Its principal landform feature is a arid plateau that thrusts abruptly upward on the eastern shores of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. Grassland and wooded areas are found near the Syrian border. In this regions the trees include willow, oleander and tamarisk. Petroleum, natural gas, phosphate rock, asphalt, and salt are the main minerals found in sufficiently large quantities for commercial exploitation in Syria. Small deposits of coal, iron ore, copper, lead, and gold also exist in the mountainous regions.
Good farmland is located in the coastal region and in river valleys.
Iraq occupies the greater part of the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which was home to some of the worlds earliest ancient civilizations. The natural resources of Iraq are primarily mineral. In addition to small deposits of salt, coal, gypsum, and sulfur, the country is well endowed with petroleum resources and has areas of rich soil. The southern and southwestern parts of the country are desert areas. The country has few trees, except for the cultivated date palm and the poplar.