Cote d Ivoire Geography
LocationWestern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia
Geographic coordinates
8 00 N, 5 00 W
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, hydropower
Land use
arable land: 9.75%
permanent crops: 13.84%
other: 76.41% (2001)
Irrigated land
730 sq km (1998 est.)
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
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
