deepest_point syria
The ___MASK34___ is a body of water between Eastern Europe and Western Asia , bounded by Bulgaria , Georgia , Romania , Russia , Turkey , and Ukraine . It is supplied by a number of major rivers , such as the Danube , Dnieper , Rioni , Southern Bug , and Dniester . The ___MASK34___ has an area of ( not including the Sea of Azov ), a maximum depth of , and a volume of . It is constrained by the Pontic Mountains to the south and by the Caucasus Mountains to the east , and features a wide shelf to the northwest . The longest east - west extent is about . The West Bank ("" " HaGadah HaMa ' aravit ") is a landlocked territory near the Mediterranean coast of Western Asia , forming the bulk of the Palestinian territories . The West Bank shares boundaries ( demarcated by the Jordanian - Israeli armistice of 1949 ) to the west , north , and south with Israel , and to the east , across the Jordan River , with Jordan . The West Bank also contains a significant section of the western ___MASK96___ shore . The Gaza Strip (' ), or simply Gaza "', is a small self - governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the ___MASK22___ , that borders Egypt on the southwest for and Israel on the east and north along a border . Gaza , together with the West Bank , comprise the Palestinian territories claimed by the Palestinians as the State of Palestine . The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory . Both fall under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority , but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas , a Palestinian Islamic organization which came to power in free elections in 2006 . It has been placed under an Israeli and U . S .- led international economic and political boycott from that time onwards . Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the South Caucasus region , situated at the crossroads of Southwest Asia and Southeastern Europe . It is bounded by the ___MASK90___ to the east , Russia to the north , Georgia to the northwest , Armenia to the west and Iran to the south . The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east , Iran to the south and west , while having an 8 km border with Turkey in the north west . The ___MASK55___ ( also the Erythraean Sea ) is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean , lying between Africa and Asia . The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden . To the north lie the Sinai Peninsula , the Gulf of Aqaba , and the Gulf of Suez ( leading to the Suez Canal ). The ___MASK55___ is a Global 200 ecoregion . The sea is underlain by the ___MASK55___ Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley . Anatolia ( from Greek , '  " east " or "( sun ) rise "; in modern ), in geography known as Asia Minor ( from '  " small Asia "; in modern ), Asian Turkey , Anatolian peninsula , or Anatolian plateau , is the westernmost protrusion of Asia , which makes up the majority of modern - day Turkey . The region is bounded by the ___MASK34___ to the north , the ___MASK22___ to the south , and the Aegean Sea to the west . The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland . Turkey , officially the Republic of Turkey ( Turkish : ), is a transcontinental country in Eurasia , mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia , with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe . Turkey is a democratic , secular , unitary , parliamentary republic with a diverse cultural heritage . Turkey is bordered by eight countries : Greece to the west ; Bulgaria to the northwest ; Georgia to the northeast ; Armenia , the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east ; and Iraq and Syria to the south . The Aegean Sea is to the west , the ___MASK34___ to the north , and the ___MASK22___ to the south . The Bosphorus , the Sea of Marmara , and the Dardanelles , which together form the Turkish Straits , divide Thrace and Anatolia ; they also separate Europe and Asia . Turkey ' s location has given it geopolitical and strategic importance throughout history . The Jordan River ( also River Jordan ; " Nahar ha - Yarden "; " Nahr al - Urdun ", Ancient Greek :  , " Iordànes ") is a - long river in the Middle East that flows roughly north to south through the ___MASK94___ and on to the Dead Sea . Israel and the West Bank border the river to the west , while the Golan Heights and Jordan lie to its east . Both Jordan and the West Bank take their names from the river . Kuwait ('), officially the State of Kuwait ('), is a country in Western Asia . Situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the ___MASK62___ , it shares borders with Iraq and Saudi Arabia . , Kuwait has a population of 4 . 2 million people ; 1 . 3 million are Kuwaitis and 2 . 9 million are expatriates . Expatriates account for 70 % of the population . The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the ___MASK22___ located between the Greek and Anatolian peninsulas , i . e ., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey . In the north , it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosphorus . The Aegean Islands are within the sea and some bound it on its southern periphery , including Crete and Rhodes . Iraq (, or ; '; '), officially known as the Republic of Iraq ('; ') is a country in Western Asia , bordered by Turkey to the north , Iran to the east , Kuwait to the southeast , Saudi Arabia to the south , Jordan to the southwest , and Syria to the west . The capital , and largest city , is Baghdad . The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds ; others include Assyrians , Turkmen , Shabakis , Yazidis , Armenians , Mandeans , Circassians , and Kawliya . Around 95 % of the country ' s 36 million citizens are Muslims , with Christianity , Yarsan , Yezidism , and Mandeanism also present . The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish . Saudi Arabia , officially known as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ( KSA ), is an Arab sovereign state in Western Asia constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula . With a land area of approximately , Saudi Arabia is geographically the fifth - largest state in Asia and second - largest state in the Arab world after Algeria . Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north , Kuwait to the northeast , Qatar , Bahrain , and the United Arab Emirates to the east , Oman to the southeast , and Yemen to the south . It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba . It is the only nation with both a ___MASK55___ coast and a ___MASK62___ coast , and most of its terrain consists of arid desert or barren landforms . The ___MASK22___ ( pronounced ) is a sea connected to the ___MASK72___ , surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land : on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia , on the south by North Africa , and on the east by the Levant . The sea is sometimes considered a part of the ___MASK72___ , although it is usually identified as a separate body of water . Iran (, also , ; ' ), also known as Persia , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (' ), is a sovereign state in Western Asia . It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia , the " de facto " Nagorno - Karabakh Republic , and Azerbaijan ; to the north by the ___MASK90___ ; to the northeast by Turkmenistan ; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan ; to the south by the ___MASK62___ and the Gulf of Oman ; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq . Comprising a land area of , it is the second - largest country in the Middle East and the 18th - largest in the world . With 82 . 