Hafez Al-Assad, Syria

The Syrian Arab Republic (185 000km2), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. The population of Syria (21 million) is 74% Sunni Muslim, 16% Alawites, Ismailis & Twelvers, 10% Christian & Druze. Syria attained independence in April 1946, as a parliamentary republic. 2010-The city of Bosra (Dara'a province) is situated in the plain of Hauran at 145km south of Damascus. In the second century BC, it was the first city of the Nabataeans and then called Bouhara. Portrait of former President Hafez Al-Assad, his son, Bashar is the current president. (Photo by Eric-Paul-Pierre PASQUIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)