| Location: |
Northern Africa, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Morocco and Tunisia |
| Geographic coordinates: |
28 00 N, 3 00 E |
| Area: |
total: 2,381,740 sq km
land: 2,381,740 sq km
water: 0 sq km |
| Area - comparative: |
slightly less than 3.5 times the size of Texas |
| Land boundaries: |
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 |
| Coastline: |
998 km |
| Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 32-52 nm |
| Climate: |
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 |
| Terrain: |
mostly high plateau and desert; some mountains; narrow, discontinuous coastal plain |
| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Chott Melrhir -40 m
highest point: Tahat 3,003 m |
| Natural resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, lead, zinc |
| Land use: |
arable land: 3.17%
permanent crops: 0.28%
other: 96.55% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: |
5,690 sq km (2003) |
| Total renewable water resources: |
14.3 cu km (1997) |
| Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): |
total: 6.07 cu km/yr (22%/13%/65%)
per capita: 185 cu m/yr (2000) |
| Natural hazards: |
mountainous areas subject to severe earthquakes; mudslides and floods in rainy season |
| Environment - current issues: |
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 |
| Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: |
second-largest country in Africa (after Sudan) |
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