Syria fast facts: Where is Syria, Syria war, U.S. involvement and more

For the past six years, the Middle Eastern country of Syria has dominated headlines worldwide.

You may have read about the ongoing civil war that left hundreds of thousands of Syrians dead or heard stories of the millions of refugee families escaping their homeland, but how much do you know about the country itself?

Here are 7 fasts about Syria you might not know:

Credit: Gokhan Sahin

Credit: Gokhan Sahin

1. Where is it?

Syria is in southwest Asia in the heart of the Middle East. It shares a border with Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

2. How big is the country?

Syria spans a total 185,180 square kilometers — a little more than 1.5 times the size of Pennsylvania.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency's latest population estimates from 2016, Syria’s population is approximately 17,185,170.

3. What are the main religions Syrians practice?

About 87 percent of the Syrian population is Muslim, with Sunni Muslims making up the majority at 74 percent and the Alawi, Ismaili and Shia sects making up about 13 percent.

Christians make up approximately 10 percent and 3 percent of the Syrian population is Druze.

4. Why is there a war in Syria?

Credit: Gokhan Sahin

Syrians have long complained about high unemployment, lack of political freedom and widespread corruption and repression under the Assad family, according to the Associated Press.

Currently, Bashar Assad is the reigning president of Syria and has held the office since July 2000, when he succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad.

The war roots from anti-government demonstrations in March 2011 in the city of Deraa that quickly escalated after the government's violent crackdown.

The protests, according to the BBC, were inspired by the Arab Spring, a series of demonstrations and uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa that began in 2010.

When the government used overwhelming force to combat the protests, the rebel movement gained support from Syrians opposed to Assad, BBC reported.

This eventually led to civil war as hundreds of rebel brigades and government forces battle for control of the country.

But the battle isn't just between forces for or against Assad — the intervention of world powers such as Russia or the U.S. have contributed to the fighting, BBC reported.

This intervention has turned the country into "a proxy battleground," BBC reported, pitting the Sunni Muslim majority against the Shia Alawite sect, intensifying Islamic State involvement and more.

5. How is the United States involved in the war?

The U.S. believes President Assad is responsible for widespread atrocities and supports Syria's main opposition alliance, the National Coalition, according to BBC.

Since 2014, the U.S. has conducted air strikes on jihadist groups such as the IS, but has avoided conducting any attacks that could benefit Assad’s forces.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump ordered a cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base in retaliation for Syria's use of banned chemical weapons that killed at least 75 civilians.

6. How many Syrians have died as a result of the war?

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died, the AJC previously reported. In the city of Aleppo alone, anywhere from 250,000 to 270,000 people have been killed, according to humanitarian organizations and United Nations estimates.

In August 2015, the U.N. stopped counting casualties.

7. How many refugees have fled the country and how many are in America?