Geographic coordinates: 33 50 N, 35 50 E
Map references: Middle East
Area:
total:
10,400 kmē
land:
10,230 kmē
water:
170 kmē
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 nautical miles
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
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:
21%
permanent crops:
9%
permanent pastures:
1%
forests and woodland:
8%
other:
61% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 860 kmē (1993 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, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note: Litani river 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
- See also : Lebanon
