Editing Geography of Syria (section)

==Geographical regions==
{{Location map+ |Syria | AlternativeMap=Syria location map3.svg |width=300 |float=left |caption=Map of Syria |places=
{{Location map~ |Syria |lat=33.51930|long=36.31345 |label=Damascus}}
{{Location map~ |Syria |lat=36.21555|long=37.15928 |label=Aleppo|position=left}}
{{Location map~ |Syria |lat=35.33809|long=40.14164 |label=Deir-az-Zur|position=left}}
{{Location map~ |Syria |lat=35.13781|long=36.75245 |label=Hama}}
{{Location map~ |Syria |lat=34.73920|long=36.72660 |label=Homs}}
{{Location map~ |Syria |lat=35.52480|long=35.78590 |label=<span style="font-family:'Liberation Sans Narrow', 'Arial Narrow', sans-serif;font-style:condensed">Latakia</span>|position=left}}
{{Location map~ |Syria |lat=34.87160|long=35.89780 |label=<span style="font-family:'Liberation Sans Narrow', 'Arial Narrow', sans-serif;font-style:condensed">Tartous</span>|position=left}}
{{Location map~ |Syria |lat=35.44990|long=36.39440 |label=Apamea}}
{{Location map~ |Syria |lat=32.51667|long=36.48333 |label=Bosra}}
}}

The area includes about 185,180 square kilometers of deserts, plains, and mountains. It is divided into a coastal zone—with a narrow, double mountain belt enclosing a [[Depression (geology)|depression]] in the west—and a much larger eastern [[plateau]]. The climate is predominantly dry; about three-fifths of the country has less than {{convert|250|mm|in|2|sp=us}} of rain a year. Fertile land is the state's most important natural resource, and efforts have been made to increase the amount of [[arable land]] through irrigation projects.

===Coastal plain===
Along the Mediterranean, a narrow coastal plain stretches south from the Turkish border to Lebanon. The flatness of this [[littoral]], covered with [[sand dune]]s, is broken only by lateral [[Promontory|promontories]] running down from the mountains to the sea. The major ports are [[Latakia]] and [[Tartous]]. Syria claimed a territorial limit of {{convert|35|nmi|km mi|1}} off its Mediterranean coastline. However, in 2003, Syria unilaterally declared its maritime zones, adhering to the 12 nautical miles allowed by the United Nations Law of the Sea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAOLEX |url=https://www.fao.org/faolex/results/details/en/c/LEX-FAOC002168/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=www.fao.org}}</ref>

[[Image:Syria Topography.png|left|thumb|Topography of Syria]]

===Upland areas===
The [[Al-Ansariyah mountains|Jabal an Nusayriyah]], a mountain range paralleling the coastal plain, has an average elevation of just over 1,212 meters above sea level; the highest peak, [[Mount Nabi Yunis, Syria|Nabi Yunis]], is about 1,575 meters above sea level. The western slopes catch moisture-laden western sea winds and are thus more fertile and more heavily populated than the eastern slopes, which receive only hot, dry winds blowing across the desert. Before reaching the Lebanese border and the [[Anti-Lebanon]] Mountains, the Jabal an Nusayriyah range terminates, leaving a corridor&mdash;the [[Homs Gap]]&mdash;through which run the highway and railroad from [[Homs]] to the Lebanese port of [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]]. For centuries the Homs Gap has been a favorite trade, and invasion route from the coast to the country's interior and to other parts of Asia. Eastward, the line of [[al-Ansariyah mountains]] is separated from the Jabal az Zawiyah range and the plateau region by the Al [[Ghab valley]], a fertile, irrigated trench crossed by the meandering [[Orontes River]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Research Divi Federal Research Division, Federal Research Division|title=Syria a Country Study |publisher=Kessinger Publishing|year=2004|pages=74|chapter=Land, Water and Climate|isbn= 9781419150227|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9L9ZWtnYsgC&q=Homs+gap&pg=PA74}}</ref>

Inland and farther south, the [[Anti-Lebanon Mountains]] rise to peaks of over 2,700 meters above sea level on the Syrian-Lebanese frontier and spread in spurs eastward toward the plateau region. The eastern slopes have little rainfall and vegetation and merge eventually with the desert.
[[File:Slinfah.png|thumb|left|[[Slinfah]], located in the [[Syrian Coastal Mountain Range]]]]
In the southwest, the lofty [[Mount Hermon]] (Jabal ash Shaykh), also on the border between Syria and Lebanon, descends to the [[Hawran]] Plateau that receives rain-bearing winds from the Mediterranean. All but the lowest slopes of Mount Hermon are uninhabited, however. Volcanic cones, some of which reach over 900 meters, intersperse the open, rolling, once-fertile Hawran Plateau south of Damascus and east of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Southwest of the Hawran lies the high volcanic region of the [[Jabal al-Druze]] range home of the country's [[Druze]] population. This is part of the [[Harrat ash Shaam]] volcanic field that stretches all the way to Saudi Arabia. Northeast of Jabal al-Druze is a large lava field called [[Al-Safa (Syria)|Al-Safa]] that stands out in satellite views.

===Eastern plateau===
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2020}}
[[File:Syrian desert near Palmyra, Hills, Syria.jpg|thumb|left|Syrian desert near [[Palmyra]]]]
The entire eastern plateau region is intersected by a low chain of mountains, the Jabal ar Ruwaq, the Jabal Abu Rujmayn, and the [[Jebel Bishri]], extending northeastward from the Jabal Al Arab to the Euphrates. South of these mountains lies a barren desert region known as the [[Syrian Desert|Hamad]]. North of the Jabal ar Ruwaq and east of the city of Homs is another barren area known as the Homs Desert, which has a hard-packed dirt surface.

Northeast of the Euphrates, which originates in the mountains of Turkey and flows diagonally across Syria into Iraq, is the fertile [[Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia|Jazira]] region.  This region is watered by two tributaries to the Euphrates, the [[Balikh River|Balikh]] and the [[Khabur (Euphrates)|Khabur]]. The area underwent irrigation improvements during the 1960s and 1970s, and it provides substantial cereal and cotton crops. Oil and natural gas discoveries in the extreme northeastern portion of the Jazira have significantly enhanced the region's economic potential.