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Syria Geography 1996

Location:

Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey

Map references:

Middle East

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; 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; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically hits Damascus

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:

meadows and pastures:

46%

forest and woodland:

other:

20%

Irrigated land:

10,000 sq km (1992)

Environment:

current issues:

deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution from dumping of raw sewage and wastes from petroleum refining; inadequate supplies of potable water

natural hazards:

dust storms, sandstorms

international agreements:

party to - Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity, Desertification, Environmental Modification

Note:

there are 42 Jewish settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights (August 1994 est.)

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