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0:00
all right we are back to the levant or bilad al-sham in the arab world family siri is kind of like the old man reading a book but then he lifts his sleeves revealing scars and tattoos that tell stories of every chapter of his life he's a complicated man with a story way too difficult to summarize but for what it's worth i'll try to get as much palpable information shoved into whatever amount of time we have i'll do my best and take my job seriously [Laughter] it's time to learn geography now hey
0:29
everybody i'm your host barbs get a geography now mug or geography now merch at juggernaut.com it's not selling out if it's your brand so i actually did entertain the thought of possibly visiting syria for this episode so i asked you guys the syrian geograpeeps if there was any way i could more or less most of you kind of responded like this we would love it if you could come and things are getting better but now may not be the best time even if i fly into lebanon and maybe take a bus no no we
0:54
love that you really want to come but we would totally get it if uh you know you wanted to sit this one out so i took your advice and decided to hold off on a syria trip nonetheless you know what that means if i can't go then i have to bring syria here any of you guys the syrian geograpeeps will be featured in this video you guys submitted your own videos super excited for you guys to meet them it's going to be awesome quite a lot of stuff going on let's begin [Music]
1:18
so before we dive into the map you have to understand some backstory when it comes to syria see the shape and borders that you see here right now are technically what syria looks like today however these borders were only shaped in the 20th century prior to that the areas that syria has today were subject to a myriad of empires kingdoms sultan its protectorates and state statuses it would take way too long to cover but throughout thousands of years syria went
1:40
through the neolithic period the ebla kingdom mesopotamia years all the syrian empires then the hittites canaanites phoenicians neo-assyrians and neo-babylonians akamenids persians greeks even the armenians got in for a little bit then the romans the byzantines the arab russia dunes conquered bringing in islam the umayyads abbasids mongols even took a quick stab at it for some reason then the ottoman turks took over for like 400 years and the french were the last ones to hold on
2:03
to it until they got independence in the 40s but then they joined egypt as one super arab nation but then they were like eh not feeling it peace out egypt but we're keeping the flag then the al-assad family takes over the country since 1971 and here we are today with the current state we have and that's not even scratching the surface first let's take a look at the globe shouts first of all cereal lies in the middle east bordered by five other countries this general area east of the
2:26
mediterranean that syria lies in is historically known as the levant making syria a levantine country syria's boundaries today are essentially the byproduct of post-ottoman era delineation lines created by the sykes-pico agreement of 1916 allocating the boundaries of modern-day syria to france the last country to hold the area under mandate status since independence the northern and southern borders have had some conflict in regards to territorial disputes in the north of
2:50
syria along with the border of turkey these areas are sometimes called western kurdistan or rojava and they are heavily administered by the kurdish community that has some level of self-proclaimed autonomy from the rest of syria otherwise at the tripoint with lebanon and israel they have the golan heights dispute this entire valley has been in conflict since 1964 as there are no formal treaties or documents describing the exact boundary and both sides claim it today israel occupies most of the
3:14
golan heights and up to the un disengagement observer force or undof alpha line and from there the un's patrolling force stands guard in the buffer zone all the way up to the undof line bravo within this buffer zone syria occupies small towns and even the peak of mount hermon the tallest mountain in the region there's a lot more that goes into this but that's the general layout the capital city is damascus known as the city of jasmine widely considered the oldest continuously inhabited city
3:38
on earth here of course you can also find the largest and busiest airport damascus international nonetheless the largest city is actually aleppo a little bit further up north followed by homes at number three just between them and damascus the largest shipping port of the country though is actually the port of latakia which has been in continuous use since 2000 bc speaking of coasts syria only has about five main small islands in the mediterranean the largest
4:01
being arwad just off the coast of tartus known for its ancient citadel the country is divided into 14 governorates however the government of clanetra pretty sure i mispronounced that sorry is essentially the disputed golan heights area all the administration is located east of the dof bravo line but some of the towns are located within the buffer zone some literally on the alpha buffer line finally the majority of the population lives in an upside-down crescent shape that hugs the borders
4:24
with lebanon and turkey and flows down the euphrates river this means that most of the population can be reached via the two main highways the m5 and m4 syria also has an extensive rail network both cargo and passenger that more or less falls within the same pattern of population distribution as well now keep in mind as of upload for this video in 2021 due to recent ongoing conflicts many of the rail lines have either halted or changed operation schedules and of course based on whatever the
4:47
social climate is of that day driving between cities you may or may not have to pass through security checkpoints the rules are always kind of changing and there doesn't seem to be a set system in place in addition syria is incredibly rich with distinct ancient sites unlike anywhere on earth let alone six unesco heritage sites it's kind of unfortunate though because the aftermath of current conflicts have decreased tourism somewhere around 75 percent nonetheless
5:09
the country is still moving forward to some degree and if you are lucky enough to find yourself in syria on a good day you should consider checking out some of the top notable places let's give it to one of you guys the syrian geograpeeps to explain this time i believe it is gaida the guide she's literally a tour guide in syria this is gaida i'm a tour guide in syria let's start with my city damascus the umayyad mosque it's one of the oldest places dedicated for worship
5:33
next would be definitely palmyra the beautiful oasis in the syrian desert with its beautiful monuments people worship 61 different gods there and they all live peacefully and in harmony now that's remarkable bustra is also a special place to my heart it's breathtaking also one of my favorite places to visit is malula it's literally curved into the mountains andreet the phoenician city with the oldest olympic stadium in the world also craic de chevalier the village of sainaya the
6:04
coastal area and of course aleppo and tama what i want to conclude with is that syria is an underrated country and i can guarantee you'll learn a lot and enjoy every minute of it thank you and goodbye thank you gaida check out her instagram and uh hit her up if you ever want to go to syria yeah it's quite impressive how much syria holds a link to the past and tries its best to maintain it and one other thing that gives them structure is the land they live upon which brings us to
6:34
okay so when most people think of syria and what it looks like they tend to just kind of default to what they've seen in the news you know conflict in dry dusty deserts beige and yellow stones yeah that perspective needs an upgrade let's check it out on the globe one more time motion graphic go syria lies right on the northwestern edge of the arabian plate split on the dead sea fault line this is basically what causes the entire mountainous western region of syria in
6:55
the north you have the barghilus or nusaria mountains which is of course as you can see the most fertile green and lush part of the country to the south you have the anti-lebanon mountains where as we already explained you can find the highest peak mount hermann inland from the fault line you have the palmyra fold belt a byproduct of the dead sea fault line which creates two small hill chains the rouge mine and rock ranges they fade downwards into the vast sparsely inhabited syrian desert to
7:20
the very south you find the asafa and jabal adru's volcanic fields the land is made up of dark basaltic lava fields with about 40 mostly holocene or extinct cinder cones the longest river of the country is of course the mighty euphrates river that originates in turkey fed by two other major rivers flowing southward the balih and khabur within the flow path of the euphrates you find the largest inland body of water lake assad which is actually a reservoir created by the
7:47
dam in the south side these waterways are essentially the lifeblood of the entire eastern side of the country and have been for civilizations for millennia finally syria is made up of four distinct eco regions you have the eastern mediterranean broadleaf forest zone which is concentrated mostly on the coastal mountains by the sea then you have the zurich grass and shrublands in the middle inland section of the country just south of that you have the mesopotamian shrub desert the driest and
8:10
most sparsely populated part of the country and finally in very small sections you can actually find southern anatolian deciduous forest zones locked in sections of the western mountain ranges the trees here actually look different from the mediterranean broadleaf zone so yeah so as you can see from that motion graphic there is quite a bit going on with syria's natural side volcanoes who would have thought in any case with much land to work with syria is also a place known for its industry
8:33
and fiscal output that means it's time for my triple shot of espresso break which means noah on scene and ready let's roll now economically speaking in addition to the effects of conflict sanctions against assad's government from numerous nations and ideals like the arab league the eu and the u.s played into their collapse most major enterprises in syria are nationalized but in 2001 private banking was made legal in 2004 they formed their own small domestic market so in a way
8:59
they are kind of attempting to switch things up and experiment with new finance methods which are slowly kind of working one thing that helps of course thanks to their diverse landscape as a relatively abundant resource reservoir now most outsiders might assume syria is a major petroleum producer and although they do have a hydrocarbon belt we'll see in the deserts in northeast and it does account for about a quarter of their state's revenue and has been their
9:21
major export since 1974. nonetheless on a global scale they aren't really a major powerhouse producer in terms of volume not even in the top 50. but you'll know we are still keeping our eyes on them of course you are syrians actually export more olive oil than crude oil it is a prized resource and they don't just use it for food one thing you will definitely hear every syrian praising aleppo soap made with olive oil this stuff dates back thousands of years and the technique is
9:47
still used today you guys have sent me this stuff on fan friday i love it usually comes in boxes that look like this soap looks like this it has a very raw earthy smell and when you use it it feels like you just took a shower with history buy it fun fact damascus was also known for producing some of the most prized steel in antiquity with a special technique that is all but lost to date many have tried to replicate it but none have had much success well there's more than just resources in this
10:11
country believe it or not there's even flora and fauna to discuss and who better to discuss it than gary harlow right kyrie harlow here syria's ecosystem is pretty much divided east and west currently the country has two nature reserves two state forests and over 30 protected areas within these reserves you might find some of the most distinct species you've ever heard of mountain gazelles angora goats the step eagle and on the coast you can find the angel shark and the mediterranean monk
10:41
seals the levite viper and black desert cobras call their rocky hills their homes they pay rent there and everything is the death stalker scorpion one of the most dangerous species of scorpion in the world i've eaten three of them the national animal is actually the rare and endangered syrian brown bear whereas the national bird is the northern bald ibis in fact due to recent conflicts many of the wildlife have suffered and had either permanently migrated to other
11:10
less affected areas or been dramatically reduced and one of which being the noun extinct syrian elephant syria ucf elephants one animal they definitely have not reduced though would be the famous fat tailed sheep it's said that top-notch ba cliffer is made from the fat of the tail of these shapes speaking of interesting parts of animals remember that time we ate camel hump in somaliland really and that's all for me whoever wears this hat is gary harlow now paul is gary harlow thank you gary
11:39
yes syria definitely knows how to do food they aren't called the fertile crescent for nothing to expound a little bit more on the food of syria we have these two geographies to explain marhaba my name is andram i come from a small town called banyase in syria and today we're going to go over some of the top foods in syria the syrian cuisine is a part of the eastern mediterranean cuisine magdus is a usually brexit breakfast food it's a cute eggplant stuffed with red peppers walnuts and
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dipped in olive oil we have also varainab mahashi maklube kusablevan sheikhan mashi more common in damascus cherry kebab which is so popular among the armenian population in aleppo sweets
12:28
a popular snack or you know comfort food that we have um is eating rice with yogurt so i have like my cooked rice here some fresh yogurt and then i put a bit of allspice or seven spices this is a very popular seasoning that we use um so this is what it looks like you basically just eat rice and yogurt as a snack at least that's what syrians do and it's phenomenal it's literally like my comfort food thanks geograpeeps well that's all i got in this segment cheers
12:55
to you all and barbs back to you thank you noah also yes syrians are obsessed with yerba mate they are one of the top importers from south american countries especially argentina fun fact if it's cold it's called terere watch the paraguay episode also they are one of the top producers of arak they're centuries old tradition aniseed liquor invented by arab muslims in the 12th century isn't that like haram yeah it technically is i'll leave that up to you guys that are more knowledgeable in
13:19
islamic doctrine that brings us to the actual people of syria the syrians so let's discuss them in the next part the
13:32
just curious so i asked you guys what it means to be syrian here are some things you guys the syrian geograpeeps said as syrian i feel very proud to be part of the of the historical cycle of the of the earth i feel very sad and upset when the world of syria been mentioned only for war subjects actually syrian history is very very massive uh so i all syrians again look different and this can this can change depending on what region of syria you're from so uh that's something that
14:07
i also find really interesting a lot of people think i'm french just because of my the way i look my my complexion my blue eyes my my curly like brown hair again syria is one of the oldest civilizations and it still preserves that culture regardless of that european um i guess dissent or change i'm very proud being a syrian citizen because syria is the cradle of civilization the fertile crescent you know the oldest civilizations in the world in the recorded history have
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thrived on the syrian soil syria has also helped other nations for example in 2006 the lebanese refugee crisis we also hosted the iraqi refugees so syria is like i would say she is the caring mother of the arab world if you ever decided to visit you'll end up meeting the most genuine and hospitable people and you'll be having an amazing experience thank you syria is a complex country of peoples they are shaped by all areas of civilization that have passed through
15:09
for the past 10 or so millennia but first let's break it down motion graphic time first of all the country has about 18.5 million people however pre-war their population was around 23 million about 10 million have been internally displaced and over 5 million have fled since 2011. the country is made up primarily of syrian arabs or levantine arabs at about 74 the second largest group are kurds at about 9 to 10 from here things get a little confusing it's often said that turkmen syrians are
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the third largest group but there aren't any real reliable estimates on their exact numbers in any case after that about four percent of the population are assyrian 1.5 percent circassian 1 armenian and the rest are a slew of various other minority groups like albanians georgians greeks persians pashtuns russians and bosnians they use the syrian pound as their currency they use the type c e and l plug outlets and they drive on the right side of the road now back to the identity thing what
16:03
exactly is the term levantine or levantine arab this was actually a question that i asked a lot of you guys the syrian geograpeeps and more or less this is the answers that you guys kind of gave me it's not very easy to explain but in the most condensed way to put it it's not originally arab of course over the centuries numerous empires and communities came in and intermixed so most of the population will probably have a genetic ad mixture paralleling these groups but what it boils down to
16:27
is that levantines are more of an indigenous mediterranean people group and some will say that their lineage goes as far back to the ancient canaanites in any case besides that syria's population has kind of broken down into two categories ethnic and religious and you know what i've actually been talking a long time let's have someone else fill in ian uh here why don't you have a segment the people actually kind of like you oh here we go now we don't have time to get into deep
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detail for each group there are so many but some to highlight were already mentioned in the graph you have the largest group the kurds sometimes called rojava kurds they mostly live in the north part of the country i made a video on it if you want to check it out we explained the currency the turkmen syrians date back to the seljuk empire a turco persian empire and many more came during ottoman times as well the armenians have a long history of inhabiting syria the largest migration
17:13
came during the ottoman times when there was a lot of conflict that drove them out you have the cypriot originated greeks mostly found in the coastal areas nice some of whom are actually muslim which is pretty rare for greeks don't get an arab syrian confused with an assyrian they have their own language their own alphabet their own flag most of them straddle lands across syria and iraq and are predominantly christian thank you in good job wow for the religion part of course
17:39
sunni islam and sunni based schools of teaching are the predominant faith whereas another 10 or so percent are mostly shia and shia based sects like alawis or new sires most of them are concentrated on the mediterranean coast and interestingly enough it is the sect of the ruling assad family that they are tied with another 10 is mostly christian and christian-based sex like maronites aramians orthodox apostolic they even have the oldest church in the world from
18:02
there about three percent are drews most of whom have large communities in the south of the country and the rest are a group of other non-related faith communities like romani mandians yarsanis and yazidis some like romani are north indian based and some like yazidi are ironic zoroastrian based historically there even used to be a large sephardic jewish community they actually migrated after the expulsion from spain in the 15th century basically syria allows religious freedom however
18:27
by constitutional law the president must always be muslim so anyway language-wise arabic is the official language no you don't say yep it is but of course they speak with a levantine accent here are some of you guys explaining the levantine accent go for it it's called the levantine arabic or shami arabic we do not pronounce the letters
18:51
for example the word hammer means moon we pronounce it as amar we're talking about a country that is smaller than colorado in area and still i can count 25 or even more local dialects so it's really not enough to talk about them in a short video but i hope this helps in syrian accent it's very tough like for example the uh it's like very light in egyptian way shame but in syrian one al-sham it's very tough very strong and so in levantine arabic there's a lot of french
19:24
french-esque words with eggplant we say aubergine in levantine arabic we say sabun and in french it's savon thank you throughout the country though you'll find small communal language isolates mostly semitic-based for example the town of malula they still speak aramaic the language that was spoken by jesus moving on though of course as we mentioned syria's history has never been short of complicated which brings us to the current situation of the civil war and crisis now although this isn't even
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a sliver in the grand picture of syria we still of course have to cover it in this episode because it's kind of a big deal we're not gonna sidestep it depending on who you talk to syrians both in and out of syria will have a lot to say about the current state of affairs of their home country i asked you guys the syrian geograpeeps to kind of explain a little bit and more or less you all kind of came to these conclusions what it boils down to is pretty much everybody on all sides
20:15
wishes things could be better they just all have different opinions on how to get to that better there's no simple way to summarize it but many might say that it all starts with two main factors the proposition for construction of an oil pipeline from qatar to europe through syria and the arab spring uprisings that took place in 2011 basically both sides claim the other side was the instigator those that are against assad will say assad and his family have been ruling
