| Location : |
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia |
| Geographic Coordinates : |
8 00 N, 5 00 W |
| Map References : |
Africa |
| Area : |
total: 322,460 sq km
land: 318,000 sq km
water: 4,460 sq km |
| Area - Comparative : |
slightly larger than New Mexico |
| Land Boundaries : |
total: 3,110 km
border countries: Burkina Faso 584 km, Ghana 668 km, Guinea 610 km, Liberia 716 km, Mali 532 km |
| Coastline : |
515 km |
| Maritime Claims : |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm |
| Climate : |
tropical along coast, semiarid in far north; three seasons - warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), hot and wet (June to October) |
| Terrain : |
mostly flat to undulating plains; mountains in northwest |
| Elevation Extremes : |
lowest point: Gulf of Guinea 0 m
highest point: Mont Nimba 1,752 m |
| Natural Resources : |
petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, hydropower |
| Land Use : |
arable land: 9.75%
permanent crops: 13.84%
other: 76.41% (2001) |
| Irrigated Land : |
730 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural Hazards : |
coast has heavy surf and no natural harbors; during the rainy season torrential flooding is possible |
| Environment - Current Issues : |
deforestation (most of the country's forests - once the largest in West Africa - have been heavily logged); water pollution from sewage and industrial and agricultural effluents |
| Environment - International Agreements : |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - Note : |
Most of the inhabitants live along the sandy coastal region; apart from the capital area, the forested interior is sparsely populated. |
