Geography (Syria)
=================


     Total area:
         185,180 km2
     Land area:
         184,050 km2 (including 1,295 km2 of Israeli-occupied territory)
     Comparative area:
         slightly larger than North Dakota
     Land boundaries:
         2,253 km total; Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon 375 km,
         Turkey 822 km
     Coastline:
         193 km
     Maritime claims:
       Contiguous zone:
         6 nm beyond territorial sea limit
       Territorial sea:
         35 nm
     Disputes:
         separated from Israel by the 1949 Armistice Line; Golan Heights is Israeli
         occupied; Hatay question with Turkey; periodic disputes with Iraq over
         Euphrates water rights; ongoing dispute over water development plans by
         Turkey for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
     Climate:
         mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy
         winters (December to February) along coast
     Terrain:
         primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in
         west
     Natural resources:
         crude oil, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock
         salt, marble, gypsum
     Land use:
         arable land 28%; permanent crops 3%; meadows and pastures 46%; forest and
         woodland 3%; other 20%; includes irrigated 3%
     Environment:
         deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
     Note:
         there are 38 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights