Transport in Syria is possible by rail, road, air or rivers, both public and private.

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

is a developed

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

n country with a well-developed rail network (2,052 km) and a highway system (782 km). Main international airport is the

Damascus International Airport Damascus International Airport ( ar, مَطَار دِمَشْق الدَّوْلِيّ, Maṭār Dimašq ad-Duwaliyy) is the international airport of Damascus, the capital of Syria. Inaugurated in the mid-1970s, it also was the country's busie ...

in the capital,

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

Railways

: ''total:'' 2,052 km
''standard gauge:'' 1,801 km of gauge
''narrow gauge:'' 251 km of gauge (2006) See also Hejaz railway.

Railway links with adjacent countries

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

- yes, at

Qamishli Qamishli ( ar, ٱلْقَامِشْلِي, Al-Qāmišlī, ku, قامشلۆ, Qamişlo, syc, ܒܝܬ ܙܠܝ̈ܢ, Bēṯ Zālīn, lit=House of Reeds or syr, ܩܡܫܠܐ, translit=Qamishlo)

Nusaybin Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

, *

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

- defunct *

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

- yes, at Al-Yarubiyah/ Rabiya, *

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

- yes - - in 2005, work commenced to build a line *

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

- defunct

Developments

* 2008 - proposed joint rolling stock factory with

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

* On 22 April 2005 Syria ratified the Agreement on International Railways in the Arab

Mashriq The Mashriq ( ar, ٱلْمَشْرِق), sometimes spelled Mashreq or Mashrek, is a term used by Arabs to refer to the eastern part of the Arab world, located in Western Asia and eastern North Africa. Poetically the "Place of Sunrise", the n ...

, which provides for the implementation of a variety of north–south and east–west links between the states of the region, including the restoration of direct rail links between Syria and Lebanon and Iraq. * On 7 July 2005 the Syrian General Establishment for the Hejaz Railway announced that it had signed a contract worth US$54 million with a Lebanese company to build a railroad between Damascus and Damascus International Airport.

External links

CFS

Road transport

An overland trans-desert bus service between

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint of ...

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

and

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

was established by the ''

Nairn Transport Company The Nairn Transport Company was a pioneering motor transport company that operated a trans-desert route from Beirut, Haifa and Damascus to Baghdad, and back again, from 1923. Their route became known as "The Nairn Way". The firm continued, in vari ...

'' of Damascus in 1923.The Nairn Way
by John M. Munro and Martin Love in ''Saudi Aramco World'', July/August 1981, Vol. 32, No. 4. Retrieved 28 April 2014.

Roads

''total:'' 68,157 km
''paved:'' 61,514 km (including 1,103 km of expressways)
''unpaved:'' 6,643 km (2006)

Motorways

Syria has a well-developed system of

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

s in the western half of the country. The eastern part nevertheless has only connection through two lanes roads due to the sparsity of the population. The main motorways in Syria are the following: *M1 - Runs from

Homs Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

. It also connects

Tartus ) , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...

Baniyas Baniyas ( ar, بَانِيَاس ') is a Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, northwestern Syria, located south of Latakia (ancient Laodicea) and north of Tartous (ancient Tortosa). It is known for its citrus fruit orchards and ...

and

Jableh ) , settlement_type = City , motto = , image_skyline = Jableh Collage.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = General view of city and port • Roman Amphitheater• Al ...

. Its length is 174 km. *M2 - Runs from

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

to Jdeidat Yabous, on the border with Lebanon. It also connects Al-Sabboura. Its length is 38 km. * M4 - Runs from

Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...

Saraqib Saraqib ( ar, سَرَاقِب, Sarāqib also spelled Saraqeb) is a city in northwestern Syria, administratively belonging to the Idlib Governorate, located east of Idlib. During the course of the Syrian Civil War, the city fell into rebel force ...

. It also connects Arihah and

Jisr al-Shughur Jisr ash-Shughūr ( ar, جِسْرُ ٱلشُّغُورِ, jisr aš-šuġūr, , also rendered as ''Jisser ash-Shughour'' and other spellings), known in antiquity as Seleucobelus ( el, Σελευκόβηλος, translit=Seleukóbēlos), is a city i ...

. Its length is 120 km. Assuming that it shares some 60 km with the Motorway M5, it arrives until

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, and from there, it has been expanded as a two-lane expressway that continues further east into the Iraqi border, ultimately reaching its destination at

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...

. * M5 - This is the most important motorway in the country, due to its length and as it functions as the south-north backbone of the country network. It connects the border with Jordan in the south with

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, the capital, and continues further north to

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

, the country's second largest city. Its length is . *M20 - Also known as Desert Highway. Runs from

Tadmur Palmyra (; ar, تَدْمُر, Tadmor; Palmyrene: ''Tadmor'') is a city in central Syria, administratively part of the Homs Governorate. It is located in an oasis in the middle of the Syrian Desert northeast of Damascus and southwest of the Eu ...

Deir ez-Zor , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = , population_blank1_title = Ethnicities , population_blank1 = , population_blank2_title = Religions , population_blank2 = ...

, it also connects Al-Sukhnah. Its length is .

Waterways

*900 km; minimal economic importance

Pipelines

*crude oil 1,997 km; petroleum products 3,161 km (2010)

Ports and harbors

Main international seaport at Latakia with additional ports at

, Jablah, and

Merchant marine

''total:'' 19 ships ( or over) totaling /
''ships by type:''

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, econom ...

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

14, carrier 1 (2010)

Airports

As of 2012, Syria had a total of 99 airports. The major airports are:

Aleppo International Airport Aleppo International Airport ( ar, مطار حلب الدولي) is an international airport serving Aleppo, Syria. The airport is serving as a secondary hub for Syrian Air and Cham Wings. History The history of the airport dates back to th ...

Bassel Al-Assad International Airport Bassel al-Assad International Airport ( ar, مطار باسل الأسد الدولي) is an airport serving Latakia, the principal port city of Syria. The airport is named for Bassel al-Assad (1962–1994), son of former Syrian President Hafez ...

, Deir ez-Zor Airport, Kamishly Airport, and Palmyra Airport.

Airports (with paved runways)

''total:'' 29
''over 3,047 meters in length:'' 5
''2,438 to 3,047 meters:'' 16
''914 to 1,523 meters:'' 3
''under 914 meters:'' 5

Airports (with unpaved runways)

''total:'' 70
''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 1
''914 to 1,523 m:'' 14
''under 914 m:'' 55 (2012)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In Syria