2009
 2010
Population
 20,178,485
 21,762,978
Infant mortality
 2.587%
 1.669%
HIV positive adults
 12,000
 12,720
Living in poverty
 22.4%
 22.8%
Unemployment
 9%
 9.2%
Inflation rate
 14.9%
 3.8%
External Debt
 6,720,000,000
 7,621,000,000
Foreign Currency Reserves
 6,104,000,000
 5,083,000,000
Government expenses
 13,770,000,000
 13,140,000,000
Government revenues
 10,900,000,000
 9,020,000,000
Exports
 13,120,000,000
 10,130,000,000
Imports
 14,320,000,000
 13,100,000,000
Syrian pound currency rates                              2007
 50.0085
  
Syrian pound currency rates                              2008
 46.5281
 46.8599
May 28 2011
 47.4010
  
In the 21st Century King James version of the Old Testament Daniel 5:25
gives Daniel's explanation of calligraphy written by a ghostly hand on a
wall during a feast hosted by Belshazzar of Babylonia.
פרסיןמנא ,מנא, תקל, ו   (right to left: mene, mene, tekel u-pharsin).
Chronology  Click here
These words are Aramaic names of measures. Daniel interprets them as Belshazzar has been
measured and found wanting, and that his kingdom will be lost to be divided between Medes
and Persians. A modern Belshazzar needs to define and publish measures periodically AND
convince his subjects, allies and even enemies that the numbers are accurate, and that
progress is being made. There seems to be a belief that the cost of ongoing riots and protests
cannot be measured and cannot be correlated to other econometric values. Not true.
As all admirers of ancient gazelles are aware, the Natufian culture (12,500 to 9,500 BC)
included parts of the modern Syrian Arab Republic. People who may have invented
agriculture, cattle breeding and domesticated the dog, and who still live in one of the oldest
continuously inhabited cities on Planet Earth when the rest of us were throwing rocks at
mammoths should definitely NOT have measures with values like those in gray above. We are
very skeptical of the 2010 values for inflation, infant mortality and employment.
Next Click here