20:40
his dictators since 1971 and he responded violently hurting protesters and then he did it again and yet those that support assad will probably say something like yeah well western powers infiltrated in the arab spring supplied protesters with weapons and there's a lot more factored into this but in the end everything got super messy some soldiers defected and created a new rebel army and then isis and al-qaeda got involved all while this was happening the kurds were like yeah we
21:05
figured something like this might happen and we are not letting them touch our communities time is deceived then it gets even more complicated considering that iran and russia supported the assad regime whereas the gcc states and the us supported the rebels effectively making a proxy war essentially since 2016 this whole crisis and civil war led to the largest refugee population in the world since the rwandan genocide now there are so many layers that go into this but everyone
21:28
can agree that it has put syria through a lot of strain and everyone is understandably sick and tired of it so but one thing syrians don't get tired of is sports no way to tactically transition so may as well just do a sharp pound now usually art fills in for this segment but he is currently spending time with his family for the holidays so let's bring in gabs to fill in for the segment remember we went to finland that was awesome that was the best time of my life i haven't done
21:52
anything fun since then syrians and sports yes for any major sporting event in syria there is no better place than the abbasian stadium in damascus it is the home of their national soccer or football team as well as staging area for the couple of pan-arab games latakia also hosted the 10 mediterranean games like most countries soccer or football is their favorite sport these two guys probably being their most world-renowned players their national football team has qualified for four asian cup
22:21
competitions otherwise they show interest in other forms of athletics no really oh yeah they do that yeah yeah in the olympics they have two bronze medals in boxing and weightlifting one silver in wrestling and one gold medal in the summer olympics their only gold medalist today being gotta shu uh syria was so proud as she finished the woman's heptathlon in 1996. finally at the 2020 tokyo olympics which took place in 2021 due to the pandemic obviously hen saza
22:49
at age 11 became the youngest olympian in more than 50 years competing in table tennis hopefully some of their athletes will get endorsed and have their faces on cereal boxes thank you cavs in any case serious culture extends beyond athletics the first alphabet was created and discovered here weddings can be crazy some groups have a ket bet and it's usually followed by an arcada and they prick the groom with pins and women step on the toes of the bride followed by a
23:16
sword fighting banquet each group has something special and unique to talk a little bit more about the backstory of their culture here's random hannah with culture stuff hey everyone i'm back do you miss me you can always have me on a random hannah shirt at geographynow.com so syrian culture wildly parallels that of other levantine nations and that you'll find a more mediterranean vibe rather than an arab one and everywhere in syria you'll probably encounter the traditional
23:43
bafara house with a fountain in the middle courtyard occasionally you might spot men wearing a shirwa or a tarbouch and women with traditional kaftan worn at special events speaking of which syria is famous for their silk called damask or damascus brocade fabric syrians are well known in the arts and craft world as well you can find intricately patterned wooden mosaic woodcraft in every marketplace and it's believed that glassblowing was invented in syria as a way to produce jars and
24:12
bases faster than traditional clay methods syrians have a long-standing tradition of holding prominent figures in the literature and arts department in the arab world these guys were key players in the nadha or arab literature and cultural revival of the 19th century in addition syria is home to a multitude of contemporary artists this guy ali farzat was once the head of the arab cartoonist association now all forms of media are state controlled and since the civil war many artists have been
24:40
incarcerated nonetheless despite all that syria still seems to be right up there with egypt in terms of popularity in the arab world with tv shows and dramas if you'd like to find out more check out filmography now finally there are so many festivals celebrated here and each people group has their own you can find regionally they have two festivals dedicated to flowers and latakia and damascus a cotton festival song festival and a jasmine festival certain groups like the
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kurds and turkmen celebrate no ruse the assyrians have their own assyrian new year yazidis might have the shonjok parade and so on and unfortunately you know the deal this is the part where i usually say something like you can't have a festival without music and then i scoff as keys music intro join team hannah [Music] you can buy my shirt at geographynow.com um anyway music in syria music here goes way back like super ancient it's actually said that the first musical
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notes in the world was actually discovered on ancient clay tablets it was even played and recorded by a syrian pianist malik jan dali sorry for the wrong pronunciation otherwise specifically kudud halobia and muwasha in the city of aleppo they are music and poetry styles uniquely developed in syria and of course you can't talk about music without mentioning two native instruments the khanun and nay the khanum being a trapezoid shaped zether and the nay being a narrow wooden flute
26:12
that has been used for nearly over 5 000 years syria is also home to a ton of different styles of traditional dances the most notable probably being dopkey and the all sama dance which is more often performed by sufi muslims otherwise in a contemporary sense syria has lifted up so many notable singers and artists here are a few that you guys have mentioned if i would send them all out of keith's shirt i probably would everyone says this guy is seba frokri he's kinda like the pavarotti of the
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arab world and finally like we've discussed in the saudi arabia episode there is a sort of underground metal scene culture thing that goes on in syria and it's uh hard for them to perform because of due to government restrictions many syrian metalheads would probably cite jack power as the leading artist that pioneered metal into the country with his metal covers combining metal with traditional arab instruments alright that's it for me guys i'm out woo don't buy hannah's
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shirt stay keith everybody thank you keith well so we've covered quite a bit the land of a million stories and part of that complex story involves outside countries that have played a role in their history let's discuss syria's global interaction in
27:27
now despite all the recent well-known drama syria still has their way of dealing with the outside you don't live in the cradle of civilization without being able to know a thing or two when it comes to international affairs and diplomacy you have to understand when you ask which country syria is close to it really depends on who you ask and often you'll notice that there's a huge difference between what the government claims versus what the average everyday citizen claims and which group within
27:49
the citizens you're asking but here's the motion graphic as an arab nation of course they used to be a member of the arab league but had their status suspended since 2011 when the civil war broke out nonetheless syrians still have their buddies arab or not for one south america has had its eye on syria for a while specifically brazil and venezuela brazil was the first country in the americas to give humanitarian visas to syrian refugees seeking asylum during war times brazil actually has the
28:13
highest number of syrians in diaspora at about 4 million if you include multi-generational families and those of partial descent in addition venezuela not only has politically aligned with syria's government for a long time but also has many in diaspora as well even their former vice president tarek el-aisami is of lebanese syrian descent now a little closer to home if you ask the syrian government they will probably state that russia and iran are their closest and in some cases most strategic
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allies this was very evident when they sided with iran against iraq in the iran-iraq war as they shared a common animosity against saddam hussein in addition syria has been friends with russia for a long time and especially during the assad rulership russia has naval ports leased out in tartus and has been a key figure in supporting assad's government in the syrian civil war syria even offers russians war tours if you ask the people though you might get a few other answers depending on who you
29:03
ask many syrians might say algeria is a close friend in fact after algeria gained independence from france many syrians came in to help re-teach algerians arabic as it was banned from the country for over 100 years in addition algeria often acts as the go-to mediator for any conflicts since the refugee crisis though turkey has taken in the most refugees at over 3.5 million as of 2021 costing them over 8 billion dollars in aid although the process hasn't been perfectly smooth as it has
29:29
put a stress on the nation to some degree nonetheless turkey has stepped up the most in regards to the crisis when i asked you guys the syrian geograpeeps who you thought the best friends of syria were though no shocker most of you ended up saying your fellow neighbors in the levant lebanon jordan and palestinians some of you even included iraq the levant countries overall get each other the best they've shared the longest histories their dialects are very similar and their cultures are
29:52
incredibly intertwined lebanon actually hosts the second largest syrian refugee population at about 1.1 million which is about one-fifth of their entire population jordan once did try to take over syria in the 20s but otherwise they've been really cool with each other jordan also usually acts as the conduit between syrians and palestinians when they want to either do business or just see each other as israel's borders have been closed off since the conflict and
30:13
iraq and syria have always been the two powerhouse cradles of civilization countries overall when you put these countries all together they can't help but deny that they are incredibly close and they'll always be there for each other in conclusion with syria you get something kind of like the aleppo soap you get a country that's been around for a long time and it's still going on in the 21st century and it's still precious and valued amongst its people just the way it is and maybe just maybe the
30:38
outside world should see it that way too alright that's it with all the s countries stay tuned the first tea country tajikistan is coming up next [Music]
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