Geography of Gabon

Geography of Gabon
République Gabonaise


Continent Africa
Coordinates 1°00′N 11°45′E / 1.000°N 11.750°E / 1.000; 11.750
Area Ranked 77th
 • Total 267,667 km2 (103,347 sq mi)
 • Land 96.3%
 • Water 3.7%
Coastline 885 km (550 mi)
Highest point Mont Bengoué, 1070 m (not Mont Iboundji as claimed by some authorities)
Lowest point Atlantic Ocean, 0 m
Longest river Ogooué River
Climate Tropical; always hot, humid
Terrain narrow coastal plain; hilly interior; savanna in east and south
Natural Resources Petroleum, natural gas, diamond, niobium, manganese, uranium, gold, timber, iron ore, hydropower
Environmental Issues deforestation, poaching
Gabon map of Köppen climate classification.
Satellite image of Gabon

Gabon is a country in West Africa, lying along the Atlantic Ocean, just south of the Bight of Biafra.

Borders

Gabon has a total of 3,261 km of international boundaries. It borders Equatorial Guinea (335 km) and Cameroon (349 km) to the north and the Republic of the Congo (2,567 km) to the east and south. Gabon lies on the equator.

Maritime claims
  • Territorial sea: 12 nmi (22 km)
  • Contiguous zone: 24 nmi (44 km)
  • Exclusive economic zone: 200 nmi (370 km)

Climate

Gabon has the moist, hot climate typical of tropical regions. The hottest month is January, with an average high at Libreville of 31 °C and an average low of 23 °C. Average July temperatures in the capital range between 20 and 28 °C. From June to September there is virtually no rain but high humidity; there is occasional rain in December and January. During the remaining months, rainfall is heavy. The excessive rainfall is caused by the condensation of moist air resulting from the meeting, directly off the coast, of the cold Benguela Current from the south and the warm Guinea Current from the north. At Libreville, the average annual rainfall is more than 2540 mm. Farther north on the coast, it is 3810 mm.

Terrain

Land Use (2012)
• Arable land 1.26%
• Permanent crops 0.66%
• Other 98.08%

Narrow coastal plain with patches of Central African mangroves; hilly interior; savanna in east and south.

Environment

International agreements:

Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

Signed, but not ratified: None of the selected agreements

Extreme points

Topography of Gabon
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.