| Location: |
Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana
|
| Geographic coordinates: |
4 00 N, 56 00 W
|
| Map references: |
South America
|
| Area: |
total:
163,270 sq km
land:
161,470 sq km
water:
1,800 sq km
|
| Area - comparative: |
slightly larger than Georgia
|
| Land boundaries: |
total:
1,707 km
border countries:
Brazil 597 km, French Guiana 510 km, Guyana 600 km
|
| Maritime claims: |
exclusive economic zone:
200 NM
territorial sea:
12 NM
|
| Climate: |
tropical; moderated by trade winds
|
| Terrain: |
mostly rolling hills; narrow coastal plain with swamps
|
| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point:
unnamed location in the coastal plain -2 m
highest point:
Juliana Top 1,230 m
|
| Natural resources: |
timber, hydropower, fish, kaolin, shrimp, bauxite, gold, and small amounts of nickel, copper, platinum, iron ore
|
| Land use: |
arable land:
0%
permanent crops:
0%
permanent pastures:
0%
forests and woodland:
96%
other:
4% (1993 est.)
note:
there are 94,927 hectares of arable land, 7,195 hectares of permanent crops, and 15,000 hectares of permanent pastures
|
| Irrigated land: |
600 sq km (1993 est.)
|
| Environment - current issues: |
deforestation as timber is cut for export; pollution of inland waterways by small-scale mining activities
|
| Environment - international agreements: |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
|
| Geography - note: |
mostly tropical rain forest; great diversity of flora and fauna that, for the most part, is increasingly threatened by new development; relatively small population, most of which lives along the coast
|
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