Location:

Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon

Geographic coordinates:

10 00 N, 8 00 E

Map references:

Africa

Area:

total: 923,768 sq km
land: 910,768 sq km
water: 13,000 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly more than twice the size of California

Land boundaries:

total: 4,047 km
border countries: Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690 km, Chad 87 km, Niger 1,497 km

Coastline:

853 km

Maritime claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation

Climate:

varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north

Terrain:

southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast, plains in north

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Chappal Waddi 2,419 m

Natural resources:

natural gas, petroleum, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, arable land

Land use:

arable land: 31.29%
permanent crops: 2.96%
other: 65.75% (2001)

Irrigated land:

2,330 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:

periodic droughts; flooding

Environment-current issues:

soil degradation; rapid deforestation; urban air and water pollution; desertification; oil pollution - water, air, and soil; has suffered serious damage from oil spills; loss of arable land; rapid urbanization

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:

the Niger enters the country in the northwest and flows southward through tropical rain forests and swamps to its delta in the Gulf of Guinea