Land boundaries: total 1,687 km, Belize 266 km, El Salvador 203 km,
Honduras 256 km, Mexico 962 km
Coastline: 400 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: border with Belize in dispute; talks to
resolve the dispute are stalled
Climate: tropical; hot, humid in lowlands; cooler in highlands
Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow coastal plains and rolling limestone plateau (Peten)
Natural resources: petroleum, nickel, rare woods, fish, chicle
Land use: arable land: 12% permanent crops: 4% meadows and pastures: 12% forest and woodland: 40% other: 32%
Irrigated land: 780 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution
natural hazards: numerous volcanoes in mountains, with frequent
violent earthquakes; Caribbean coast subject to hurricanes and other
tropical storms
international agreements: party to - Antarctic Treaty, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified -
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea