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Geography of Guinea-Bissau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The geography of Guinea-Bissau is that of low coastal plains bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The country borders Senegal in the north and Guinea in the southeast.
Terrain and ecology
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Perspective
The terrain of Guinea-Bissau is mostly low coastal plain with swamps of Guinean mangroves rising to Guinean forest-savanna mosaic in the east.[1] A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 1,203km² of tidal flats in Guinea-Bissau, making it the 28th ranked country in terms of tidal flat area. [2]
Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid impact occurred 400 km of the west-African coast. The 2022 discovered Nadir buried Crater has a diameter of 9 km. The impact caused an earthquake of 6.5 magnitude and created a 1 km high tsunami. The combined forces could be an explanation for the extremely scarred coastline of Guinea-Bissau.
The lowest point on Guinea-Bissau is at sea level at the Atlantic Ocean.[1] The highest point in Guinea-Bissau is Dongol Ronde with an elevation of 277 m (909 ft).[1] The Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests: Africa authored in 1992 cites Fouta Djallon at 262 m (860 ft) as the highest.[3]
Natural resources found in Guinea-Bissau include fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone and unexploited deposits of petroleum.[1] 10.67% of the land is arable and 235.6 square kilometres are irrigated.[1]
Natural hazards include a hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze that may reduce visibility during the dry season and brush fires.[1] Severe environmental issues include deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing and overfishing.[1]
Near the Senegal border there have been historic sightings of the painted hunting dog, Lycaon pictus, but that endangered canid may now be extirpated in that locale.[4]
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Climate
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Guinea-Bissau's climate is tropical. This means it is generally hot and humid. It has a monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds and a dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds.[1]
Guinea-Bissau is warm all year around and there is little temperature fluctuation; it averages 26.3 °C (79.3 °F). The average rainfall for the capital city Bissau is 2,024 millimetres (79.7 in) although this is almost entirely accounted for during the rainy season which falls between June and September/October. From December through April, the country receives very little rainfall.
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Bissagos Islands
Information from the CIA World Factbook
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- Location
- Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
- Geographic coordinates
- 12°00′N 15°00′W
- Map references
- Area
-
- Total: 36,125 km²
- country rank in the world: 134th
- Land: 28,120 km²
- Water: 8,005 km²
- Total: 36,125 km²
- Area comparative
- Australia comparative: slightly more than 1/2 the size of Tasmania
- Canada comparative: approximately 1/2 the size of New Brunswick
- United Kingdom comparative: approximately 3/5 larger than Wales
- United States comparative: approximately 1/8 larger than Maryland
- EU comparative: slightly more than 1/2 the size of Ireland
- Land boundaries
- Coastline
- 350 km
- Maritime claims
- Territorial sea: 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi)
- Exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi (370.4 km; 230.2 mi)
- Terrain
- Mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east
- Elevation extremes
-
- Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
- Natural resources
- Fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum
- Land use
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- Arable land: 10.67%
- Permanent crops: 8.89%
- Other: 80.44% (2012 est.)
- Irrigated land
- 223.6 km2 (2003)
- Total renewable water resources
- 31 km3
- Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
-
- Total: 0.18 km3/yr (18%/6%/76%)
- Per capita: 135.7 m3/yr (2005)
- Natural hazards
- Hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires
- Environment—current issues
- Deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing
- Environment—international agreements
-
- Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
- Signed, but not ratified: None of the selected agreements[1]
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Extreme points
This is a list of the extreme points of Guinea-Bissau, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
- Northernmost point – the northern section of the border with Senegal*
- Easternmost point – unnamed location on the border with Guinea immediately south-west of the Guinean village of Sofan, Gabú Region
- Southernmost point – unnamed headland on Ilha Cataque, Tombali Region
- Westernmost point - Cape Roxo at the point where the border with Senegal enters the Atlantic Ocean, Cacheu Region
- *Note: Guinea-Bissau does not have a northernmost point, the border here being formed by a parallel of latitude.
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See also
Line notes
References
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