Mount Hermon

Mount Hermon (Arabic: جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون‎ / ALA-LC: Jabal al-Shaykh ("Mountain of the Chief") or Jabal Haramun; Hebrew: הר חרמון‎, Har Hermon, "Mount Hermon") is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m (9,232 ft) above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top, in the United Nations buffer zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied territory, is the highest permanently manned UN position in the world, known as "Hermon Hotel". The southern slopes of Mount Hermon extend to the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights, where the Mount Hermon ski resort is located. A peak in this area rising to 2,236 m (7,336 ft) is the highest elevation in Israeli-controlled territory.

Geography

Mount Hermon is actually a cluster of mountains with three distinct summits, each about the same height. The Anti-Lebanon range, of which Mount Hermon constitutes the southernmost part, extends for approximately 150 km (93 mi) in a northeast-southwest direction, running parallel to the Lebanon range on the west. The Hermon range covers an area of about 1000 square km, of which about 70 km² are under Israeli control. Most of the portion of Mount Hermon within the Israeli-controlled area constitutes the Hermon nature reserve.