Location

Southwestern Europe, between France and Spain

Geographic coordinates

Map references

Europe

Area

• Total: 468 km²
• Land: 468 km²
• Water: 0 km²

Area comparative

• Australia comparative: about 5 times smaller than the Australian Capital Territory
• Canada comparative: about the same size as Winnipeg
• United Kingdom comparative: slightly bigger than Saint Helena
• United States comparative: 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC

Land boundaries

• Total: 120.3 km
• Border countries: France 56.6 km, Spain 63.7 km

Coastline

0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims

None (landlocked)

Climate

Temperate; snowy, cold winters and warm, dry summers

Terrain

Rugged mountains dissected by narrow valleys

Elevation extremes

• Lowest point: Riu Runer 840 m
• Highest point: Coma Pedrosa 2,946 m

Natural resources

Hydropower, mineral water, timber, iron ore, lead

Land use

• Arable land: 4%
• Permanent crops: 0%
• Permanent pastures: 45%
• Forests and woodland: 35%
• Other: 16% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land

NA km²

Natural hazards

Snowslides, avalanches

Environment - current issues

Deforestation; overgrazing of mountain meadows contributes to soil erosion; air pollution; waste water treatment and solid waste disposal

Environment - international agreements

• Party to: Hazardous Wastes
• Signed, but not ratified: None of the selected agreements

Geography - note

Landlocked

Reference

Much of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

See also: Andorra