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
water: 4,460 sq km
land: 318,000 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
Source: CIA World Factbook
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