Geography of Cote d'Ivoire
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 land: 318,000 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 |
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 |
Land use: | arable land: 10.23% permanent crops: 11.16% other: 78.61% (2005) |
Irrigated land: | 730 sq km (2003) |
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 |