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| Location | Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana | | | Geographic coordinates | 4 00 N, 56 00 W | | | Zone | South America | | | Area | total: 163,270 sq km
land: 161,470 sq km
water: 1,800 sq km | | | Land boundaries | total: 1,703 km
border countries: Brazil 593 km, French Guiana 510 km, Guyana 600 km | | | Coastline | 386 km | | | Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 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 | | | Irrigated land | 386 km | | | Natural hazards | NA | | 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, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements | | | Geography - note | smallest independent country on South American continent; mostly tropical rain forest; great diversity of flora and fauna that, for the most part, is increasingly threatened by new development; relatively small population, mostly along the coast | |
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