Burkina Faso 548 km, Cote d'Ivoire 668 km, Togo
877 km

Coastline: 539 km

Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate: tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast
coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north

Terrain: mostly low plains with dissected plateau in
south-central area

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Afadjato 880 m

Natural resources: gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite,
manganese, fish, rubber

Land use:
arable land: 12%
permanent crops: 7%
permanent pastures: 22%
forests and woodland: 35%
other: 24% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 60 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: dry, dusty, harmattan winds occur from January
to March; droughts

Environment--current issues: recent drought in north severely
affecting agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil
erosion; poaching and habitat destruction threatens wildlife
populations; water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water

Environment--international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Environmental Modification, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography--note: Lake Volta is the world's largest artificial
lake; northeasterly harmattan wind (January to March)

People

Population: 18,887,626 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 42% (male 4,020,493; female 3,982,816)
15-64 years: 54% (male 5,050,736; female 5,231,951)
65 years and over: 4% (male 284,423; female 317,207) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.05% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 31.79 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 10.4 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.88 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 76.15 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 57.14 years
male: 55.08 years
female: 59.27 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility r