Syria Today
Until the end of World War 1, geographical (or natural) Syria included pre Syria. Lebanon. Jordan and Palestine. But Syria today covers only 185,000 sq.km. It lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Turkey is on the north. Iraq on the east and southeast, Jordan on the ‘South, Palestine on the southeast, and Lebanon on the west.
S can be divided into five distinct touristic regions with varyria features and terrain:
In the west there is a 175 km coastline and mountains divided into two ranges standing opposite each other:
• The eastern range, stretching along the Syrian - Lebanon border and called Eastern Mount Lebanon, wherein Mount Hermon constitutes the highest peak rising to some 2814 meters and covered with a year-long snow.
• The Western range, called Western Mount Lebanon, extends to the northern part of the Syrian coastline where it is known as the Latakia Mountain, and is covered with thickets and forests. The Orontes River flows between these two ranges and creates a fertile valley extending north to Horns, Hama, and the Aleppo plains.
• The central part of Syria is covered by what is known as the al Cham desert (al-Badia) where plains and pasture lands lend an unusual charm to a vast terrain of sand and rock. In the middle of this lies the famous oasis of Palmyra.
• north of the desert there is a huge fertile basin formed by the Euphrates Riser, whose, source is in Turkish territory. It crosses
Syria diagonally in the north-east to exit into Iraqi territory, having been fed by two tributaries in Syria, namely the Khabur and Balikh rivers. On the Syrian part of the Euphrates rises a great darn v forms the 80km-long al-Assad Lake.
In this part of the basin, there are several mountains, and some newly-discovered oil-fields.
• In the south-west, the Ghuta forms a green belt of orchards and farms which surround the capital, Damascus, full of fruit trees.
• Through this region runs the river Barada, which the Romans called “The Golden River”.
• Its spring is in Zabadani, a summer resort near Damascus. The river flows through miles of meadows and orchards, then
Branches into seven small rivers before reaching Damascus.
• In the south, Jabal al-Arab forms the greater part of the region with its hills, volcanic rocks, historic cities, and rich vineyards.
The vast plain of Houran and the Golan Heights form the remainder of this region, and have long been the most fertile part of it along the borders with Lebanon and Palestine.
