Syria has a population of 21,906,000 million people, of which, 6 million are concentrated in the capital Damascus. A moderately large country, Syria is situated centrally within the Middle East region. The population of Syria is predominately Arab, with large minorities from other ethnic groups. The official language is Arabic, but other tongues that are occasionally understood include Kurdish, Armenian, Turkish, French and English. The Syrian Republic is officially secular. Nonetheless, it is greatly influenced by the majority religion of Islam (90 percent of the population, split between 74 percent Sunni Muslim and 16 percent other Muslim). There is a large Christian minority that amounts to about 10 percent of the population. Know that like many other Middle Eastern states, Syria is not sympathetic to Israel's nationhood. Entry will be refused to citizens of Israel and travelers with any evidence of having visited Israel. And not just Israeli entry stamps, but Egyptian/Jordanian neighboring land borders with Israel and any products with Hebrew labeling.