Syria - Location, size, and extent

Situated in southwest Asia, at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, Syria has an area of 185,180 sq km (71,498 sq mi). Comparatively, the area occupied by Syria is slightly larger than the state of North Dakota. Included in this total is the Golan Heights region (1,176 sq km/454 sq mi), which Israel captured in 1967 and annexed on 14 December 1981; the annexation was denounced by Syria and unanimously condemned by the UN Security Council. Syria extends 793 km (493 mi) ENE – WSW and 431 km (268 mi) SSE – NNW . It is bounded on the N by Turkey, on the E and SE by Iraq, on the S by Jordan, on the SW by Israel, and on the W by Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea, with a land boundary length of 2,253 km (1,400 mi) and a coastline of 193 km (120 mi).