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Geography of Guinea-Bissau

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A map of Guinea Bissau
Location of Guinea Bissau

The geography of Guinea-Bissau is that of low coastal plains bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The country borders Senegal in the north and Guinea in the southeast.

Terrain and ecology

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Guinea-Bissau's topography.

The terrain of Guinea-Bissau is mostly low coastal plain with swamps of Guinean mangroves rising to Guinean forest-savanna mosaic in the east.[1] A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 1,203km² of tidal flats in Guinea-Bissau, making it the 28th ranked country in terms of tidal flat area. [2]

The lowest point on Guinea-Bissau is at sea level at the Atlantic Ocean.[1] The highest point in Guinea-Bissau is Monte Torin with an elevation of 262 m (860 ft).[1]

Natural resources found in Guinea-Bissau include fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, clay, granite, limestone and unexploited deposits of petroleum.[1] 10.67% of the land is arable and 235.6 square kilometres are irrigated.[1]

Natural hazards include a hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze that may reduce visibility during the dry season and brush fires.[1] Severe environmental issues include deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing and overfishing.[1]

Near the Senegal border there have been historic sightings of the painted hunting dog, Lycaon pictus, but that endangered canid may now be extirpated in that locale.[3]

Climate

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Guinea-Bissau's climate is tropical. This means it is generally hot and humid. It has a monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds and a dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds.[1]

Köppen–Geiger climate classification map at 1-km resolution for Guinea-Bissau (1991–2020)
Köppen–Geiger climate classification map at 1-km resolution for Guinea-Bissau (1991–2020)

Guinea-Bissau is warm all year around and there is little temperature fluctuation; it averages 26.3 °C (79.3 °F). The average rainfall for the capital city Bissau is 2,024 millimetres (79.7 in) although this is almost entirely accounted for during the rainy season which falls between June and September/October. From December through April, the country receives very little rainfall.

Climate data for Bissau, Guinea-Bissau (1974–1994)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 36.7
(98.1)
38.3
(100.9)
38.9
(102.0)
41.1
(106.0)
39.4
(102.9)
35.6
(96.1)
33.3
(91.9)
32.8
(91.0)
33.9
(93.0)
34.4
(93.9)
35.0
(95.0)
35.6
(96.1)
41.1
(106.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 31.1
(88.0)
32.8
(91.0)
33.9
(93.0)
33.3
(91.9)
32.8
(91.0)
31.1
(88.0)
29.4
(84.9)
30.0
(86.0)
30.0
(86.0)
31.1
(88.0)
31.7
(89.1)
30.6
(87.1)
31.5
(88.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 24.4
(75.9)
25.6
(78.1)
26.6
(79.9)
27.0
(80.6)
27.5
(81.5)
26.9
(80.4)
26.1
(79.0)
26.4
(79.5)
26.4
(79.5)
27.0
(80.6)
26.9
(80.4)
24.8
(76.6)
26.3
(79.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 17.8
(64.0)
18.3
(64.9)
19.4
(66.9)
20.6
(69.1)
22.2
(72.0)
22.8
(73.0)
22.8
(73.0)
22.8
(73.0)
22.8
(73.0)
22.8
(73.0)
22.2
(72.0)
18.9
(66.0)
21.1
(70.0)
Record low °C (°F) 12.2
(54.0)
13.3
(55.9)
15.6
(60.1)
16.7
(62.1)
17.2
(63.0)
19.4
(66.9)
19.4
(66.9)
19.4
(66.9)
19.4
(66.9)
20.0
(68.0)
15.0
(59.0)
12.8
(55.0)
12.2
(54.0)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 0.5
(0.02)
0.8
(0.03)
0.5
(0.02)
0.8
(0.03)
17.3
(0.68)
174.8
(6.88)
472.5
(18.60)
682.5
(26.87)
434.9
(17.12)
194.8
(7.67)
41.4
(1.63)
2.0
(0.08)
2,022.8
(79.63)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 248 226 279 270 248 210 186 155 180 217 240 248 2,707
Source 1: Sistema de Clasificación Bioclimática Mundial[4]
Source 2: World Climate Guides (sunshine only)[5]

Bissagos Islands

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Information from the CIA World Factbook

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Typical scenery in Guinea-Bissau.
Eastern Guinea-Bissau High plain mountains near the border with Guinea
Praia de Ofir, Bijagós Islands, Guinea-Bissau
Location
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
Geographic coordinates
12°00′N 15°00′W / 12.000°N 15.000°W / 12.000; -15.000
Map references
Area
  • Total: 36,125 km²
    • country rank in the world: 134th
  • Land: 28,120 km²
  • Water: 8,005 km²
Area comparative
  • Australia comparative: slightly more than 1/2 the size of Tasmania
  • Canada comparative: approximately 1/2 the size of New Brunswick
  • United Kingdom comparative: approximately 3/5 larger than Wales
  • United States comparative: approximately 1/8 larger than Maryland
  • EU comparative: slightly more than 1/2 the size of Ireland
Land boundaries
Total
Coastline
350 km
Maritime claims
Territorial sea
Terrain
Mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east
Elevation extremes
  • Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
  • Highest point: Unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m
Natural resources
Fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum
Land use
  • Arable land: 10.67%
  • Permanent crops: 8.89%
  • Other: 80.44% (2012 est.)
Irrigated land
223.6 km2 (2003)
Total renewable water resources
31 km3
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)
  • Total: 0.18 km3/yr (18%/6%/76%)
  • Per capita: 135.7 m3/yr (2005)
Natural hazards
Hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires
Environment—current issues
Deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing
Environment—international agreements

Extreme points

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This is a list of the extreme points of Guinea-Bissau, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

  • Northernmost point – the northern section of the border with Senegal*
  • Easternmost point – unnamed location on the border with Guinea immediately south-west of the Guinean village of Sofan, Gabú Region
  • Southernmost point – unnamed headland on Ilha Cataque, Tombali Region
  • Westernmost point - Cape Roxo at the point where the border with Senegal enters the Atlantic Ocean, Cacheu Region
  • *Note: Guinea-Bissau does not have a northernmost point, the border here being formed by a straight horizontal line

See also

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Line notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook
  2. ^ Murray, N.J.; Phinn, S.R.; DeWitt, M.; Ferrari, R.; Johnston, R.; Lyons, M.B.; Clinton, N.; Thau, D.; Fuller, R.A. (2019). "The global distribution and trajectory of tidal flats". Nature. 565 (7738): 222–225. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0805-8. PMID 30568300. S2CID 56481043.
  3. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Painted Hunting Dog: Lycaon pictus, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg Archived December 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "GUINEA-BISSAU - BISSAU". Centro de Investigaciones Fitosociológicas. Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  5. ^ "Bissau Climate Guide". Centro de Investigaciones Fitosociológicas. Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2011-10-04.

References

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