CIA Factbook The World Factbook 1994: LebanonGeography Location: Middle East, in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, between Israel and Syria Area: • total area: 10,400 sq km • land area: 10,230 sq km • comparative area: about 0.8 times the size of Connecticut Land boundaries: total 454 km, Israel 79 km, Syria 375 km Coastline: 225 km Maritime claims: • territorial sea: 12 nm International disputes: separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since June 1982; Syrian troops in northern, central, and eastern Lebanon since October 1976 Climate: Mediterranean; mild to cool, wet winters with hot, dry summers; Lebanon mountains experience heavy winter snows Terrain: narrow coastal plain; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains Natural resources: limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region Land use: • arable land: 21% • permanent crops: 9% • meadows and pastures: 1% • forest and woodland: 8% • other: 61% Irrigated land: 860 sq km (1989 est.) Environment: • current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; air and water pollution • natural hazards: NA • international agreements: party to—Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified—Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation Note: Nahr al Litani only major river in Near East not crossing an international boundary; rugged terrain historically helped isolate, protect, and develop numerous factional groups based on religion, clan, and ethnicity