Suriname's Geography | Suriname Geography

Location: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between French Guiana and Guyana

Geographic coordinates: 4 00 N, 56 00 W

Map references: South America

Area: Total: 163,270 sq km land: 161,470 sq km water: 1,800 sq km

Area - comparative: Slightly larger than Georgia

Land boundaries: Total: 1,707 km border countries: Brazil 597 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

Land use: Arable land: 0.37% permanent crops: 0.06% other: 99.57% (2001)

Irrigated land: 490 sq km (1998 est.)

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 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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