Roman theatre in Bosra. Credit

Syria is a country in the Middle East, bordering Lebanon to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north.

The modern state of Syria attained independence from the French mandate of Syria in 1936, but can trace its historical roots to the fourth millenium BC; its capital city, Damascus, was the seat of the Umayyad Empire and a provincial capital of the Mameluke Empire.