Geography and Environment of Sierra Leone

Roughly circular in shape, Sierra Leone has an area of 29,925 square miles; It is located on the West African coast between 7 and 10 degrees north of the Equator. Three main topographical regions run northwest to southwest, roughly parallel to the coast: a belt of mangrove swamps and white sand beaches, an area of low plains covered with secondary forest and cultivated land, and an easternmost region of high plateaus and mountains, some rising as high as 6,000 feet. The mountainous peninsula on which Freetown is located comprises a fourth distinct geographical region.

Detailed geography