Geography Cote d'Ivoire
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                               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
                                         water: 4,460 sq km
                                         land: 318,000 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, natural gas, diamonds,
                                         manganese, iron ore, cobalt,
                                         bauxite, copper, hydropower
                               Land use: arable land: 9.28%
                                         permanent crops: 13.84%
                                         other: 76.89% (1998 est.)
                         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 party to: Biodiversity, Climate
                             agreements: 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
                       Geography - note: most of the inhabitants live along
                                         the sandy coastal region; apart
                                         from the capital area, the forested
                                         interior is sparsely populated