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; Al Biqa' (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Jabal al Makmal 3,087 m

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

Land use
arable land: 21%
permanent crops: 9%
permanent pastures: 1%
forests and woodland: 8%
other: 61% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land 860 sq km (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, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation

Geography - 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

NOTE: The information regarding Lebanon on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Lebanon Geography 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Lebanon Geography 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.