Geography of Côte d'Ivoire

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Geography of Côte d'Ivoire
Continent	Africa
Region	West Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
Coordinates	8°00'N, 5°00'W
Area	Ranked 67th 322,460 km² 124,503 miles² 98.62% land 1.38% water
Coastline	515 km (320 miles)
Borders	Total land borders: 3110 km (1932 miles) Liberia: 716 km (445 miles) Ghana: 668 km (415 miles) Guinea: 610 km (379 miles) Burkina Faso: 584 km (363 miles) Mali: 532 km (331)
Highest point	Mount Nimba 1752 m (5748 ft)
Lowest point	Gulf of Guinea 0 m/ft (sea level)
Longest river	Bandama River
Largest lake	Lac de Kossou

Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) is a sub-Saharan nation in southern West Africa located at 8 00°N, 5 00°W. The country is shaped like a square and borders the Gulf of Guinea in the north Atlantic Ocean to the south (515 km of coastline) and five other African nations on the other three sides, with a total of 3,110 km of borders: Liberia to the southwest (716 km), Guinea to the northwest (610 km), Mali to the north-northeast (532 km), and Ghana to the east (668 km). In total, Côte d'Ivoire comprises 322,460 km², of which 318,000 km² is land and 4,460 km² is water, which makes the country slightly larger than the U.S. state of New Mexico, or about the size of Germany.

Côte d'Ivoire makes maritime claims of 200 nautical miles (370 km) as an exclusive economic zone, 12 nautical miles (22 km) of territorial sea, and a 200 nautical mile (370 km) continental shelf.

Contents 1 Terrain and topography 2 Climate 3 Crops and natural resources 4 Natural hazards 5 Treaties and international agreements 6 References

[edit] Terrain and topography

Côte d'Ivoire's terrain can generally be described as a large plateau rising gradually from sea level in the south to almost 500 m elevation in the north. The nation's natural resources have made it into a comparatively prosperous nation in the African economy.

The southeastern region of Côte d'Ivoire is marked by coastal inland lagoons that starts at the Ghanaian border and stretch 300 km (190 miles) along the eastern half of the coast. The southern region, especially the southwest, is covered with dense tropical moist forest. The Eastern Guinean forests extend from the Sassandra River across the south-central and southeast portion of Côte d'Ivoire and east into Ghana, while the Western Guinean lowland forests extend west from the Sassandra River into Liberia and southeastern Guinea. The mountains of Dix-Huit Montagnes region, in the west of the country near the border with Guinea and Liberia, are home to the Guinean montane forests. The Guinean forest-savanna mosaic belt extends across the middle of the country from east to west, and is the transition zone between the coastal forests and the interior savannas. The forest-savanna mosaic interlaces forest, savanna and grassland habitats. Northern Côte d'Ivoire is part of the West Sudanian savanna, a savanna-and-scrubland zone of lateritic or sandy soils, with vegetation decreasing from south to north. The terrain is mostly flat to undulating plains, with mountains in the northwest. The lowest elevation in Côte d'Ivoire is at sea level on the coasts. The highest elevation is Mount Nimba, at 1,752 m in the far west of the country along the border with Guinea and Liberia.

[edit] Climate

The climate of Côte d'Ivoire is generally warm and humid, ranging from equatorial in the southern coasts to tropical in the middle and semiarid in the far north. There are three seasons: warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), and hot and wet (June to October). Temperatures average between 25 and 30 °C and range from 10 to 40 °C.

[edit] Crops and natural resources

Côte d'Ivoire's also has a large timber industry to due its large forest coverage. The nation's hardwood exports match that of Brazil. In recent years there has been much concern about the rapid rate of deforestation. Rainforests are being destroyed at a rate sometimes cited as the highest in the world. The only forest left completely untouched in Côte d'Ivoire is Taï National Park (Parc National de Taï), a 3600km² (1400 square mile) area in the country's far southwest that is home to over 150 endemic species and many other endangered species such as the Pygmy Hippopotamus and 11 species of monkeys.

Eight percent of the country is comprised of arable land. Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer of cocoa, a major national cash crop. Other chief crops include coffee, bananas, and oil palms, which produce palm oil and kernels. Natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron, cobalt, bauxite, copper, and hydropower.

[edit] Natural hazards

Natural hazards include the heavy surf and the lack of natural harbors on the coast; during the rainy season torrential flooding is a danger.

[edit] Treaties and international agreements

Côte d'Ivoire is party to these treaties:

• Convention on Biological Diversity
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
• Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna
• Basel Convention on hazardous wastes
• United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
• London Convention on marine dumping
• Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear testing
• Montreal Protocol on ozone depletion
• MARPOL 73/78 on ship pollution
• International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1983
• International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994
• Ramsar Convention on wetland conservation.

[edit] References

• This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2004 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain. November 2, 2004. [1]
• This article uses information published in the World Almanac and Book of Facts as a reference. (2006) "Cote d'Ivoire."