Page last updated on January 28, 2014

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: 163,820 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 92
land: 156,000 sq km
water: 7,820 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Georgia

Land boundaries:
total: 1,703 km
border countries: Brazil 593 km, French Guiana 510 km, Guyana 600 km
[see also: Land boundaries country ranks ]

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

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
[see also: Elevation extremes - lowest point country ranks ]
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: 0.36%
[see also: Land use - arable land country ranks ]
permanent crops: 0.04%
other: 99.6% (2011)

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

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

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 0.67 cu km/yr (6%/4%/90%)
[see also: Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) - total country ranks ]
per capita: 1,396 cu m/yr (2006)

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, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
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