West Africa covers an area of 6.38 million square kilometers, accounting for one fifth of Africa. It has a population of 222.5 million (1991), about one-third of the total African population, mostly Sudanese blacks, followed by Arabs. From north to south are the Sahara Desert, the Sudanese steppe, and the Upper Guinea Plateau. The whole terrain is low and flat, generally 200-500 meters above sea level; Futajaron and Bauchi Plateaus in the south and Jado and Air Plateaus in the northeast; There are plains along the coast.
The climate and vegetation have obvious latitudinal zonality. The northern tropical desert climate, the central savanna climate, the southern tropical rainforest climate. The interior and the west are dry and hot, and the coast is rainy. Rich in bauxite, diamond, petroleum, gold, manganese, iron, copper, niobium, uranium ore, etc. Agricultural products include oil palm, maize, cocoa, palm kernel, peanuts, coffee, rubber and so on. Among them, cocoa and peanuts occupy an important position in the world. The economy is based on agriculture and mining, and the development level is middle in Africa. The economy of the semi-desert zone is dominated by animal husbandry.
Abidjan is the capital of Cote d 'Ivoire (formerly Ivory Coast), the richest country in West Africa. It is the largest city in Cote d 'Ivoire and a famous port in West Africa.
Cote d 'Ivoire is an agricultural country. Agricultural products are mainly coffee and cocoa, coffee production accounts for the first in Africa, second only to Brazil and Colombia ranked third in the world. Cocoa production has surpassed Nigeria since 1974, ranking second in the world. Abidjan is home to more than one-fifth of the country's population. It is not only the political, economic and cultural center of Ivory Coast, but also a transit port for goods from neighboring countries.
Abidjan is located at 5°18 '0 "N, 4°34' 0" W, at the eastern end of the Ebriers Lagoon in Cote d 'Ivoire, where ships enter port via the Fridi Canal, 13.5 m deep. The port is 264 nautical miles from Tema Port in the east, 473 nautical miles from Lagle Port, 480 nautical miles from Monrovia port in the west, and 1196 nautical miles from Dakar port. The annual handling capacity of the port has exceeded 10 million tons, especially container handling, ranking first in West Africa. Export coffee, cocoa, bananas, wood mineral products, etc.; Import oil, grain, general merchandise, machinery, etc.
Abidjan Waterway
There are 26 main dock berths in the port area, with a shoreline of about 6085m and a maximum water depth of 12.5m. Distributed in the west of the city, from north to south there are: banana loading dock, 350 meters long, 2 berths, 7 meters deep; The North pier is 775 meters long, with 5 berths and a water depth of 10 meters; The west pier is 1525 meters long with 10 berths and a water depth of 10 meters. The south pier is 1145 meters long, with 6 berths and a water depth of 11.5 meters; Container, ro-ro ship terminal 1000 meters long, 5 berths. Water depth 11.5-12.5 m. There are also ore, oil and other special docks, located on the northeast bank of the canal, with railway connections on the docks. With more than 30 Marine berths in the territory, it is one of the largest ports in West Africa, with an expansion of 10 general cargo and several container berths at the southern and eastern ends of the peninsula on the western shore of the northern Bunko Bay. The depth of the anchorage of the large ship is 30m.
Loading and unloading equipment has a variety of shore crane, door crane, heavy crane, forklift floating crane, forklift, tug and ro-ro facilities, among which the maximum lifting capacity of the floating crane is 150 tons, and the diameter of 100 ~ 609.6mm oil pipeline for loading and unloading. Offshore in mile, there are offshore oil berth, the maximum can berth 75,000 deadweight tons of oil tanker. The container yard in the port area reaches 60,000 m. Storage facilities in the transit area of Hong Kong cover an area of 600,000 m.
Basic ports on West African routes:
Nigeria: LAGOS
Ghana: TEMA
Benin: COTONOU
Togo: LOME
Basic ports on the North African route:
Algeria: ALGIERS
