Location:
Western Africa, southwest of Algeria
Geographic coordinates:
17 00 N, 4 00 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 1.24 million sq km
water: 20,000 sq km
land: 1.22 million sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land boundaries:
total: 7,243 km
border countries: Algeria 1,376 km, Burkina Faso 1,000 km, Guinea
858 km, Cote d'Ivoire 532 km, Mauritania 2,237 km, Niger 821 km,
Senegal 419 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
subtropical to arid; hot and dry February to June; rainy, humid,
and mild June to November; cool and dry November to February
Terrain:
mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in
south, rugged hills in northeast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Senegal River 23 m
highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m
Natural resources:
gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, hydropower
note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are
known but not exploited
Land use:
arable land: 3.77%
permanent crops: 0.04%
other: 96.19% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
1,380 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring
droughts; occasional Niger River flooding
Environment - current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies
of potable water; poaching
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear
Test Ban
Geography - note:
landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern,
cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the
northern, arid Saharan