Location: Middle East, along the Mediterranean Sea, between Turkey and Lebanon

Map references: Africa, Middle East, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area:
total area: 185,180 sq km
land area: 184,050 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than North Dakota
note: includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory

Land boundaries: total 2,253 km, Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km, Turkey 822 km

Coastline: 193 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 41 nm
territorial sea: 35 nm

International disputes: separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Golan Heights is Israeli occupied; Hatay question with Turkey; periodic disputes with Iraq over Euphrates water rights; ongoing dispute over water development plans by Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; Syrian troops in northern Lebanon since October 1976

Climate: mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast

Terrain: primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west

Natural resources: petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum

Land use:
arable land: 28%
permanent crops: 3%
meadows and pastures: 46%
forest and woodland: 3%
other: 20%

Irrigated land: 6,700 sq km (1989)

Environment:
current issues: deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution from dumping of untreated sewage and wastes from petroleum refining; lack of safe drinking water
natural hazards: NA
international agreements: party to - Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Environmental Modification

Note: there are 40 Jewish settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (April 1994)

NOTE: The information regarding Syria on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Syria Geography 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Syria Geography 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.