| Location | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia |
|
| Geographic coordinates | 8 00 N, 5 00 W |
|
| Zone | Africa |
|
| Area | total: 322,460 sq km
land: 318,000 sq km
water: 4,460 sq km |
|
| 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, gold, nickel, tantalum, silica sand, clay, cocoa beans, coffee, palm oil, hydropower |
|
| Irrigated land | 515 km |
|
| 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, Whaling
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 |
|
