Iraq vs. Syria
Geography
| Iraq | Syria | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iran and Kuwait | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey |
| Geographic coordinates | 33 00 N, 44 00 E | 35 00 N, 38 00 E |
| Map references | Middle East | Middle East |
| Area | total: 438,317 sq km land: 437,367 sq km water: 950 sq km | total: 187,437 sq km land: 185,887 sq km water: 1,550 sq km note: includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory |
| Area - comparative | slightly more than three times the size of New York state | slightly more than 1.5 times the size of Pennsylvania |
| Land boundaries | total: 3,809 km border countries (6): Iran 1599 km, Jordan 179 km, Kuwait 254 km, Saudi Arabia 811 km, Syria 599 km, Turkey 367 km | total: 2,363 km border countries (5): Iraq 599 km, Israel 83 km, Jordan 379 km, Lebanon 403 km, Turkey 899 km |
| Coastline | 58 km | 193 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: not specified | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm |
| Climate | mostly desert; mild to cool winters with dry, hot, cloudless summers; northern mountainous regions along Iranian and Turkish borders experience cold winters with occasionally heavy snows that melt in early spring, sometimes causing extensive flooding in central and southern Iraq | 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 in Damascus |
| Terrain | mostly broad plains; reedy marshes along Iranian border in south with large flooded areas; mountains along borders with Iran and Turkey | primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Cheekha Dar (Kurdish for "Black Tent") 3,611 m lowest point: Persian Gulf 0 m mean elevation: 312 m | highest point: Mount Hermon (Jabal a-Shayk) 2,814 m lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -208 m mean elevation: 514 m |
| Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, sulfur | petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower |
| Land use | agricultural land: 18.1% (2018 est.) arable land: 8.4% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.5% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 9.2% (2018 est.) forest: 1.9% (2018 est.) other: 80% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 75.8% (2018 est.) arable land: 25.4% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 5.8% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 44.6% (2018 est.) forest: 2.7% (2018 est.) other: 21.5% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 35,250 sq km (2012) | 14,280 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | dust storms; sandstorms; floods | dust storms, sandstorms volcanism: Syria's two historically active volcanoes, Es Safa and an unnamed volcano near the Turkish border have not erupted in centuries |
| Environment - current issues | government water control projects drained most of the inhabited marsh areas east of An Nasiriyah by drying up or diverting the feeder streams and rivers; a once sizable population of Marsh Arabs, who inhabited these areas for thousands of years, has been displaced; furthermore, the destruction of the natural habitat poses serious threats to the area's wildlife populations; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil degradation (salination) and erosion; desertification; military and industrial infrastructure has released heavy metals and other hazardous substances into the air, soil, and groundwater; major sources of environmental damage are effluents from oil refineries, factory and sewage discharges into rivers, fertilizer and chemical contamination of the soil, and industrial air pollution in urban areas | deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; depletion of water resources; water pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes; inadequate potable water |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Environmental Modification | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
| Geography - note | strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of the Persian Gulf | the capital of Damascus - located at an oasis fed by the Barada River - is thought to be one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities; there are 42 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights (2017) |
| Total renewable water resources | 89.86 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 16.802 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | population is concentrated in the north, center, and eastern parts of the country, with many of the larger urban agglomerations found along extensive parts of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers; much of the western and southern areas are either lightly populated or uninhabited | significant population density along the Mediterranean coast; larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs); more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley note: the ongoing civil war has altered the population distribution |
Source: CIA Factbook
