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
continental shelf: 200 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 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, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper

Land use
arable land: 8%
permanent crops: 4%
permanent pastures: 41%
forests and woodland: 22%
other: 25% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land 680 sq km (1993 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 cleared by the timber industry); 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, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

NOTE: The information regarding Cote d'Ivoire on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Cote d'Ivoire Geography 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Cote d'Ivoire Geography 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.