Geography |
The Lebanese Republic, located the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, is bounded by Syria on both the north and east and by Israel on the south. Its area is only 10 400 km2, extending 217 km from north to south and 80 km from east to west.
A narrow plain, the main agricultural region, runs along the seacoast. Inland rise the rugged Lebanon Mountains. The country's highest peak, Qurnat as Sawda (3 083 m), is in these mountains. Another range, the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, runs along the country's eastern border. Between the two lies a fertile valley called the Bekáa, 8 to 16 km in width. The main rivers are the Litani, Nahr Ibrahim, and Orontes.
Most of Lebanon has a Mediterranean climate, with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The coastal plain is subtropical, with 900 mm of annual rainfall and a mean temperature of 29° C in summer and 13° C in winter. In the mountains, temperatures are lower and there is more precipitation (up to 1 500 mm). Much of it falls as snow at the higher elevations. The Bekáa Valley and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains are situated in the rain shadow of the Lebanon Mountains and have hot, dry summers and cold winters with only occasional rain.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.