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Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, is a country in West Africa. Ivory Coast borders Liberia and Guinea to the west, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

Capital:

  • name: Yamoussoukro
  • geographic coordinates: 6 49 N, 5 17 W
  • time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
  • note: although Yamoussoukro has been the official capital since 1983, Abidjan remains the commercial and administrative center; the US, like other countries, maintains its Embassy in Abidjan

Nationality:

  • noun: Ivoirian(s)
  • adjective: Ivoirian

Capital:

  • name: Yamoussoukro
  • geographic coordinates: 6 49 N, 5 17 W
  • time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
  • note: although Yamoussoukro has been the official capital since 1983, Abidjan remains the commercial and administrative center; the US, like other countries, maintains its Embassy in Abidjan

Independence:

  • 7 August 1960 (from France)

Population:
  • 18,373,060
  • note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

  • 1.96% (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

  • 7% (2003 est.)

Ethnic groups:

  • Akan 42.1%
  • Voltaiques or Gur 17.6%
  • Northern Mandes 16.5%
  • Krous 11%
  • Southern Mandes 10%
  • other 2.8% (includes 130,000 Lebanese and 14,000 French) (1998)

Religions:

  • Muslim 35-40%
  • indigenous 25-40%
  • Christian 20-30% (2001)
  • note: the majority of foreigners (migratory workers) are Muslim (70%) and Christian (20%)

Languages:

  • French (official)
  • 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken

Literacy:

  • definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  • total population: 48.7%
  • male: 60.8%
  • female: 38.6% (2000 est.)

Location:

  • Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia

Area - comparative:

  • slightly larger than New Mexico

Climate:

  • tropical along coast
  • semiarid in far north; three seasons - warm and dry (November to March)
  • hot and dry (March to May)
  • hot and wet (June to October)

Natural resources:

  • petroleum
  • natural gas
  • diamonds
  • manganese
  • iron ore
  • cobalt
  • bauxite
  • copper
  • gold
  • nickel
  • tantalum
  • silica sand
  • clay
  • cocoa beans
  • coffee
  • palm oil
  • hydropower

Environment - current issues:

  • deforestation (most of the country's forests - once the largest in West Africa - have been heavily logged)
  • water pollution from sewage and industrial and agricultural effluent

Government type:

  • republic
  • multiparty presidential regime established 1960
  • note: the government is currently operating under a power-sharing agreement mandated by international mediators

Economy - overview:

Cote d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans and a significant producer and exporter of coffee and palm oil. Consequently, the economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices for these products, and, to a lesser extent, in climatic conditions. Despite government attempts to h3ersify the economy, it is still heavily dependent on agriculture and related activities, engaging roughly 68% of the population. Since 2006, oil and gas production have become more important engines of economic activity than cocoa. According to IMF statistics, earnings from oil and refined products were $1.3 billion in 2006, while cocoa-related revenues were $1 billion during the same period. Cote d'Ivoire's offshore oil and gas production has resulted in substantial crude oil exports and provides sufficient natural gas to fuel electricity exports to Ghana, Togo, Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso. Oil exploration by a number of consortiums of private companies continues offshore, and President GBAGBO has expressed hope that daily crude output could reach 200,000 barrels per day (b/d) by the end of the decade. Since the end of the civil war in 2003, political turmoil has continued to damage the economy, resulting in the loss of foreign investment and slow economic growth. GDP grew by 1.8% in 2006 and 1.7% in 2007. Per capita income has declined by 15% since 1999.

GDP - real growth rate:

  • 1.6% (2007 est.)

      • GDP - per capita (PPP):

      • $1,700 (2007 est.)

      Background:

      Close ties to France since independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment made Cote d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the West African states, but did not protect it from political turmoil. In December 1999, a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history - overthrew the government. Junta leader Robert GUEI blatantly rigged elections held in late 2000 and declared himself the winner. Popular protest forced him to step aside and brought Laurent GBAGBO into power. Ivorian dissidents and disaffected members of the military launched a failed coup attempt in September 2002. Rebel forces claimed the northern half of the country, and in January 2003 were granted ministerial positions in a unity government under the auspices of the Linas-Marcoussis Peace Accord. President GBAGBO and rebel forces resumed implementation of the peace accord in December 2003 after a three-month stalemate, but issues that sparked the civil war, such as land reform and grounds for citizenship, remained unresolved. In March 2007 President GBAGBO and former New Force rebel leader Guillaume SORO signed the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. As a result of the agreement, SORO joined GBAGBO's government as Prime Minister and the two agreed to reunite the country by dismantling the zone of confidence separating North from South, integrate rebel forces into the national armed forces, and hold elections. Several thousand French and UN troops remain in Cote d'Ivoire to help the parties implement their commitments and to support the peace process.

      For more info please contact:
      African Studies
      (310) 825-3686
      africa@international.ucla.edu