l-ASAD, a
member of the Socialist Ba'th Party and the minority Alawite sect,
seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to
the country. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost the Golan
Heights to Israel. During the 1990s, Syria and Israel held
occasional peace talks over its return. Following the death of
President al-ASAD, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was approved as
president by popular referendum in July 2000. Syrian troops -
stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role -
were withdrawn in April 2005. During the July-August 2006 conflict
between Israel and Hizballah, Syria placed its military forces on
alert but did not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah.

Geography
Syria

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: 185,180 sq km
land: 184,050 sq km
water: 1,130 sq km
note: includes 1,295 sq km of Israeli-occupied territory

Area - comparative:

slightly larger than North Dakota

Land boundaries:

total: 2,253 km
border countries: Iraq 605 km, Israel 76 km, Jordan 375 km, Lebanon
375 km, Turkey 822 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:

lowest point: unnamed location near Lake Tiberias -200 m
highest point: Mount Hermon 2,814 m

Natural resources:

petroleum, phosphates, chrome and manganese ores, asphalt, iron ore,
rock salt, marble, gypsum, hydropower

Land use:

arable land: 24.8%
permanent crops: 4.47%
other: 70.73% (2005)

Irrigated land:

13,330 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

46.1 cu km (1997)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 19.95 cu km/yr (3%/2%/95%)
per capita: 1,048 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

dust storms, sandstorms

Environment - current issues:

deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; water
pollution from raw sewage and petroleum refining wastes; inadequate
potable water

Environment - international a