Location:
interior Western Africa, southwest of Algeria, north of Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, west of Niger
Geographic coordinates:
17 00 N, 4 00 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
Area - comparative: Land boundaries:
Coastline: Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate: Terrain: Elevation extremes:
Natural resources: Land use:
Irrigated land: Total renewable water resources: Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
Natural hazards: Environment - current issues: Environment - international agreements:
Geography - note:
total:
1,240,192 sq km
country comparison to the world: 24
land:
1,220,190 sq km
water:
20,002 sq km
slightly less than twice the size of Texas
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
[see also: Land boundaries country ranks ]
0 km (landlocked)
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]
subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February)
More Climate Details
mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast
lowest point:
Senegal River 23 m
highest point:
Hombori Tondo 1,155 m
gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, hydropower
note:
bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited
arable land:
5.53%
permanent crops:
0.1%
other:
94.37% (2011)
2,358 sq km (2003)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]
100 cu km (2011)
[see also: Total renewable water resources country ranks ]
total:
6.55 cu km/yr (9%/1%/90%)
per capita:
545.4 cu m/yr (2000)
hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding
deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan