the militias have been weakened or disbanded, and the Lebanese
Armed Forces (LAF) have extended central government authority over about
two-thirds of the country. Hizballah, the radical Shi'a party, retains
its weapons. Syria maintains about 20,000 troops in Lebanon based mainly
in Beirut, North Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley. Syria's troop deployment
was legitimized by the Arab League during Lebanon's civil war and in
the Ta'if Accord. Damascus justifies its continued military presence
in Lebanon by citing Beirut's requests and the failure of the Lebanese
Government to implement all of the constitutional reforms in the Ta'if
Accord. Israel's withdrawal from its security zone in southern Lebanon
in May of 2000, however, has emboldened some Lebanese Christians and
Druze to demand that Syria withdraw its forces as well.

Geography Lebanon

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 water: 170 sq km land: 10,230 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; El Beqaa (Bekaa Valley) separates Lebanon
and Anti-Lebanon Mountains

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m highest point:
Qurnat as Sawda' 3,088 m

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

Land use: arable land: 18% permanent crops: 12% other: 70% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 1,200 sq km (1998 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, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping,
Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note: Nahr el Litani only major river in Near Ea