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| Location | Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Argentina and Brazil | | | Geographic coordinates | 33 00 S, 56 00 W | | | Zone | South America | | | Area | total: 176,220 sq km
land: 173,620 sq km
water: 2,600 sq km | | | Land boundaries | total: 1,648 km
border countries: Argentina 580 km, Brazil 1,068 km | | | Coastline | 660 km | | | Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or edge of continental margin | | | Climate | warm temperate; freezing temperatures almost unknown | | | Terrain | mostly rolling plains and low hills; fertile coastal lowland | | | Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro Catedral 514 m | | | Natural resources | arable land, hydropower, minor minerals, fisheries | | | Irrigated land | 660 km | | | Natural hazards | seasonally high winds (the pampero is a chilly and occasional violent wind that blows north from the Argentine pampas), droughts, floods; because of the absence of mountains, which act as weather barriers, all locations are particularly vulnerable to rapid changes from weather fronts | | Environment -
current issues | water pollution from meat packing/tannery industry; inadequate solid/hazardous waste disposal | | Environment -
international agreements | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation | | | Geography - note | second-smallest South American country (after Suriname); most of the low-lying landscape (three-quarters of the country) is grassland, ideal for cattle and sheep raising | |
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