Page last updated on January 28, 2014

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: 322,463 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 69
land: 318,003 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
[see also: Land boundaries country ranks ]

Coastline:
515 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]

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)
More Climate Details

Terrain:
mostly flat to undulating plains; mountains in northwest

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Gulf of Guinea 0 m
[see also: Elevation extremes - lowest point country ranks ]
highest point: Monts 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

Land use:
arable land: 8.99%
[see also: Land use - arable land country ranks ]
permanent crops: 13.65%
other: 77.36% (2011)

Irrigated land:
727.5 sq km (2003)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]

Total renewable water resources:
81.14 cu km (2011)
[see also: Total renewable water resources country ranks ]

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 1.55 cu km/yr (41%/21%/38%)
[see also: Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) - total country ranks ]
per capita: 83.07 cu m/yr (2008)

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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 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