8 million inhabitants , Iran is the world ' s 17th - most - populous country . It is the only country with both a ___MASK90___ and an Indian Ocean coastline . The country ' s central location in Eurasia and Western Asia , and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz , make it of great geostrategic importance . Tehran is the country ' s capital and largest city , as well as its leading economic center . The Bosphorus ( or ) or Bosporus (" Bósporos " ) is a narrow , natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in northwestern Turkey . It forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia , and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey . The world ' s narrowest strait used for international navigation , the Bosphorus connects the ___MASK34___ with the Sea of Marmara , and , by extension via the Dardanelles , the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas . Israel , officially known as the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East , on the southeastern shore of the ___MASK22___ and the northern shore of the ___MASK55___ . It has land borders with Lebanon to the north , Syria to the northeast , Jordan on the east , the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west , respectively , and Egypt to the southwest . The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area . Israel ' s financial and technology center is Tel Aviv , while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem , although the state ' s sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized . Arabs are a people inhabiting the Arab world . They primarily live in the Arab states in Western Asia , North Africa , the Horn of Africa , and western ___MASK1___ islands . Syria ( i / s . r / ; Arabic :   or  , Sriy or Sryah ) , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia . De jure Syrian territory borders Lebanon and the ___MASK22___ to the west , Turkey to the north , Iraq to the east , Jordan to the south , and Israel to the southwest , but the government ' s control now extends to approximately 30 -- 40 % of the de jure state area and less than 60 % of the population . A country of fertile plains , high mountains , and deserts , Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups , including Syrian Arabs , Greeks , Armenians , Assyrians , Kurds , Circassians , Mandeans and Turks . Religious groups include Sunnis , Christians , Alawites , Druze , Mandeans , Shiites , Salafis , and Yazidis . Sunni Arabs make up the largest population group in Syria . In English , the name `` Syria '' was formerly synonymous with the Levant ( known in Arabic as al - Sham ) , while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires , including the Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BC . Its capital Damascus is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world . In the Islamic era , Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt . The modern Syrian state was established after the end of centuries of Ottoman control in World War I as a French mandate , and represented the largest Arab state to emerge from the formerly Ottoman - ruled Arab Levant . It gained independence as a parliamentary republic on 24 October 1945 when Syria became a founding member of the United Nations , an act which legally ended the former French Mandate -- although French troops did not leave the country until April 1946 . The post - independence period was tumultuous , and a large number of military coups and coup attempts shook the country in the period 1949 -- 71 . In 1958 , Syria entered a brief union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic , which was terminated by the 1961 Syrian coup d ' état . The Arab Republic of Syria came into being in late 1961 after December 1 constitutional referendum , and was increasingly unstable until the Ba ' athist coup d ' état , since which the Ba ' ath Party has maintained its power . Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011 , effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens , and its system of government is considered to be non - democratic . Bashar al - Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al - Assad , who was in office from 1970 to 2000 . Syria is a member of one international organization other than the United Nations , the Non - Aligned Movement ; it is currently suspended from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation , and self - suspended from the Union for the Mediterranean . Since March 2011 , Syria has been embroiled in an uprising against Assad and the Ba ' athist government as part of the Arab Spring , a crackdown that contributed to the Syrian Civil War and to Syria ' s becoming one of the least peaceful countries in the world . The Syrian Interim Government was formed by the opposition umbrella group , the Syrian National Coalition , in March 2013 . Representatives of this alternative government were subsequently invited to take up Syria ' s seat at the Arab League . Egypt (; ', , " Kimi "), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt , is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula . Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast , the Gulf of Aqaba to the east , the ___MASK55___ to the east and south , Sudan to the south , and Libya to the west . Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan , and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia , although Jordan and Saudi Arabia do not share a land border with Egypt . It is the world ' s only contiguous Afrasian nation . The Turkish Straits are a series of internationally - significant waterways in northwestern Turkey that connect the Aegean and Mediterranean seas to the ___MASK34___ . Jordan ('), officially The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan ('), is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia , on the East Bank of the Jordan River . Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south , Iraq to the north - east , Syria to the north , Israel , Palestine and the ___MASK96___ to the west and the Red Sea in its extreme south - west . Jordan is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia , Africa and Europe . The capital , Amman , is Jordan ' s most populous city as well as the country ' s economic , political and cultural centre . Thrace ( Modern , " Thráke " " Trakiya ") is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe , centered on the modern borders of Bulgaria , Greece , and Turkey . In antiquity , it was also referred to as Europe , prior to the extension of the term to describe the whole continent . As a geographical concept , Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north , Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south , and by the ___MASK34___ and the Sea of Marmara on the east . The areas it comprises are southeastern Bulgaria ( Northern Thrace ), northeastern Greece ( Western Thrace ), and the European part of Turkey ( Eastern Thrace ). The biggest part of Thrace is part of present - day Bulgaria . In Turkey , it is also called Rumeli . The name comes from the Thracians , an ancient Indo - European people inhabiting Southeastern Europe . In biogeography , the Mediterranean Basin ( also known as the Mediterranean region or sometimes Mediterranea ) is the region of lands around the ___MASK22___ that have a Mediterranean climate , with mild , rainy winters and hot , dry summers , which supports characteristic Mediterranean forests , woodlands , and scrub vegetation . Bulgaria ( tr . '), officially the Republic of Bulgaria ( tr . '), is a country in southeastern Europe . It is bordered by Romania to the north , Serbia and Macedonia to the west , Greece and Turkey to the south , and the ___MASK34___ to the east . With a territory of , Bulgaria is Europe ' s 16th - largest country . Jerusalem , is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the ___MASK96___ . One of the oldest cities in the world , Jerusalem was named as "" Urusalima "" on ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets , probably meaning " City of Shalem " after a Canaanite deity , during the early Canaanite period ( approximately 2400 BCE ). During the Israelite period , significant construction activity in Jerusalem began in the 9th century BCE ( Iron Age II ), and in the 8th century the city developed into the religious and administrative center of the Kingdom of Judah . It is considered a holy city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism , Christianity and Islam . Eurasia is the combined continental landmass of Europe and Asia . The term is a portmanteau of its constituent continents . Located primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres , it is bordered by the ___MASK72___ to the west , the Pacific Ocean to the east , the Arctic Ocean to the north , and by Africa , the Mediterranean Sea , and the Indian Ocean to the south . The division between Europe and Asia as two different continents is a historical and cultural construct , with no clear physical separation between them ; thus , in some parts of the world , Eurasia is recognized as the largest of five or six continents . In geology , Eurasia is often considered as a single rigid megablock . However , the rigidity of Eurasia is debated based on the paleomagnet data . Africa is the world ' s second - largest and second - most - populous continent . At about 30 . 3 million km² ( 11 . 7 million square miles ) including adjacent islands , it covers 6 % of Earth ' s total surface area and 20 . 4 % of its total land area . With 1 . 1 billion people as of 2013 , it accounts for about 15 % of the world ' s human population . The continent is surrounded by the ___MASK22___ to the north , both the Suez Canal and the ___MASK55___ along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast , the ___MASK1___ to the southeast , and the ___MASK72___ to the west . The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos . It contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states ( countries ), nine territories and two " de facto " independent states with limited or no recognition . Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia . Europe is bordered by the ___MASK83___ to the north , the ___MASK72___ to the west , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . To the east and southeast , Europe is generally considered as separated from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains , the Ural River , the Caspian and Black Seas , and the waterways of the Turkish Straits . Yet the non - oceanic borders of Europe  a concept dating back to classical antiquity  are arbitrary . The primarily physiographic term " continent " as applied to Europe also incorporates cultural and political elements whose discontinuities are not always reflected by the continent ' s current overland boundaries . The ___MASK96___ ( lit . Salt Sea ), is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west . Its surface and shores are below sea level , Earth ' s lowest elevation on land . The ___MASK96___ is deep , the deepest hypersaline lake in the world . With 34 . 2 % salinity ( in 2011 ), it is 9 . 6 times as salty as the ocean , and one of the world ' s saltiest bodies of water . This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish , hence its name . The ___MASK96___ is long and wide at its widest point . It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River . Lebanon , officially known as the Lebanese Republic , is a sovereign state in Western Asia . It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south , while Cyprus is west across the ___MASK22___ . Lebanon ' s location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity . At just 10 , 452 km ( 4 , 036 sq . mi .), it is the smallest recognized country on the entire mainland Asian continent . The ___MASK72___ is the second largest of the world ' s oceans with a total area of about . It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth ' s surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area . It separates the " Old World " from the " New World ". The Dardanelles , also known in Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (" Hellespontos ", literally " Sea of Helle "), is a narrow , natural strait and internationally - significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia , and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey . One of the world ' s narrowest straits used for international navigation , the Dardanelles connects the Sea of Marmara with the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas , while also allowing passage to the ___MASK34___ by extension via the Bosphorus . The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea , and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea , entirely within the borders of Turkey , that connects the ___MASK34___ to the Aegean Sea , thus separating Turkey ' s Asian and European parts . The Bosphorus strait connects it to the ___MASK34___ and the Dardanelles strait to the Aegean Sea . The former also separates Istanbul into its Asian and European sides . The sea has an area of 11 , 350 km² ( 280 km x 80 km ) with the greatest depth reaching .