heritage and exhibiting great solidarity.
Both linguistic and religious characteristics define these
peoples; religious communities within the larger language groups
function as separate quasi-ethnic entities and in many cases have
developed distinctive cultural patterns. Ethnic and religious
groups tend to be concentrated in certain geographic regions and
certain social positions. For example, about 40 percent of the
Sunnis are urban dwellers; of those, 80 percent live in the five
largest cities. Alawis (sometimes given as
Alawite--see Glossary)
are generally poor and live in rural areas. About 90 percent of
the inhabitants of the Jabal al Arab are
Druzes (see Glossary);
the Jews and Armenians are largely urban traders.
The cultural differences distinguishing religious communities
are far greater than would be expected to arise from strictly
theological or religious sources. The differences arose during
the lengthy social separation during which each of the various
communities pursued an independent communal life. For example, in
addition to the obvious difference of religious belief and
ritual, differences in clothing, household architecture,
etiquette, agricultural practice, and outlook characterize the
cultures of Muslims, Christians, and Druzes
(see Religious Life
, this ch.).
Accurate statistical breakdowns by language and ethnic group
were unavailable in 1986, and estimates by authorities varied.
Arabs, or native speakers of Arabic, were thought to constitute
nearly 90 percent of the population, but Kurdish, Armenian,
Turkic, and Syriac were also spoken. Arabs are divided into a
number of religious communities. Arabic-speaking Sunni Muslims,
who constitute the largest single group, account for slightly
more than half the population.
Arabs live in all parts of the country--in city and village,
desert and mountain. Non-Arab groups generally live in partial
isolation from each other, either in their own village or cluster
of villages or in specific quarters of towns and cities, mostly
in the area north of Aleppo or in the Jazirah region of the
northeast. The Jazirah is particularly heterogeneous; among its
settled population, the proportion of non-Arabs is much greater
than in any other region. The concentration of non-Arab groups in
Halab Province and in the Jazirah gives these areas a distinct
character and has caused concern in the central government about
the maintenance of order there.
Many city dwellers speak a Western language in addition to
Arabic; French is by far the most common, and many educated
Syrians are as fluent in it as in Arabic. Although English is
increasingly used, many Syrians do not know it as well as they do
French, which has been the major channel for the exchange of
learning between Syria and the West.
The consciousness of a Syrian nationality is not well
developed. Both among Arabs and minority groups, primary
individual loyalty is to the local ethnic or religious community.
In effect, cooperation tends to be restricted to traditional
family, ethnic, and religious groups. To protect himself or to
meet an immediate need, an individual cooperates with those he
personally knows and trusts; impersonal cooperation for long
range programs with nonfamily or nonmembers of his religious
community is another matter. As one Syrian has noted, a Syrian
may want the government to do things for him, but he will rarely
cooperate in getting those things done.
A man has few obligations to his ethnic group at large.
Ethnic loyalties take shape only when one's group is under attack
by another. For example, Kurds close ranks against Arabs if Arab
landowners are raising land rents. Such action could be
interpreted by Kurds as Arab persecution.
This extreme heterogeneity and lack of general coherence has
led the government to attempt Arabization of the population. For
example, it no longer refers to the Druze region as Jabal Druze
(Mountain of the Druze), but has renamed it Jabal al Arab
(Mountain of the Arabs).
Syrians are addressed in political speeches as "descendants
of the Umayyads," "Arab citizens," "brother Arabs," and
"descendants of Walid and of Saladin." "The blessed Syrian
homeland" is "the land of Arabism." This deemphasis on ethnic
differences has more and more equated the terms "Syrian" and
"Arab."
The Syrian government deals with religious communities, not
Arabs, Kurds, or Armenians. Census reports, for example,
enumerate various Muslim groups, Druzes, Armenian Orthodox
(Gregorian), Armenian Catholics, and Jews. There is no official
listing of Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, or Jews as such as ethnic
groups. Candidates for political office are named in government
lists as members of religious communities only; the government
lead is followed even in the press, which describes individuals
as Arabs or as members of religious communities and does not
identify them with ethnic minorities.
Data as of April 1987
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