This is a list of universities in Syria including public, private, military and police institutions.
As of 2018, there are 8 public universities, 1 colleges, 1 virtual university, in addition to 6 higher institutes in Syria, owned by the government. [1] [2]
As of 2018, Syria has 2 branches of foreign public universities.
| Name | Abbreviation | Location | Established | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Omdurman Islamic University, Damascus Branch | OIU | Damascus | oiu.edu.sd | |
 Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Latakia Branch | AASTMT | Latakia | 2001 | aast.edu |
As of 2018, there are 21 private universities in Syria. [3]
As of 2018, there are 16 high military educational institutions in Syria run by the Ministry of Defense of Syria. [4]
| Name | Location | Established |
|---|---|---|
| Higher Military Academy of Syria | Qatana, Rif Dimashq Governorate | 1957 |
| Al-Assad Military Academy | Aleppo | 1979 |
| Syrian Military Academy | Homs (since 1932) (women's college in al-Ghizlaniyah, Rif Dimashq, since 1987) | 1919 (in Damascus) |
| Syrian Air Defense College | Homs (since 1974) | 1958 (in Muadamiyat al-Sham) |
| Kuweires Military Aviation Institute | Kuweires Sharqi, Aleppo Governorate (since 1980) | 1947 (in Mezzeh Military Airport, Damascus) |
| Syrian Navy College | Latakia | 1975 |
| Bassel al-Assad College of Armored Corps | Homs (since 1972) | 1952 (in Damascus) |
| Syrian College of Signal Corps | Homs (since 1972) | 1946 (in Damascus) |
| Aleppo Artillery College | Aleppo (since 1970) | 1954 (in Qatana) |
| Syrian College of Combat Engineering Corps | Al-Mushrifah, Homs Governorate (since 1978) | 1954 (in Qatana) |
| Military College of Chemical Protection | Al-Mushrifah, Homs Governorate (since 1978) | 1971 (in Aleppo) |
| Military College of Administrative Affairs | Masyaf, Hama Governorate (since 2012) | 1974 (in Aleppo) |
| Military College of Technical Affairs | Homs | 1952 |
| Military College of Infantry Corps | Fafin, Aleppo Governorate | |
| Electronic Warfare College | Damascus | 1972 |
| Aleppo Armament College | Aleppo |
As of 2018, there is 1 high educational institution for police sciences in Syria run by the Syrian Ministry of Interior. [5]
| Name | Location | Established |
|---|---|---|
| Bassel al-Assad College for Police Sciences | Damascus | 1961 |
Quneitra is the largely destroyed and abandoned capital of the Quneitra Governorate in south-western Syria. It is situated in a high valley in the Golan Heights at 1,010 metres (3,313 feet) above sea level. Since 1974, pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 350 and the Agreement on Disengagement between Israel and Syria, the city is inside the UN-patrolled buffer zone.
Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights since the Six-Day War of 1967. It previously occupied the Sinai Peninsula and southern Lebanon as well. Prior to 1967, the Palestinian territories was split between the Gaza Strip controlled by Egypt and the West Bank by Jordan, while the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights are parts of Egypt and Syria, respectively. The Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights, where Israel had transferred its parts of population there and built large settlements, is the longest military occupation in modern history.
Majdal Shams is a predominantly Druze town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, located in the southern foothills of Mount Hermon. It is known as the informal "capital" of the region.
The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria in the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The mission was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 350 on 31 May 1974, to implement Resolution 338 (1973) which called for an immediate ceasefire and implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242.
Quneitra Governorate is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in southern Syria, notable for the location of the Golan Heights. The governorate borders the countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Israel, and the Syrian governorates of Daraa and Rif Dimashq. Its area varies, according to different sources, from 685 km2 to 1,861 km2. The governorate had a population of 87,000 at the 2010 estimate. The nominal capital is the now abandoned city of Quneitra, destroyed by Israel before their withdrawal in June 1974 in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War; since 1986, the de facto capital is Ba'ath City.
The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in the north and Wadi Raqqad in the east. Two thirds of the area has been occupied by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War and then effectively annexed in 1981 – an action unrecognized by the international community, which continues to consider it Israeli-occupied Syrian territory.
Israel–Syria relations refer to the bilateral ties between the State of Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic. The two countries have been locked in a perpetual war since the establishment of Israel in 1948, with their most significant and direct armed engagements being in the First Arab–Israeli War in 1948–1949, the Third Arab–Israeli War in 1967, and the Fourth Arab–Israeli War in 1973. Additionally, Israeli and Syrian forces also saw relatively extensive combat against each other during the Lebanese Civil War, the 1982 Lebanon War, as well as the War of Attrition. Both states have at times signed and held armistice agreements, although all efforts to achieve complete peace have been without success. Syria has never recognized Israel as a legitimate state and does not accept Israeli passports as legally valid for entry into Syrian territory; Israel likewise regards Syria as a hostile state and generally prohibits its citizens from travelling there, with some exceptions and special accommodations being made by both countries for Druze people residing in Syria and the Golan Heights. Israel and Syria have never established formal diplomatic relations since the inception of both countries in the mid-20th century.
The 2012–2014 Quneitra Governorate clashes began in early November 2012, when the Syrian Army began engaging with rebels in several towns and villages of the Quneitra Governorate. The clashes quickly intensified and spilled into the UN-supervised neutral demilitarized zone between Syrian controlled territory and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The 2013 Daraa offensive was a campaign during the Syrian Civil War launched by the FSA in the Daraa Governorate to capture the strategic border area. The offensive began in early March 2013. During the campaign, rebel forces captured several bases and towns. The offensive was eventually halted following an Army counter-offensive in mid-April, which resulted in the recapture of a few towns and villages. After that, the rebels continued their advance by launching a counter-offensive of their own.
Marj al-Sultan is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located 15 kilometers east of Damascus city. The village is situated in the fertile Ghouta region amid an orchard-filled area. Nearby localities include Harasta al-Qantarah and Zabdin to the west, al-Nashabiyah to the north, al-Bilaliyah to the east, Deir Salman to the southeast, Sakka to the south and Deir al-Asafir to the southwest.
Several incidents have taken place on the Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line during the Syrian Civil War, straining the relations between the countries. The incidents are considered a spillover of the Quneitra Governorate clashes since 2012 and later incidents between Syrian Army and the rebels, ongoing on the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan and the Golan Neutral Zone and the Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Through the incidents, which began in late 2012, as of mid-2014, one Israeli civilian was killed and at least 4 soldiers wounded; on the Syrian-controlled side, it is estimated that at least ten soldiers were killed, as well as two unidentified militants, who were identified near Ein Zivan on Golan Heights.
The 2014 Quneitra offensive, code-named “The Real Promise” or "Chargers of Dawn", was a military operation launched by Syrian rebels during the Syrian civil war in Quneitra Governorate, in an attempt to take control of several sections in the central part of the province and around Quneitra city "with the aim of opening the way to Damascus."
Law enforcement in Syria is carried out by the Public Security Police, which is a force for general policing duties; internal security duties are carried out by different intelligence agencies. The Political Security Directorate is one of these agencies and is under the guidance of the Ministry of Interior of the Syrian government. The Directorate is used for covert intelligence gathering and internal security issues within Syria. Syria has been an INTERPOL member since 1953. Since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, much of Syria has been outside the control of the Syrian government. Currently, the Asayish are responsible for policing in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Police in areas under the Turkish occupation of northern Syria, and various Syrian opposition groups around Idlib
The Golan Regiment was a Syrian militia based in Khan Arnabah that was part of the National Defence Forces (NDF). Though primarily active in the Golan Heights, the unit has been deployed in various warzones of western Syria, fighting against many different Syrian opposition forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The Golan Regiment was notable insofar as it was the first government unit during the Syrian civil war that was founded by Free Syrian Army (FSA) defectors.
The Quneitra offensive , code-named "Road to Damascus", was a military operation launched by rebel forces against the Syrian Arab Army at the town of Madinat al-Baath, in the Quneitra Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War.
The Beit Jinn offensive was a military operation by the Syrian Arab Army against opposition groups in the Western Ghouta area, starting on 28 November 2017.
The 2018 Southern Syria offensive, code-named Operation Basalt, was a military operation launched by the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies against the rebels and ISIL in Southern Syria. The fighting began with a surprise attack on rebel-held areas in the eastern part of the Daraa Governorate in an attempt to fracture rebel-held lines and weaken morale, ahead of their offensive in the greater Southern Syria region.
On March 25, 2019, the United States officially recognized the Golan Heights as being under the sovereignty of Israel. Signed into effect by the Trump administration, the U.S. presidential proclamation marked the first instance of any country recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; the territory is viewed as part of Syria under international law, though it has been under an Israeli military occupation since the 1967 Arab–Israeli War. In 1981, Israel's government passed the Golan Heights Law — a de facto annexation of the territory.
The Golan Heights are a rocky plateau in the Levant region of Western Asia that was captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community, with the exception of Israel and the United States, considers the Golan Heights to be Syrian territory held by Israel under military occupation. Following the war, Syria dismissed any negotiations with Israel as part of the Khartoum Resolution.
