oordinates: 33 50 N, 35 50 E

Map references: Middle East

Area:
total area: 10,400 sq km
land area: 10,230 sq km
comparative area: about 0.8 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

International disputes: Israeli troops in southern Lebanon since
June 1982; Syrian troops in northern, central, and eastern Lebanon
since October 1976

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
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%
meadows and pastures: 1%
forest and woodland: 8%
other: 61%

Irrigated land: 860 sq km (1990 est.)

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
natural hazards: dust storms, sandstorms
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution; signed, but not ratified -
Desertification, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine
Life Conservation

Geographic 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

People
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Population: 3,776,317 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 36% (male 687,631; female 662,100)
15-64 years: 59% (male 1,049,689; female 1,163,255)
65 years and over: 5% (male 98,406; female 115,236) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.16% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 27.93 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 6.35 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female
65 years