IMPORTANCE OF SYRIA

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 142, 17 May 1941, Page 7

IMPORTANCE OF SYRIA

. ANCTENT TOWNS. An independent State in the southwes t oi Ahi a, Syria was placed under a mandate to Era nee in 1920. The region is bounded by the Mediterranean on the west, Palestine in the south, Mesopotamia in the east, and Turkey in the north. The area mandated to France is about GO,OOO square miles and it has a population of under 3,000.000. The name Syria is not found in the original Hebrew of the Scriptures, but it is used by the Septuaginfc to translate Aram. The French mandated Syria is a section of the great ancient block of which Arabia, Sinai and Africa are. part. Damascus, the capital of Syria, is situated 57 miles from Beirut. Its origin is unknown, hut it is believed to he the oldest inhabited city in the world. The town is situated 2200 ft above sea lev'el and at the last census had a population of 188.000. Damascus stands on the north-western edge of a wide tract of fertile land where tropical fruits are grown and agricultural pursuits <airied mi. On numerous occasions the town lias had sections destroyed by fire. Tropical diseases are also rampant in certain seasons. Although Damascus is connected to ‘Hainan. Beirut and Haifa by rail, caravan transport is more popular. Beirut, which is situated on a promontory hacked by the Lebanon range, is the chief seaport of Syria. The town, ■which has a population oi 9o,00(), is also the capital of the automonous State of Groat Lebanon, and the French High Commissioner has his residence there. Beirut is connected by r .,;| with Damascus' and Aleppo ' m 1 inyak The town lias long been famous in the siJk industry. j