GEOGRAPHY
Location:
Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and
Skagerrak, between Finland and Norway
Map
references: Europe
Area:
total area: 449,964
sq km
land area: 410,928 sq
km
comparative
area: slightly smaller than California
Land
boundaries: total 2,205 km, Finland 586 km, Norway 1,619 km
Coastline:
3,218 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m
depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone:
agreed boundaries or midlines
territorial
sea: 12 nm
International
disputes: none
Climate:
temperate in south with cold, cloudy winters and cool, partly
cloudy summers; subarctic in north
Terrain:
mostly flat or gently rolling lowlands; mountains in west
Natural
resources: zinc, iron ore, lead, copper, silver, timber, uranium,
hydropower potential
Land use:
arable land: 7%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures:
2%
forest and woodland:
64%
other:
27%
Irrigated
land: 1,120 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: acid
rain damaging soils and lakes; pollution of the North Sea
and the Baltic Sea
natural hazards: ice floes in the surrounding waters, especially
in the Gulf of Bothnia, can interfere with maritime traffic
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen
Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands,
Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94,
Desertification, Law of the Sea
Note:
strategic location along Danish Straits linking Baltic and North
Seas
