Area:
total area: 923,770 sq km
land area: 910,770 sq km
comparative area: slightly more than twice the size of California
Land boundaries: total 4,047 km, Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690 km, Chad
87 km, Niger 1,497 km
Coastline: 853 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 30 nm
International disputes: demarcation of international boundaries in Lake Chad, the lack of which led to border incidents in the past, is completed and awaits ratification by Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria; dispute with Cameroon over land and maritime boundaries in the vicinity of the Bakasi Peninsula has been referred to the International Court of Justice
Climate: varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in
north
Terrain: southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus;
mountains in southeast, plains in north
Natural resources: petroleum, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal,
limestone, lead, zinc, natural gas
Land use: arable land: 31% permanent crops: 3% meadows and pastures: 23% forest and woodland: 15% other: 28%
Irrigated land: 8,650 sq km (1989 est.)