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Syria is in the Middle East. Syria is about half the size of Germany and covers 185,180 square kilometers. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the west. In addition, there is the Mediterranean coast, which stretches for almost 200 kilometers.
Syria’s current borders were “decreed” after the First World War, when England and France divided the territories of the Ottoman Empire in the Arab East among themselves (see also History and Politics).
Is Syria in Europe or Asia?
Syria’s coastal strip on the Mediterranean Sea has a width of about 30 kilometers. Here the land is very fertile and agriculture is practiced.
If you move from the sea to the east – that is, to the interior of Syria – you will come to the Alawite Mountains. This drops steeply to the east and merges there into a plain through which the river Orontes flows. Here you will find mainly rocky landscapes and desert steppe.
The further south you push into the interior of Syria, the drier it gets. Here lie the deserts of the country. That is why most people also live mainly in the fertile coastal regions, and less in the barren steppe landscapes of the country.
The northeast, however, is another fertile plateau. On the border with Lebanon is the anti-Lebanon Mountains. In it is the highest mountain in the country, Hermon, with a height of 2814 meters.
South of it, that is, in the south-west of the country, is the Hauran. This is a landscape characterized by volcanic activity. Here there are scree fields with basalt boulders and crests of volcanoes, but also fertile soil on which wheat grows. The Hauran crosses the border into Jordan.
What language does Syria speak?
What caused the war in Syria?
Where exactly is the war in Syria?
