The Syrian Arab Republic is better known simply as Syria and is a country of the Middle East bordered by Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Israel, as well as having a stretch of Mediterranean coastline. The country as well as the area as a whole has an inordinate amount of history associated with it, especially of religious significance. Syria’s capital city, Damascus, is the oldest continually inhabited city in the world dating back to the second millennium century BC. Syria has a total population of about 22.5 million people, the majority of which are Muslim, and Arabic speakers.

As with the Middle East as a whole, Syria has certainly had periods of unrest and conflict but there is still an established tourism industry in the country. Damascus is certainly the most visited city, although with a population of 2.3 million, Aleppo is actually the most populous in the country. Virtually all of the serviced apartments in Syria are found in these two large cities and others along the Mediterranean coast, while the rest of the country tends to be arid and agricultural in nature. The climate in Syria is at its hottest from May to September when temperatures often reach above 30°C. Generally rather dry all year, during the summer there is virtually no rainfall whatsoever.