| Location | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania |
| Geographic coordinates | 14 00 N, 14 00 W |
| Map references | Africa |
| Area | total: 196,722 sq km land: 192,530 sq km water: 4,192 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Dakota; slightly larger than twice the size of Indiana |
| Land boundaries | total: 2,684 km border countries (5): The Gambia 749 km, Guinea 363 km, Guinea-Bissau 341 km, Mali 489 km, Mauritania 742 km |
| Coastline | 531 km |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin |
| Climate | tropical; hot, humid; rainy season (May to November) has strong southeast winds; dry season (December to April) dominated by hot, dry, harmattan wind |
| Terrain | generally low, rolling, plains rising to foothills in southeast |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: unnamed elevation 2.8 km southeast of Nepen Diaka 648 m lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 69 m |
| Natural resources | fish, phosphates, iron ore |
| Land use | agricultural land: 46.8% (2018 est.) arable land: 17.4% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0.3% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 29.1% (2018 est.) forest: 43.8% (2018 est.) other: 9.4% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 1,200 sq km (2012) |
| Total renewable water resources | 38.97 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Natural hazards | lowlands seasonally flooded; periodic droughts |
| Geography - note | westernmost country on the African continent; The Gambia is almost an enclave within Senegal |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
