<item><hi format=bold>International disputes:</hi> maritime boundary dispute with Libya; land boundary dispute with Algeria settled in 1993
<item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south
<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> mountains in north; hot, dry central plain; semiarid south merges into the Sahara
<item><hi format=bold>Natural resources:</hi> petroleum, phosphates, iron ore, lead, zinc, salt
<item><hi format=bold>Land use:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>arable land:</hi> 20%
<item>• <hi format=ital>permanent crops:</hi> 10%
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 19%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 4%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 47%
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 2,750 sq km (1989)
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> toxic and hazardous waste disposal is ineffective and presents human health risks; water pollution from untreated sewage; water scarcity; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> NA
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified—Marine Life Conservation
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Note:</hi> strategic location in central Mediterranean