| Location | Middle East, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Lebanon and Turkey |
| Geographic coordinates | 35 00 N, 38 00 E |
| Map references | Middle East |
| Area | 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 more than 1.5 times the size of Pennsylvania |
| Land boundaries | total: 2,363 km border countries (5): Iraq 599 km, Israel 83 km, Jordan 379 km, Lebanon 403 km, Turkey 899 km |
| Coastline | 193 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm |
| Climate | 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 | primarily semiarid and desert plateau; narrow coastal plain; mountains in west |
| Elevation extremes | 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 | petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore, rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower |
| Land use | 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 | 14,280 sq km (2012) |
| Total renewable water resources | 16.802 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Natural hazards | 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 |
| Geography - note | 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) |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
