A beginner's guide to the conflict in (and country of) Syria. Syria is an Asian republic of 22,530,746 in the Middle East 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. It is primarily populated by Arab Sunnis although it is a place of historic significance to Christians. Kurds, Druze, Alawite Shias,