affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, dusty; tropical in south; hills in southeast Natural resources: lignite coal, lead, zinc, salt Land use: arable land: 6% permanent crops: 1% meadows and pastures: 7% forest and woodland: 70% other: 23% Irrigated land: NA km2 Environment: both island groups - Alawite or Nusayri, Druze, Isma'ilite, Shi'a, Sunni), Christian 30% (11 legally recognized Islamic groups - Curacas and Bonaire are south of their
encirclement