Guinea Bissau Geography - 2024

Location

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal

Geographic coordinates

12 00 N, 15 00 W

Map references

Africa

Area

total: 36,125 sq km

land: 28,120 sq km

water: 8,005 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut

Land boundaries

total: 762 km

border countries (2): Guinea 421 km; Senegal 341 km

Coastline

350 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate

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

Terrain

mostly low-lying coastal plain with a deeply indented estuarine coastline rising to savanna in east; numerous off-shore islands including the Arquipelago Dos Bijagos consisting of 18 main islands and many small islets

Elevation

highest point: Dongol Ronde 277 m

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

mean elevation: 70 m

Natural resources

fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone, unexploited deposits of petroleum

Land use

agricultural land: 44.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 8.2% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 6.9% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 29.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 55.2% (2018 est.)

other: 0% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

250 sq km (2012)

Major aquifers

Senegalo-Mauritanian Basin

Population distribution

approximately one-fifth of the population lives in the capital city of Bissau along the Atlantic coast; the remainder is distributed among the eight other, mainly rural, regions as shown in this

Natural hazards

hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires

Geography - note

this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying inland