Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the outer edge of the continental
margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
International disputes: none
Climate: tropical; rainy season (June to December)
Terrain: mostly plains with some hills and low mountains lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: El Cerro del Aripo 940 m
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, asphalt
Land use:
arable land: 14%
permanent crops: 17%
meadows and pastures: 2%
forest and woodland: 44%
other: 23%
Irrigated land: 220 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: water pollution from agricultural chemicals,
industrial wastes, and raw sewage; oil pollution of beaches;
deforestation; soil erosion
natural hazards: outside usual path of hurricanes and other tropical
storms
international agreements: party to - Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83,
Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Biodiversity
People ———
Population: 1,272,385 (July 1996 est.)