Geography |
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau lies on the west coast of Africa between latitudes 10° 55´and 12° 40´ N and longitudes 13° 38´and 16° 43´ W. It is bounded on the north by Senegal, on the east and south by Guinea, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The whole country, which comprises the mainland territory, the Bissagos archipelago and a string of coastal islands, has a total area of 36 125 km2. It can be divided into the following regions:
- A coastal plain and an inland plain, both part of the southern end of the Senegal basin, and across both of which rivers describe many huge loops and meanders (from north-west to south-east: the Cacheu, Mansõa, Geba-Corubal, Grande de Buba, Cumbija and Cacine Rivers, the last close to the frontier with Guinea). The only relief features are outcrops of lateritic rock and occasional escarpments which can reach a height of 50 m;
- Behind these plains lie low plateaux of Precambrian rock (for example the Bafata and Gabu plateaux), and in the far south-east the outliers of the Guinean Fouta Djallon massif (the Boé hills) which include the highest points in the country (about 300 m).
The climate is tropical and has the following features:
- A rainy season from May-June to October-November and a long dry season of five to seven months that is more marked further north. Rainfall, which decreases from south-west to north-east and from the coast moving inland, ranges from about 2 600 mm (Catió) to less than 1 200 mm (Piranda in the far north-east);
- High average temperatures (26° C) and narrow temperature ranges;
- Fairly high humidity, as an effect of the sea and the large bodies of water.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.