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Geography
Sierra Leone is situated on the west coast of Africa between latitudes 10° and 13° west and longitudes 7 and
100 north, and covers an area of some 71,620 km2. To the west and southwest its Atlantic coastline extends
for almost 400 km. The country shares its north and northeastern border with the Republic of Guinea, and its
southeastern border with Liberia. Sierra Leone possesses a tropical and humid climate, with a clearly defined
rainy season. Annual rainfall averages about 380 cm (150 inches) in Freetown, decreasing inland to about 200
cm (80 inches) in the north of the country. Most of the rain falls between July and September. There are mangrove
swamps amps along the coast but most of the country is covered with dense secondary forest or bush, and over large
areas the land surface comprises residual laterite. or detrital material. The country possesses numerous streams
and rivers.
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Broadly speaking, the western half of Sierra Leone comprises a large plain, while the eastern half consists of
a number of elevated plateaux rising to a maximum height of 1,950 m (6,390ft) above sea-level at Bintumani in
the Loma Mountains. The plain comprises a 50 km wide coastal belt composed of marine or deltaic sediments running
parallel to the coast, and a continental belt stretching some 95 km inland from the coastal plain, underlain by
rocks of the 01(1 continental land mass.
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