The nine-fold increase in refugees is a "calamity" says the UN, as it warns some countries could collapse under the strain.
The number of refugees fleeing Syria's civil war has topped two million - a nine-fold increase in 12 months, according to United Nations figures.
"Syria has become the great tragedy of this century - a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history," said the head of the UN's refugee agency, António Guterres.
The UNHCR wants a massive increase in aid to stop Syria's neighbours buckling under the strain.
A year ago, the number of Syrians registered as refugees or awaiting registration stood at 230,671 people.
The massive rise comes as France bolstered calls for military action in Syria by saying it had evidence the regime was behind a "massive and co-ordinated" chemical attack in Damascus.
The US government has also said evidence points to deadly sarin gas being used to kill 1,429 people on August 21.
More than half of the refugees created by the war - some 52% - are under 17, said the UNHCR, and over one million children have now left their homeland to try to escape the bloodshed.
The situation is said to have reached a "critical stage", with more than 5,000 Syrians spilling over borders each day into neighbouring countries.
Lebanon has taken the most people, with 716,000; 515,000 have gone to Jordan; 460,000 to Turkey; while Egypt has 110,000 and Iraq 168,000.
The UNHCR said the countries were struggling to provide food and shelter at refugee camps.
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