Syrian Culture

Core Concepts

Greetings

Religion

Family

Naming

Dates of Significance

National Holidays and Observances

  • New Year’s Day (1st of January)
  • Revolution Day (8th of March)
  • Mother’s Day (21st of March)
  • Independence Day (17th of April)
  • Labour Day (1st of May)
  • Martyrs’ Day (6th of May)
  • Armed Forces Day (6th of October)
  • October Liberatory War (6th of October)


Muslim Holidays

Islamic dates of significance are based on the Islamic lunar calendar, and therefore the actual dates vary from year to year.

  • Ramadan: the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. This is the month that Muhammad first received revelation from God. Muslims fast for 29-30 days to recognise this event.
  • Eid-ul-Fitr: the end of Ramadan.
  • Eid-ul-Adha: the twelfth month of the Islamic lunar calendar signifying completion of the Haj and Abraham’s sacrifice of a sheep.
  • Muharram: Islamic New Year occurs on the first day of the first month in the lunar Islamic calendar, known as Muharram.
  • Mawlid: The Prophet Muhammad’s birthday is celebrated on the 12th day of the Islamic month of Rabi’al-awwal for Sunni Muslims, while Shi’a Muslims mark it on the 17th of the same month.


Christian Holidays

Dates may vary for Orthodox Christians.

  • Good Friday (Varies each year)
  • Easter Sunday (Varies each year)
  • Christmas (25th of December)

Etiquette

Do's and Don'ts

Communication

Other Considerations

Business Culture

Syrians in Australia

References
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Syrian Arab Republic
  • Population
    17,185,170
    [July 2016 est.]
  • Language
    Arabic (official)
    Kurdish
    Armenian
    Aramaic
    Circassian
    French
    English
  • Religion
    Sunni Islam (74%)
    Shi'a Islam (13%)
    Christianity (10%)
    Druze (3%)
    Judaism (>1%)
    Note: The Christian population may be considerably smaller as a result of Christians fleeing the country during the ongoing civil war.
  • Ethnicity
    Arab (90.3%)
    Kurdish, Armenian, Assyrian and other (9.7%)
  • Cultural Dimensions
    Power Distance
    80
    Individualism
    35
    Masculinity
    52
    Uncertainty Avoidance
    60
    Long Term Orientation
    30
    Indulgence
    N.A.
    What's this?
  • Australians with Syrian Ancestry
    19,963 [Census, 2016]
Syrians in Australia
  • Population
    15,321
    [Census, 2016]
    This figure refers to the number of Australian residents that were born in Syria.
  • Median Age
    41 [Census, 2016]
  • Gender
    Male (48.7%)
    Female (51.3%)
    [Census, 2016]
  • Religion
    Islam (37.2%)
    Catholic Christianity (16.6%)
    Assyrian Apostolic Christianity (10.2%)
    Eastern Orthodox Christianity (8.3%)
    Other Religion (18.7%)
    No Religion (4.1%)
    Not Stated (4.0%)
    [Census, 2016]
  • Ancestry
    Syrian (47.5%)
    Assyrian (16.5%)
    Arab [not defined] (10.6%)
    Armenian (7.0%)
    Other Ancestry (18.4%)
    [Census, 2016]
  • Language Spoken at Home
    Arabic (68.8%)
    Assyrian Neo-Aramaic (16.7%)
    Armenian (6.5%)
    English (4.2%)
    Other Languages (3.2%)
    Of those who speak a language other than English at home, 37.7% speak English fluently.
    [Census, 2016]
  • Diaspora
    New South Wales (60.6%)
    Victoria (25.1%)
    South Australia (5.3%)
    Western Australia (4.0%)
    Other (5.5%)
    [Census, 2016]
  • Arrival to Australia
    Prior to 2007 (45.2%)
    2007 - 2011 (8.5%)
    2012 - 2016 (41.3%)
    [Census, 2016]
Country https://dtbhzdanf36fd.cloudfront.net/countries/91/sy.svg Flag Country Syria