Geography of Cote d'Ivoire

Cote d'Ivoire is considered to be a large nation because of its total area. Its total land area is 322,463 km² (approx. 124,503 mi²). Continental shelf of Cote d'Ivoire is approximately 10,175 km² (around 3,929 mi²). Cote d'Ivoire is located in Africa. Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent. African countries include, but are not limited to, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Cote d'Ivoire has 5 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali. Cote d'Ivoire is not a landlocked country. It means that is is bordered by at least one major body of water. The average elevation range of Cote d'Ivoire is 250 m (820 ft).

Neighbors

Total length of land borders of Cote d'Ivoire is 3458 kilometers (~1,335 miles). Cote d'Ivoire shares its land borders with 5 different countries, and has the same number of unique land boundaries to neigbouring territories. As in the case of Cote d'Ivoire, if a country has the same number of unique neighboring territories as number of land borders, than that country has no non-contiguous sections of a land border. This is in contrast to several countries that have multiple non-contiguous sections of land borders. Cote d'Ivoire has 5 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Mali. The lengths of the land borders of Cote d'Ivoire with its neighbouring countries are as follows:

• Burkina Faso - 584 km (363 mi),
• Ghana - 668 km (415 mi),
• Guinea - 610 km (379 mi),
• Liberia - 716 km (445 mi),
• Mali - 532 km (331 mi).

Cities

The capital city of Cote d'Ivoire is Yamoussoukro (official); Abidjan (former capital; still has many government offices). The largest cities in Cote d'Ivoire are Yamoussoukro, Abidjan.

Elevation

The average elevation range of Cote d'Ivoire is 250 m (820 ft). The highest point of Cote d'Ivoire is Mont Nimba, with its official height being 1752 m (5,748 ft). The lowest point of Cote d'Ivoire is Gulf of Guinea. The elevation difference between the highest (Mont Nimba) and lowest (Gulf of Guinea) points of Cote d'Ivoire is 1752 m (2 ft).

Area

The total land area of Cote d'Ivoire is 322,463 km² (approx. 124,503 mi²). and the total exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is 176,254 km² (~68,052 mi²). The continental shelf of Cote d'Ivoire is approximately 10,175 km² (around 3,929 mi²). Including land mass and EEZ, the total area of Cote d'Ivoire is approximately 498,717 km² (~192,555 mi²). Cote d'Ivoire is considered to be a large nation because of its total area.

Forest and arable land

30,000 km² of Cote d'Ivoire's territory is covered in forests, and forest land comprises 9% of all the land in the country. There are 32,531 km² of arable land in Cote d'Ivoire, and it comprises 10% of the country's total territory.

Read our section on climate to discover what parameters affect these and other biomes of the country.

Natural resources

The most notable natural resources found in Cote d'Ivoire are petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, gold, nickel, tantalum, silica sand, clay, cocoa beans, coffee, palm oil, hydropower.