In Syria this is Shiite branch. Population is 12 % of Syria. Have control of that country for last forty years. Celebrate Christian and Zoroastrian festivals. Secular. Some element of Ali is God. According to BBC:
Syria's Alawis are concentrated mainly on the country's Mediterranean coast, in the port towns of Latakia and Tartous, spreading north across the Turkish border into the province of Hatay and south into northern Lebanon.