Guinea Geography - 2024

Location

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone

Geographic coordinates

11 00 N, 10 00 W

Map references

Africa

Area

total: 245,857 sq km

land: 245,717 sq km

water: 140 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than Oregon; slightly larger than twice the size of Pennsylvania

Area comparison map:

Land boundaries

total: 4,046 km

border countries (6): Cote d'Ivoire 816 km; Guinea-Bissau 421 km; Liberia 590 km; Mali 1062 km; Senegal 363 km; Sierra Leone 794 km

Coastline

320 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate

generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds

Terrain

generally flat coastal plain, hilly to mountainous interior

Elevation

highest point: Mont Nimba 1,752 m

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

mean elevation: 472 m

Natural resources

bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold, uranium, hydropower, fish, salt

Land use

agricultural land: 58.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 11.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 2.8% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 43.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 26.5% (2018 est.)

other: 15.4% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

950 sq km (2012)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Niger river source (shared with Mali, and Nigeria [m]) - 4,200 km; Gambie (Gambia) river source (shared with Senegal and The Gambia [m]) - 1,094 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Niger (2,261,741 sq km), Senegal (456,397 sq km)

Population distribution

areas of highest density are in the west and south; interior is sparsely populated as shown in this

Natural hazards

hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season

Geography - note

the Niger and its important tributary the Milo River have their sources in the Guinean highlands