Turkey vs. Syria
Geography
| Turkey | Syria | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey |
| Geographic coordinates | 39 00 N, 35 00 E | 35 00 N, 38 00 E |
| Map references | Middle East | Middle East |
| Area | total: 783,562 sq km land: 769,632 sq km water: 13,930 sq km | total: 187,437 sq km land: 185,887 sq km water: 1,550 sq km note: includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than Texas | slightly more than 1.5 times the size of Pennsylvania |
| Land boundaries | total: 2,816 km border countries (8): Armenia 311 km, Azerbaijan 17 km, Bulgaria 223 km, Georgia 273 km, Greece 192 km, Iran 534 km, Iraq 367 km, Syria 899 km | total: 2,363 km border countries (5): Iraq 599 km, Israel 83 km, Jordan 379 km, Lebanon 403 km, Turkey 899 km |
| Coastline | 7,200 km | 193 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 6 nm in the Aegean Sea exclusive economic zone: in Black Sea only: to the maritime boundary agreed upon with the former USSR 12 nm in Black Sea and in Mediterranean Sea | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm |
| Climate | temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior | mostly desert; hot, dry, sunny summers (June to August) and mild, rainy winters (December to February) along coast; cold weather with snow or sleet periodically in Damascus |
| Terrain | high central plateau (Anatolia); narrow coastal plain; several mountain ranges | primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Mount Ararat 5,137 m lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m mean elevation: 1,132 m | highest point: Mount Hermon (Jabal a-Shayk) 2,814 m lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -208 m mean elevation: 514 m |
| Natural resources | coal, iron ore, copper, chromium, antimony, mercury, gold, barite, borate, celestite (strontium), emery, feldspar, limestone, magnesite, marble, perlite, pumice, pyrites (sulfur), clay, arable land, hydropower | petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower |
| Land use | agricultural land: 49.7% (2018 est.) arable land: 26.7% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 4% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 19% (2018 est.) forest: 14.9% (2018 est.) other: 35.4% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 75.8% (2018 est.) arable land: 25.4% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 5.8% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 44.6% (2018 est.) forest: 2.7% (2018 est.) other: 21.5% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 52,150 sq km (2012) | 14,280 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | severe earthquakes, especially in northern Turkey, along an arc extending from the Sea of Marmara to Lake Van; landslides; flooding volcanism: limited volcanic activity; its three historically active volcanoes; Ararat, Nemrut Dagi, and Tendurek Dagi have not erupted since the 19th century or earlier | dust storms, sandstorms volcanism: Syria's two historically active volcanoes, Es Safa and an unnamed volcano near the Turkish border have not erupted in centuries |
| Environment - current issues | water pollution from dumping of chemicals and detergents; air pollution, particularly in urban areas; deforestation; land degradation; concern for oil spills from increasing Bosporus ship traffic; conservation of biodiversity | deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; depletion of water resources; water pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes; inadequate potable water |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Environmental Modification | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
| Geography - note | strategic location controlling the Turkish Straits (Bosporus, Sea of Marmara, Dardanelles) that link the Black and Aegean Seas; the 3% of Turkish territory north of the Straits lies in Europe and goes by the names of European Turkey, Eastern Thrace, or Turkish Thrace; the 97% of the country in Asia is referred to as Anatolia; Istanbul, which straddles the Bosporus, is the only metropolis in the world located on two continents; Mount Ararat, the legendary landing place of Noah's ark, is in the far eastern portion of the country | the capital of Damascus - located at an oasis fed by the Barada River - is thought to be one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities; there are 42 Israeli settlements and civilian land use sites in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights (2017) |
| Total renewable water resources | 211.6 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 16.802 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | the most densely populated area is found around the Bosporus in the northwest where 20% of the population lives in Istanbul; with the exception of Ankara, urban centers remain small and scattered throughout the interior of Anatolia; an overall pattern of peripheral development exists, particularly along the Aegean Sea coast in the west, and the Tigris and Euphrates River systems in the southeast | significant population density along the Mediterranean coast; larger concentrations found in the major cities of Damascus, Aleppo (the country's largest city), and Hims (Homs); more than half of the population lives in the coastal plain, the province of Halab, and the Euphrates River valley note: the ongoing civil war has altered the population distribution |
Source: CIA Factbook
