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
water: 170 sq km
land: 10,230 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 |
| Geography - note: | Nahr el 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
Source: CIA World Factbook
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