Location: | Western Africa, southwest of Algeria |
| Geographic coordinates: | 17 00 N, 4 00 W |
| Map references: | Africa |
| Area: | total: 1.24 million sq km
water: 20,000 sq km
land: 1.22 million sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
| Land boundaries: | total: 7,243 km
border countries: Algeria 1,376 km, Burkina Faso 1,000 km, Guinea 858 km, Cote d'Ivoire 532 km, Mauritania 2,237 km, Niger 821 km, Senegal 419 km |
| Coastline: | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims: | none (landlocked) |
| Climate: | subtropical to arid; hot and dry February to June; rainy, humid, and mild June to November; cool and dry November to February |
| Terrain: | mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Senegal River 23 m
highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m |
| Natural resources: | gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, hydropower
note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited |
| Land use: | arable land: 3.82%
permanent crops: 0.03%
other: 96.15% (2001) |
| Irrigated land: | 1,380 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural hazards: | hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding |
| Environment - current issues: | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching |
| Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: | landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan
Source: CIA World Factbook
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