Lebanon Geography - 2005

Location:
Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria

Geographic coordinates:
33 50 N, 35 50 E

Map references:
Middle East

Area:
total: 10,400 sq km
land: 10,230 sq km
water: 170 sq km

Area - comparative:
about 0.7 times the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries:
total: 454 km
border countries: Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km

Coastline:
225 km

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate:
Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows

Terrain:
narrow coastal plain; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Qurnat as Sawda' 3,088 m

Natural resources:
limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land

Land use:
arable land: 16.62%
permanent crops: 13.98%
other: 69.4% (2001)

Irrigated land:
1,200 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
dust storms, sandstorms

Environment - current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Beirut from vehicular traffic and the burning of industrial wastes; pollution of coastal waters from raw sewage and oil spills

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life Conservation