PAKT ONE. 



THE LAND AND ITS INHABITANTS. 

 I. The Land. 



Area. Syria, in the larger sense of the term, inclusive of 

 Palestine, extends from Egypt and the Arabian Desert in the south 

 (31 30' north lat.) to the Amanus in the north (37 north lat.), 

 which divides it from Asia. It is bounded by the Mediterranean 

 Sea on the west, and by the Syrian Desert and the Euphrates on 

 the east; its length varies from 435 to 497 mi., its breadth from 

 62 to 186 mi. Its area in round numbers is 124,200 sq. mi. 



Surface Configuration. Geographically Syria may be divided 

 into four longitudinal zones extending from north to south: 



1. The flat, extremely fertile, coastal plain, with a maxi- 

 mum breadth of 18.6 mi., on which lie the harbors Alexan- 

 dretta, Seleucia, Latakia, Tripoli, Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Acre, 

 Haifa, Jaffa, Gaza, and Khan Yunus; 



2. The western mountain range, extending from the Giaur 

 Dagh in the north over the Ausan Range and the Lebanon to 

 the Galilean, Samaritan, and Judaean mountains, (average 

 height of plateau, 874 yards, highest point, Jebel Makmal in 

 the Lebanon, 3,344 yards), from 18 to 31 mi. in breadth, on 

 which lie the cities Beilan, Safita, Safed, Nablus (Shechem), 

 Jerusalem and Hebron; 



3. The famous depression, formed by the Orontes, the 

 Litani, and the Jordan, from 6.2 to 18.6 mi. wide, falling 437.2 

 yards below sea level toward the south, in which lie numerous 

 lakes (Amuk, Horns, Huleh, Tiberias, Dead Sea), and the 

 cities Antioch, Hama, Horns, Baalbek, Zahleh, Tiberias, 

 Beisan, and Jericho; the Orontes Valley forms its northern 

 part, its central part through which the Litani flows is called 

 Beka'a (Coelesyria in ancient times), and the southern section 

 through which the Jordan flows is called Ghor ; 



Palestine Is not an administrative province. The historic Palestine ex- 

 tended west of the Jordan from El Arlsh in the south to Tyre in the north. 

 East of the Jordan it extended from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea 

 to the Yarmuk, its eastern boundary being the desert. It was about 3,000 

 sq. km. in area, and comprised the present Mutessarifliks of Jerusalem, Nablus, 

 Acre, and Kerak. 



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