Location: | Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana |
| Geographic coordinates: | 4 00 N, 56 00 W |
| Map references: | South America |
| Area: | total: 163,270 sq km
water: 1,800 sq km
land: 161,470 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly larger than Georgia |
| Land boundaries: | total: 1,707 km
border countries: Brazil 597 km, French Guiana 510 km, Guyana 600 km |
| Coastline: | 386 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
| Climate: | tropical; moderated by trade winds |
| Terrain: | mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: unnamed location in the coastal plain -2 m
highest point: Juliana Top 1,230 m |
| Natural resources: | timber, hydropower, fish, kaolin, shrimp, bauxite, gold, and small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum, iron ore |
| Land use: | arable land: 0.37%
permanent crops: 0.06%
other: 99.57% (2001) |
| Irrigated land: | 490 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural hazards: | NA |
| Environment - current issues: | deforestation as timber is cut for export; pollution of inland waterways by small-scale mining activities |
| Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: | smallest independent country on South American continent; mostly tropical rain forest; great diversity of flora and fauna that, for the most part, is increasingly threatened by new development; relatively small population, mostly along the coast
Source: CIA World Factbook
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