Cameroon vs. Chad
Geography
| Cameroon | Chad | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Central Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria | Central Africa, south of Libya |
| Geographic coordinates | 6 00 N, 12 00 E | 15 00 N, 19 00 E |
| Map references | Africa | Africa |
| Area | total: 475,440 sq km land: 472,710 sq km water: 2,730 sq km | total: 1.284 million sq km land: 1,259,200 sq km water: 24,800 sq km |
| Area - comparative | slightly larger than California; about four times the size of Pennsylvania | almost nine times the size of New York state; slightly more than three times the size of California |
| Land boundaries | total: 5,018 km border countries (6): Central African Republic 901 km, Chad 1116 km, Republic of the Congo 494 km, Equatorial Guinea 183 km, Gabon 349 km, Nigeria 1975 km | total: 6,406 km border countries (6): Cameroon 1116 km, Central African Republic 1556 km, Libya 1050 km, Niger 1196 km, Nigeria 85 km, Sudan 1403 km |
| Coastline | 402 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm | none (landlocked) |
| Climate | varies with terrain, from tropical along coast to semiarid and hot in north | tropical in south, desert in north |
| Terrain | diverse, with coastal plain in southwest, dissected plateau in center, mountains in west, plains in north | broad, arid plains in center, desert in north, mountains in northwest, lowlands in south |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Fako on Mont Cameroun 4,045 m lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m mean elevation: 667 m | highest point: Emi Koussi 3,445 m lowest point: Djourab 160 m mean elevation: 543 m |
| Natural resources | petroleum, bauxite, iron ore, timber, hydropower | petroleum, uranium, natron, kaolin, fish (Lake Chad), gold, limestone, sand and gravel, salt |
| Land use | agricultural land: 20.6% (2018 est.) arable land: 13.1% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 3.3% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 4.2% (2018 est.) forest: 41.7% (2018 est.) other: 37.7% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 39.6% (2018 est.) arable land: 3.9% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 35.7% (2018 est.) forest: 9.1% (2018 est.) other: 51.3% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 290 sq km (2012) | 300 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | volcanic activity with periodic releases of poisonous gases from Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun volcanoes volcanism: Mt. Cameroon (4,095 m), which last erupted in 2000, is the most frequently active volcano in West Africa; lakes in Oku volcanic field have released fatal levels of gas on occasion, killing some 1,700 people in 1986 | hot, dry, dusty harmattan winds occur in north; periodic droughts; locust plagues |
| Environment - current issues | waterborne diseases are prevalent; deforestation and overgrazing result in erosion, desertification, and reduced quality of pastureland; poaching; overfishing; overhunting | inadequate supplies of potable water; improper waste disposal in rural areas and poor farming practices contribute to soil and water pollution; desertification |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping-London Convention |
| Geography - note | sometimes referred to as the hinge of Africa because of its central location on the continent and its position at the west-south juncture of the Gulf of Guinea; throughout the country there are areas of thermal springs and indications of current or prior volcanic activity; Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in Sub-Saharan west Africa, is an active volcano | note 1: Chad is the largest of Africa's 16 landlocked countries note 2: not long ago - geologically speaking - what is today the Sahara was green savannah teeming with wildlife; during the African Humid Period, roughly 11,000 to 5,000 years ago, a vibrant animal community, including elephants, giraffes, hippos, and antelope lived there; the last remnant of the "Green Sahara" exists in the Lakes of Ounianga (oo-nee-ahn-ga) in northern Chad, a series of 18 interconnected freshwater, saline, and hypersaline lakes now protected as a World Heritage site note 3: Lake Chad, the most significant water body in the Sahel, is a remnant of a former inland sea, paleolake Mega-Chad; at its greatest extent, sometime before 5000 B.C., Lake Mega-Chad was the largest of four Saharan paleolakes that existed during the African Humid Period; it covered an area of about 400,000 sq km (150,000 sq mi), roughly the size of today's Caspian Sea |
| Total renewable water resources | 283.15 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 45.7 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | population concentrated in the west and north, with the interior of the country sparsely populated as shown in this population distribution map | the population is unevenly distributed due to contrasts in climate and physical geography; the highest density is found in the southwest, particularly around Lake Chad and points south; the dry Saharan zone to the north is the least densely populated as shown in this population distribution map |
Source: CIA Factbook
