Middle East DVEP - Armed Forces Pest Management Board

overall population density of 369 people per sq km. Approximately half of the totalpopulation resides in the capital city of Beirut and its suburbs. The population consists of95% Arabs, 4% Armenians, French and Assyrians, and 1% others. However, theirreligious persuasions are 70% Muslim and 20% Christian. Total population 3.5 million;86% urbanized; literacy rate 86%.d. Water, Living and Sanitary Conditions. Living and sanitary conditions inLebanon are poor. Basic sanitary facilities exist only in some urban housing. Major citieshave combined sewage and storm water drainage systems but lack adequate sewagetreatment facilities. Sewage commonly is discharged untreated into rivers, streams, andthe Mediterranean Sea. Lack of adequate waste disposal is a significant problemthroughout Lebanon. Large cities collect solid refuse, which then is dumped along theshore or burned in vacant lots. Refuse from indiscriminate disposal accumulates in thestreets, where it attracts vermin. Raw sewage and industrial wastes contaminate mostsurface water sources. Water treatment and distribution services are irregular. Althoughmost urban areas have water treatment facilities, the integrity of Lebanon’s urban watertreatment and distribution systems has been compromised by neglect, poor maintenance,intermittent power fluctuations, and pressure changes. Accumulations of refuse, wastes,and garbage (sometimes in the streets alongside homes) attract large numbers of filth fliesand rodents. Accumulation of water provides many breeding sites for mosquitoes. Waterand wastes can support the development and survival of a variety of human pathogens andparasites, which are spread by resident vectors.I. Oman.a. Geography. Oman comprises 212,460 sq km of land, is approximately the size ofKansas, and can be divided into six physiographic areas: (1) In the north, the tip of theMusandum Peninsula is separated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates. Itconsists entirely of low mountains with elevations up to about 1,700 m. (2) The fertileand populous al-Batinah coastal plain runs along northeast Oman and includes 460-m highcliffs around Muscat. (3) Bordering the coastal plain is a series of mountain ranges,including the Hajar al-Gharbi and Hajar al-Sharqi, which are dissected by seasonally drystreambeds (wadis). The mountains’ mean elevation is 1,220 m, with peaks up to 3,050 m.(4) The Central Region consists of the mostly uninhabited Rub’ al Khali Desert (EmptyQuarter), containing a large quicksand-like salt flat and sand dunes. A barren coastlineruns along the eastern portion. (5) The virtually uninhabited, barren, rocky island ofMasirah sits offshore in the Arabian Sea. (6) The Dhofar region in the southernmost partof the country consists of a fertile coastal zone and the Qara Mountains.b. Climate. Oman’s arid subtropical climate is one of the hottest in the world. In thedry Rub’ al Khali Desert, temperatures as high as 54 o C have been recorded during thesummer (April to October), which is made more oppressive by hot winds and sandstorms.The coastal areas around Muscat and the Musandum Peninsula have a mean summer dailymaximum temperature of about 39 o C, which occasionally rises to 48 o C. Southward alongthe coast, humidity varies from 65 to 90%, and temperatures gradually cool, with summerextremes of 42 o C and 13 o C in the Dhofar Region. Temperatures in the Dhofar Region53