Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between
Morocco and Tunisia

28 00 N, 3 00 E

Africa

total: 2,381,740 sq km
land: 2,381,740 sq km
water: 0 sq km

slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas

total: 6,343 km
border countries: Libya 982 km, Mali 1,376 km, Mauritania 463 km,
Morocco 1,559 km, Niger 956 km, Tunisia 965 km, Western Sahara 42 km

998 km

exclusive fishing zone: 32-52 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

arid to semiarid; mild, wet winters with hot, dry summers
along coast; drier with cold winters and hot summers on high plateau;
sirocco is a hot, dust/sand-laden wind especially common in summer

mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow,
discontinuous coastal plain

lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m
highest point: Tahat 3,003 m

petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates,
uranium, lead, zinc

arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 13%
forests and woodland: 2%
other: 82% (1993 est.)

5,550 sq km (1993 est.)

mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mud
slides

soil erosion from overgrazing and other
poor farming practices; desertification; dumping of raw sewage,
petroleum refining wastes, and other industrial effluents is leading
to the pollution of rivers and coastal waters; Mediterranean Sea, in
particular, becoming polluted from oil wastes, soil erosion, and
fertilizer runoff; inadequate supplies of potable water

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban

second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan)