Ethnic groups in Syria

Ethnicity and religion are intertwined in Syria as in other countries in the region, but there are also nondenominational, supraethnic and suprareligious political identities, like Syrian nationalism.

Syrian Arab Sunni Muslims form ~70-75% of the populace, Christians altogether around 10%, Alawites at 10%, and the remaining ~5-10% consist of minor ethnoreligious groups including the Druze (3%), Isma'ilis, Mhallami, Yezidi and Twelver Shiite Muslims (the latter two together also about 3%).

Arab tribes and clans of Bedouin descent are mainly concentrated in the governorates of al-Hasakah, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and eastern Aleppo, forming roughly 30% of the total population and speaking a dialect related to Bedouin and Najdi Arabic.

In Deir ez-Zor a dialect of North Mesopotamian Arabic is also spoken, reminiscent of that of medieval Iraq prior the Mongol invasions in 1258.

The Assyrians form a multi-denominational Christian minority, mainly in northeastern Syria, where they have been indigenous since the Bronze Age.