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: 8°30′N, 11°30′W

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

• Sierra Leone

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