Present-day Syria has a long history. In present-day Syria a great Semitic empire spreads from the Red Sea north to Turkey and east to Mesopotamia from 2500 to 2400 BC. Syria is occupied successively by Canaanites, Phoenicians and Hebrews. For long times the area is populated by the Arameans and since 1500 BC it is occupied by Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia and Macedon. In 301 BC Syria becomes the central part of the hellenic Seleucidian Empire. The Roman Empire conquers Syria in 63 BC. After the division of the Roman Empire the province of Syria becomes part of the East Roman Empire. Syria is conquered by the Caliphate in 633. Under the dynasty of Omayyades, the Syrian city of Damascus is the capital of the Caliphate from 661 until 749. This ends when the Omayyades are defeated by the Abassides and the capital is moved to Baghdad.

In 997 Syria is conquered by Egypt, that rules the area until 1516. Parts of the country are conquered between 1100 and 1300 by the European Crusaders. In 1516 Syria is annexed by the Ottoman Empire. After World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Syria is occupied by British and Arab troops. In 1918 Faysal ibn al-Husayn al-Hashimi comes to power. He proclaims in 1920 the Kingdom of Greater Syria under his rule. However, his rule over Syria ends after only a few months, following the clash between his Syrian Arab forces and regular French forces at the battle of Maysalun.

The new French rulers abolish the same year this kingdom: Syria is divided in the State of Damascus and the State of Aleppo. The French unite Damascus, Aleppo and Alawia into the Union of Syrian States in 1922 and between 1923 and 1941 Syria is a League of Nations mandate under French administration. From 1922 until 1925 Subhi Bay Barakat al-Khalidi is head of state. Syria is named State of Syria in 1925. That year the Alawite State is seceded from Syria. Between 1926 and 1928 Damad-i Shahriyari Ahmad Nami Bay and between 1928 and 1931 Shaykh Taj ad-Din al-Hasani are heads of state. After the proclamation of the Syrian Republic in 1932 Muhammad `Ali Bay al-`Abid becomes president. In 1936 Latakia joins Syria. Hashim Khalid al-Atassi becomes president that year. Syria is renamed State of Syria in 1939 and Bahij ad-Din al-Khatib becomes head of state as the chairman of the Council of Commissioners. Formally Syria becomes the independent Syrian Republic, but due to World War II it is occupied by British and French troops between 1941 and 1946. In 1943 Shukri al-Kuwatli of the al Kutlah al Wataniyah (National Bloc, KW) becomes president.

The Syrian Republic is a parliamentary democratic republic. Although rapid economic development follow independence, Syrian politics from independence through the late 1960s are marked by upheaval. Military coups, the first in 1949, undermine civilian rule. Al-Kuwatli is replaced by a military regime, that brings Hashim Khalid al-Atassi again to power. In 1951 to Adib ash-Shishakli's seizes power in 1951. After the overthrow of Shishakli in a 1954 coup, continued political maneuvering supported by competing factions in the military eventually bring Arab nationalist and socialist elements to power. In that period al-Atassi (1954-1955) and al-Kuwatli (1955-1958, now representing the Syrian National Party) are presidents. Syria's political instability during the years after the 1954 coup, the parallelism of Syrian and Egyptian policies, and the appeal of Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser's leadership in the wake of the 1956 Suez crisis create support in Syria for union with Egypt. After a decision of the left-wing government, Syria merges with Egypt in 1958 into the United Arab Republic.

The United Arab Republic is a dictatorship and when the government dissolves the Syrian regional executive, Syria secedes in 1961 from the United Arab Republic and establishes the Syrian Arab Republic. Nazim al-Kudsi becomes president. Instability characterizes the next 18 months, with various coups culminating in 1963 in the installation by leftist Syrian army officers of the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC). Muhammad Amin al-Hafez becomes chairman of this NCRC. The takeover is engineered by members of the Hizb al Ba'ath al'Arabi al Ishtriraki (Socialist Arab Rebirth Party, Ba'ath), which had been active in Syria and other Arab countries since the late 1940s. The new cabinet is dominated by Ba'ath members. President Amin al-Hafez promulgates a provisional constitution providing for an appointed legislature. In 1966 a group of army officers carry out a successful, intra-party coup and designate a regionalist, civilian Ba'ath government. Nureddin Mustafa al-Atassi becomes head of state. The moderate military wing of the government takes power in 1970 when Abu Sulayman Hafez al-Assad affects a bloodless military coup, ousting the civilian party leadership and assuming the role of prime minister, since 1971 also president. Al-Asad rules the country as a dictator until his death in 2000, when his son Bashar al-Assad succeeds him.