Ivory Coast is a country in western sub-Saharan Africa just north of the equator, bordered by Liberia and Guinea to the west, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north and Ghana to the east. To the south lies the Gulf of Guinea with a 515 km (320 mi) coastline where there is a network of lagoons. The land rises from south to north, the terrain being mostly flat to undulating plain, with mountains in the west and northwest.