Demographics of Syria Population 23,865,423 (2024 est.)[ 1] Density 140/km2 (360/sq mi) (2024 est.) Growth rate 4.57% (2024 est.) Birth rate 21.7 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) Death rate 4 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) Life expectancy 74.8 years (2024 est.) • male 73.4 years • female 76.4 years Fertility rate 2.69 children born/woman (2024 est.) Infant mortality rate 15.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) Net migration rate -1.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) 0–14 years 33% (male 4,037,493/female 3,828,777) 15–64 years 62.8% (male 7,475,355/female 7,522,797) 65 and over 4.2% (2024 est.) (male 468,730/female 532,271) Total 1.01 male(s)/female (2024 est.) At birth 1.06 male(s)/female Under 15 1.05 male(s)/female 15–64 years 0.99 male(s)/female 65 and over 0.88 male(s)/female Nationality noun : Syrian(s) adjective : SyrianMajor ethnic Minor ethnic Official Arabic Spoken Kurdish , Turkish , Neo-Aramaic (Turoyo , Western Neo-Aramaic , Suret (Assyrian and Chaldean)
Syria 's estimated pre–Syrian Civil War 2011 population was 22 ±.5 [ 2] million permanent inhabitants, which included 21,124,000 Syrians ,[ 3] as well as 1.3 million Iraqi refugees [ 4] and over 500,000 Palestinian refugees .[ 4] The war makes an accurate count of the Syrian population difficult, as the numbers of Syrian refugees ,[ 5] internally displaced Syrians and casualty numbers are in flux. The CIA World Factbook showed an estimated 20.4m people as of July 2021.[ 6] Of the pre-war population, six million are refugees outside the country , seven million are internally displaced , three million live in rebel -held territory, and two million live in the Kurdish-ruled Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria .
Most modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history . But they are, in fact, genetically a blend of the various Semitic -speaking groups indigenous to the region.[ 7] [ 8] [ 9] [ 10] With around 10% of the population, Kurds are the second biggest ethnic group in Syria , followed by Turkmen .
^ "Syria" , The World Factbook , Central Intelligence Agency, 2024-09-17, retrieved 2024-09-24
^ "Syria's drained population" . The Economist . 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017 .
^ "Population Existed in Syria According To Censuses (1960, 1970, 1981, 1994, 2004) And Estimates of Their Number in Mid Years 2005–2011(000)" . Central Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015 .
^ a b "World Refugee Survey 2008" . U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. 19 June 2008. Archived from the original on 28 December 2012.
^ "Syria Regional Refugee Response" . UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response . 4 July 2019. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019 .
^ "The World Factbook: Syria" . CIA Library . Retrieved 22 December 2018 .
^ Michael Haag (2009). The Templars: The History and the Myth - From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons . Profile Books Limited. p. 65. ISBN 9781846681530 . Archived from the original on 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2015-11-14 .
^ Badro, Danielle A.; Douaihy, Bouchra; Haber, Marc; Youhanna, Sonia C.; Salloum, Angélique; Ghassibe-Sabbagh, Michella; Johnsrud, Brian; Khazen, Georges; Matisoo-Smith, Elizabeth; Soria-Hernanz, David F.; Wells, R. Spencer; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Platt, Daniel E.; Zalloua, Pierre A. (30 January 2013). "Y-Chromosome and mtDNA Genetics Reveal Significant Contrasts in Affinities of Modern Middle Eastern Populations with European and African Populations" . PLOS ONE . 8 (1): e54616. Bibcode :2013PLoSO...854616B . doi :10.1371/journal.pone.0054616 . PMC 3559847 . PMID 23382925 .
^ El-Sibai, Mirvat; Platt, Daniel E.; Haber, Marc; Xue, Yali; Youhanna, Sonia C.; Wells, R. Spencer; zaabel, Hassan; Sanyoura, May F.; Harmanani, Haidar; Bonab, Maziar Ashrafian; Behbehani, Jaafar; Hashwa, Fuad; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Zalloua, Pierre A. (16 August 2009). "Geographical Structure of the Y-chromosomal Genetic Landscape of the Levant: A coastal-inland contrast" . Annals of Human Genetics . 73 (6): 568– 581. doi :10.1111/j.1469-1809.2009.00538.x . PMC 3312577 . PMID 19686289 .
^ John Joseph (2000). The Modern Assyrians of the Middle East . BRILL. p. 30. ISBN 978-9004116412 . Archived from the original on 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2015-11-14 .