LEBANON AND ITS CLIMATE

Lebanon is located in West Asia between latitudes 33° and 35° N and longitudes 35° and 37° E.

The country's surface area is 10,452 square kilometres. Lebanon has a coastline and border of 225 kilometres on the Mediterranean Sea to the west, a 375 kilometres border shared with Syria to the north and east and a 79 kilometres long border with Palestine to the south.

Lebanon is divided into four distinct physiographic regions: the coastal plain, the Lebanon mountain range, the Bekaa Valley and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains.

The narrow and discontinuous coastal plain stretches from the Syrian border in the north where it widens to form the Akkar plain to Ras al-Naqoura at the border with Palestine in the south. The fertile coastal plain is formed of marine sediments and river deposited alluvium alternating with sandy bays and rocky beaches.

Lebanon's mountains rise steeply parallel to the Mediterranean coast and form a ridge of limestone and sandstone that runs for most of the country's length. The mountain range varies in width between 10 km and 56 km; it is carved by narrow and deep gorges. The Lebanon mountains peak at 3,088 metres above sea level in Qurnat as Sawda' in North Lebanon and gradually slope to the south.

The Bekaa valley sits between the Lebanon mountains in the west and the Anti-Lebanon range in the east; it is a part of the Great Rift Valley system. The valley is 180 km long and 10 to 26 km wide, its fertile soil is formed by alluvial deposits.

The Anti-Lebanon range runs parallel to the Lebanon mountains, its highest peak is in Mount Hermon at 2,814 metres.

Lebanon has 16 rivers all of which are non-navigable; 13 rivers originate from Mount Lebanon and run through the steep gorges and into the Mediterranean Sea, the other three arise in the Beqaa Valley.

Lebanon has a moderate Mediterranean climate. In coastal areas, winters are generally cool and rainy whilst summers are hot and humid. In more elevated areas, temperatures usually drop below freezing during winter with heavy snow cover that remains until early summer on higher mountaintops.

Although most of Lebanon receives a relatively large amount of rainfall, certain areas in north-eastern Lebanon receive only a little because of the rain shadow created by the high peaks of the western mountain range.

Adapted from Wikipedia - adjusted by LWF team.