The Geography of Sao Tome and Principe
The Geography of Sao Tome and Principe
Sao Tomean Geography
Location: Western Africa, islands in the Gulf of Guinea, straddling the Equator, west of Gabon
Geographic coordinates: 1 00 N, 7 00 E
Map references: Africa
Area: total: 1,001 sq km land: 1,001 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative: more than five times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 209 km
Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; one rainy season (October to May)
Terrain: volcanic, mountainous
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Pico de Sao Tome 2,024 m
Natural resources: fish, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 8.33% permanent crops: 48.96% other: 42.71% (2005)
Irrigated land: 100 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: deforestation; soil erosion and exhaustion
Environment - international agreements: party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: the smallest country in Africa; the two main islands form part of a chain of extinct volcanoes and both are mountainous