What Are The Characteristics Of Women From Syria?

In many Middle Eastern countries, the family is one of the most important aspects of a person’s life; this is equally true for Syrian women. Therefore, when dating a stunning Syrian woman, you should expect that she’ll likely have a lot of love and passion for her family. Moreover, she may want you to meet her parents and siblings relatively soon into settling down your relationship. However, you should always do your best to put your best foot forward when meeting your Syrian girlfriend’s family, as they will likely expect you to be able to look after their little girl. After all, although women in Syria are technically equal to men, the traditional patriarchal system is still strong, and many women fall into the conventional role of mother and housemaker accordingly. Therefore, there may be a good chance that your partner’s family – unless actively progressive – will likely share this expectation. So they expect you to demonstrate that you are a good match who can look after their daughter well. Being able to show her family that you can support and protect her will likely go down well.

The family structure in Syria is largely still patriarchal. As such, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the concept of marriage in Syria focuses heavily on agreements between the two converging households. However, in the modern day, many Syrian women have much greater freedom to choose their partners than in the past – making it easier for them to date and marry for love rather than status. Nevertheless, arranged marriages and even child marriage are still present in the country. Furthermore, a tiny number of families take concepts of familial pride to the extreme, which is worth considering when thinking about Syrian households. Polygamy is also legal in Syria, as is common in Muslim countries, meaning men may take several wives (often up to four) rather than just being able to marry one person legally. However, they’ll need to demonstrate a genuine reason to take more wives. 

The total number of legal marriages in Syria is approximately 30,000 per year. Meanwhile, though divorce is permitted in Syria, the total number of divorces annually is only around 10,000 – this indicates that about 66.7% (two-thirds) of marriages do not end in divorce. This is substantially higher than in many other countries around the world. However, part of the reason that divorce is less common in Syria may be that women are less able to apply for a divorce than men. For women in Syria to apply for a divorce, they must demonstrate that their partner has neglected his duties as a husband. The process is much easier for Syrian men, indicating that women in Syria are not free to divorce if they are unhappy in a relationship. The number of children per woman in Syria has fallen slowly over the years; however, with an average number of children per woman of approximately 2.7, Syrian women typically have more children than many other cultures still.

Annually, the Syrian government allocates approximately £S32.5 million (32.5 million Syrian Pounds) to education in the country, ensuring that education is free for young Syrian children. In line with this, young Syrians must attend compulsory education from seven to fifteen. This is generally a shorter duration than in many other countries, which often require mandatory education of around ten years; as such, this could somewhat explain the lowered level of literacy within Syria compared to many other countries internationally. The average Syrian literacy rate is approximately 86.4%, although there is a significant skew between Syrian women and Syrian men; almost 92% of Syrian men are literate, compared to just 81% of Syrian women. In line with this, the gender parity index for enrollment in education is only around 9.55%. As such, though equality is present in Syria, there is still clearly some way to go in terms of educational equality to ensure Syrian women achieve the same opportunities in life as men.

The most well-attended area of education is primary education, which has approximately 4 million students at any time. After that, around 1.5 million students attend secondary education, and over 2 million students study higher education in Syria annually. Notably, the vast majority of schools in Syria are state-run, with only about 2% of schools being private. Interestingly, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency runs around one in ten private schools in Syria. Primary education concludes in the 9th grade when students sit examinations to determine where they will progress next; after primary education, numerous types of secondary schools are available, including craft schools which are exclusively for female students. Upon concluding secondary school, Syrian students sit a further examination, the Baccalaureat, which outlines their grades and allows them to apply for higher education if they so wish. However, using it for higher education in Syria is a relatively complex process, which may put many students in Syria off the idea. For those who choose to attend university, the main focus is usually on engineering, medicine, and science over other subjects. Interestingly, however, university education has been available in some places for free since the early 20th century.

Employment in Syria is heavily focused on the services sector, which employs approximately two-thirds of working people in Syria. Other than this, about 23% of Syrians work in industry, and a whopping 10% work exclusively in agriculture – a statistic that’s substantially higher than many other countries. This point is likely the result of a lack of mechanization in agriculture. This likely means many activities are done manually instead of through automated procedures. Unfortunately, many young people in Syria don’t have excellent opportunities immediately out of school, with around 78% facing unemployment; unless you have experience in an in-demand field already, you may experience fewer working opportunities in Syria than in some other countries. However, this has led to a growing trend in entrepreneurship, and many Syrian people are attempting to make ends meet through their endeavors instead.

Religion is vitally essential for many men and women in Syria, largely thanks to the country’s rich and diverse history from the perspective of religion. Indeed, from a historical perspective, Syria has served as a hub for numerous religious communities, welcoming people from all backgrounds as part of religious freedom in the country. However, there is some degree of preference towards Islam over other religions, such as Christianity; for example, the country has seen widespread nationalization of Christian schools, compared to a smaller number of Islamic schools. Moreover, many Christian Syrians have emigrated from the land (approximately half of the total emigrants); if you’re meeting Syrian women in other countries, there may be a higher proportion of Christians than in Syria itself. However, despite this, it is often seen that Syrian Muslims tend to live a more rural lifestyle (in terms of percentage of the population) than many Syrian Christians, for example. There are also numerous religious sites across Syria for many different religions, despite overall tendencies towards Islam.

Overall, within Syria, the vast majority of Syrian women and men follow Islam – approximately 84%. Of these, almost three-quarters (74%) follow Sunni Islam. Meanwhile, a minority of 10% follow Shia Islam. However, as people from other religions increasingly emigrate from Syria, the proportion of Islamic followers within Syria gradually increases. Of the overall Sunni Muslim community within Syria, the most significant number of people are in the Arab Sunni community, which accounts for approximately 60% of the country in total, or around three-quarters of the total Muslim population of men and women in Syria. Many other nationalities within Syria also follow Sunni Islam teachings, including the Kurds, Turkmans, and Circassians. Moreover, it’s essential to consider that approximately half a million men and women in Syria are Palestinian refugees, helping bolster the overall number.

Outside of Islam, Syria is also home to numerous other nationalities, although these tend to be in the minority. The next most common religion after Islam in Syria is Christianity, which accounts for around 10% of the population. Orthodoxy is the country’s most common form of Christianity, making up about 69% of the people, which Catholicism, Protestantism, and Nestorianism follow. Eastern Orthodoxy has been present in Syria for hundreds of years, almost from the very earliest conception of Christianity in the world. After this, around 3% of people in Syria follow the Druze religion, for which most Syrian Druze followers live in As-Suwayda. In addition, several other religions are also present within Syria, including Judaism and the Yazidi religion, predominantly of Turkish origin. Spiritual and folk religions are also occasionally practiced in the country, and many Syrian women and men believe in concepts of good and evil. Thus, many Syrian people rely on amulets, charms, and incantations to ward off opposing forces and keep their lives positive. Saints are also highly praised in Syrian culture, and many people believe in the power of saints to look after their lives and give them something to ward away negative factors.

Before you can begin dating stunning Syrian women, you must consider their mentality and how this might impact their behavior and thoughts. Fortunately, compared with some other Eastern cultures, the level of equality for Syrian women tends to be somewhat higher, which means that Syrian women may have greater independence than other people. However, despite equality technically being present in Syria, there is still a substantial gender gap between Syrian women and men, which may influence the mentality of many Syrian women accordingly. Overall, Syria ranks 0.482 on the Gender Inequality Index, which makes it the 122nd country in terms of gender equality. However, women’s rights are an increasingly demanded movement in Syria, and as such, women are primarily allowed to participate generally in everyday activities alongside men. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Syrian women always feel in a position to do so, and many Syrian women instead find themselves still slipping into “culturally accepted” traditional norms out of necessity or a lack of confidence regarding the potential to change established culture.

Despite the somewhat hazy level of gender equality in Syria, it’s safe to say that Syrian women are still incredibly proud and determined. Quality of life in Syria is relatively low, only rating 0.577 on the Human Development Index. Moreover, the level of per capita income is low, averaging just $2900. As such, many Syrian women have learned to be incredibly resourceful, so they can often complete tasks and activities even when resources seem scarce. This trait of Syrian women is often incredibly impressive. As a result, you may find that Syrian women aren’t necessarily impressed by lavish gifts and the like, and instead, she will likely be looking for someone who is just as determined and hard-working as she is. This can make dating Syrian women much more affordable than dating women from other countries – but you will need to put in the effort to show your new Syrian partner just how much she means to you.

Despite their outwardly determined, confident, and steadfast exterior, it’s worth considering that many Syrian women are incredibly private people. This trait may come from the fact that, in Syrian culture, public displays of affection are largely frowned upon, meaning that any such feelings are often kept behind closed doors. As such, it may be a while before your new Syrian partner opens up to you about how she is feeling – and even then, it may take a little gentle encouragement to help her do so. Always be there for her, as a result, to ensure that she has support when she needs it most. She’ll likely appreciate having you there to look after her, even if she doesn’t find it easy to ask for help or support openly. And remember: your new Syrian partner will likely expect you to fall into the role of head of the family, so she may look to you for guidance and support when she’s unsure where to turn – even if she doesn’t make this openly obvious.