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: 16.62%
permanent crops: 13.98%
other: 69.4% (2001)
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, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification, Marine Life
Conservation