Location:
Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between
Argentina and Brazil
Geographic coordinates:
33 00 S, 56 00 W
Map references:
South America
Area:
total: 176,220 sq km
land: 173,620 sq km
water: 2,600 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than the state of Washington
Land boundaries:
total: 1,564 km
border countries: Argentina 579 km, Brazil 985 km
Coastline:
660 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
Climate:
warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown
Terrain:
mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro Catedral 514 m
Natural resources:
arable land, hydropower, minor minerals, fisheries
Land use:
arable land: 7.21%
permanent crops: 0.27%
other: 92.52% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
1,800 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
seasonally high winds (the pampero is a chilly and occasional
violent wind which blows north from the Argentine pampas), droughts,
floods; because of the absence of mountains, which act as weather
barriers, all locations are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes
from weather fronts
Environment - current issues:
water pollution from meat packing/tannery industry; inadequate
solid/hazardous waste disposal
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone
Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation,
Nuclear Test Ban
Geography - note:
second-smallest South American country (after Suriname); most of
the low-lying landscape (three-quarters of the country) is
grassland, ideal for cattle and sheep raising