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Syria Geography Profile

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LocationMiddle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey
Geographic coordinates35 00 N, 38 00 E
Map referencesMiddle East
Areatotal: 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 - comparativeslightly more than 1.5 times the size of Pennsylvania
Land boundariestotal: 2,363 km

border countries (5): Iraq 599 km, Israel 83 km, Jordan 379 km, Lebanon 403 km, Turkey 899 km
Coastline193 km
Maritime claimsterritorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 24 nm
Climatemostly 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
Terrainprimarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west
Elevation extremeshighest point: Mount Hermon (Jabal a-Shayk) 2,814 m

lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -208 m

mean elevation: 514 m
Natural resourcespetroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower
Land useagricultural 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 land14,280 sq km (2012)
Total renewable water resources16.802 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)
Natural hazards

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

Geography - notethe 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)

Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021

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