| Location: |
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal |
| Geographic coordinates: |
12 00 N, 15 00 W |
| Map references: |
Africa |
| Area: |
total: 36,120 sq km
land: 28,000 sq km
water: 8,120 sq km |
| Area - comparative: |
slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut |
| Land boundaries: |
total: 724 km
border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km |
| Coastline: |
350 km |
| Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
| Climate: |
tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds |
| Terrain: |
mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east |
| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m |
| Natural resources: |
fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum |
| Land use: |
arable land: 8.31%
permanent crops: 6.92%
other: 84.77% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: |
250 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: |
hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires |
| Environment - current issues: |
deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing |
| Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: |
this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying further inland |
