Draw Syria from Memory
Test your geography knowledge by drawing Syria from memory on a blank canvas. Shape comparison scoring is coming soon — practice Syria's outline in the meantime.
Related Countries in Middle East
Why Syria Looks the Way It Does
Sykes-Picot was never the map; it was a proposal, and the borders came later. The 1916 agreement between Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot divided the Ottoman Arab provinces into British and French spheres; the San Remo conference of 1920 and the French Mandate that followed decided which side of the line each territory would fall on. Syria's outline is that inheritance: a broad desert block between the Mediterranean and the Iraqi frontier, capped in the north by Turkey, and cut off in the south by a ruled line with Jordan that crosses open steppe with no river, mountain or town for most of its length.
The straightness is the tell. Where the border runs through desert it goes as if drawn with a rule, because nothing there constrained it; where it crosses settled country it bends around villages and railways. The coast, by contrast, is short — and shorter than geography would have given — because the province of Alexandretta, with its port and its good coastal plain, was detached and transferred to Turkey in 1939 as the Hatay, taking away the country's natural northwest outlet.
The southwest is the most contested piece. The Golan Heights, a basalt plateau overlooking the Jordan Valley and the Sea of Galilee, has been under Israeli occupation since 1967 and annexed by Israel in 1981 in a move most states do not recognize, with a demilitarized zone patrolled by United Nations observers between the lines. A rectangle with a ragged southwestern corner and a ruled desert interior is what stays in the hand when you try to draw it.
Quick Facts: Syria
- Capital
- Damascus
- Continent
- Middle East
- Area
- 185,180 km²
What is "Drawing Syria from Memory"?
Drawing Syria from memory means sketching Syria's border on a blank canvas without looking at a map. Focus on the country's distinctive features and overall shape — that's what pushes your accuracy score up.
Syria sits in Middle East and is rated ★★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a trickier outline with more detail to remember. It connects to 5 neighboring country pages on this site. Border comparison scoring for Syria is coming soon — the shape tips below will get your mental map sharp before it lands.
Syria is a broad, roughly rectangular country spanning from the Mediterranean coast in the west across desert to the Iraqi border in the east, with Turkey running along its long northern edge.
How to Draw Syria from Memory
Step 01
Sketch Syria as a wide, blocky rectangle lying east to west, with the Mediterranean just touching its western coast. The northern border with Turkey runs as a long, fairly straight line across the top, while the country spreads into open desert as it moves east toward the border with Iraq, getting wider toward the middle.
Step 02
Add the coastal notch on the west, where the narrow Mediterranean plain wraps around the main port of Latakia. The western border with Lebanon juts inward, and the northwest corner angles toward Turkey, so give that side a slight curve and a visible indent to break up what would otherwise be a plain straight rectangle.
Step 03
Anchor the south with the border that gives Syria its tilt: a diagonal line running from the Mediterranean down to the southeast, where Jordan and Iraq meet. Iraq borders the entire eastern side, so keep that edge long and straight, and the rectangular desert block locks into place with the Mediterranean on the far west and Turkey along the top.
Syria is a blunt shield facing west: a wide desert body pressed against Iraq, a Mediterranean lip on the west coast, and Turkey capping the whole northern edge.
How Syria Is Scored
When you hit Reveal & compare, your sketch is measured against Syria's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Three numbers come back:
Matched — the share of the real border your drawing covered. 100% means you traced every part of the outline.
Extra — how much of your drawing fell outside the true border. This catches sketches that are too big, mispositioned, or drifting off.
Missed — the border you didn't reach, the flip side of Matched.
The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score. The rating names give you a target: 80+ is Cartographer, 60+ is Border patrol, 40+ is Getting there, and below 40 is Try again.
Automated scoring for Syria is coming soon. When it ships, drawing large and centered will be the fastest way to raise your score, because a small sketch overlaps less of the true border.
FAQ
- Which countries are Syria's neighbors?
- Syria connects to 5 neighboring country pages on this site: Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. Once you've drawn Syria, try a neighbor next — drawing two shapes side by side locks both into your mental map.
- How hard is it to draw Syria from memory?
- Syria is rated ★★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a trickier outline with more detail to remember. Automated scoring is coming soon, so use the shape tips below to practice in the meantime.
- How is my Syria drawing scored?
- Once Syria's border data goes live, your sketch will be compared with the real border point by point. You'll get a 0–100 score built from Matched, Missed, and Extra, plus a clear overlay showing where you nailed it and where you drifted.
- Can I draw Syria on mobile?
- Yes — Syria works on desktop, tablet, and mobile. Draw with your finger on touchscreens; no app download is required and it runs directly in your browser.