Geography of Sierra Leone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sierra Leone is a country in Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia.
Geographic coordinates:
Area:
total: 71,740 km²
land: 71,620 km²
water: 120 km²
Land boundaries:
total: 958 km
border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km
Coastline: 402 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 200 nautical miles (370 km).
continental shelf: 200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation.
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April).
Terrain: coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east.
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Loma Mansa (Bintimani) 1,948 m
Natural resources: diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite.
Land use:
arable land: 7%
permanent crops: 1%
permanent pastures: 31%
forests and woodland: 28%
other: 33% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 290 km²; (1998, 1993 est.)
Natural hazards: dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (November to May); dust storms.
Environment issues: rapid population growth pressuring the environment; overharvesting of timber, expansion of cattle grazing and slash and burn agriculture have resulted in deforestation and soil exhaustion; civil war depleting natural resources; overfishing.
Environmental agreements:
Party to:
- Biodiversity (Convention on Biological Diversity)
- Climate Change (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)
- Desertification (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification)
- Endangered Species (CITES)
- Law of the Sea(UNCLOS or LOS)
- Marine Life Conservation (Convention on Fishing and Conservation of Living Resources of the High Seas)
- Nuclear Test Ban(CTBT)
- Wetlands(Ramsar Convention)
Signed, but not ratified:
- Environmental Modification(ENMOD)
[edit] References
- This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.
[edit] See also
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