Close ties to France following independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment all 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 an election brought Laurent GBAGBO into power. Ivoirian dissidents and disaffected members of the military launched a failed coup attempt in September 2002 that developed into a rebellion and then a civil war. In 2003, a cease-fire resulted in the country being divided with the rebels holding the north, the government the south, and peacekeeping forces a buffer zone between the two. In March 2007, President GBAGBO and former New Forces rebel leader Guillaume SORO signed an agreement in which SORO joined GBAGBO's government as prime minister and the two agreed to reunite the country by dismantling the buffer zone, integrating rebel forces into the national armed forces, and holding elections. Difficulties in preparing electoral registers delayed balloting until 2010. In November 2010, Alassane Dramane OUATTARA won the presidential election over GBAGBO, but GBAGBO refused to hand over power, resulting in a five-month resumption of violent conflict. In April 2011, after widespread fighting, GBAGBO was formally forced from office by armed OUATTARA supporters with the help of UN and French forces. The UN peacekeeping mission is drawing down and is scheduled to depart in June 2017. OUATTARA is focused on rebuilding the country's economy and infrastructure while rebuilding the security forces. GBAGBO is in The Hague on trial for crimes against humanity.
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia
8 00 N, 5 00 W
Africa
total: 322,463 sq km
land: 318,003 sq km
water: 4,460 sq km
slightly larger than New Mexico
total: 3,458 km
border countries (5): Burkina Faso 545 km, Ghana 720 km, Guinea 816 km, Liberia 778 km, Mali 599 km
515 km
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
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)
mostly flat to undulating plains; mountains in northwest
mean elevation: 250 m
elevation extremes: lowest point: Gulf of Guinea 0 m
highest point: Monts Nimba 1,752 m
petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, gold, nickel, tantalum, silica sand, clay, cocoa beans, coffee, palm oil, hydropower
agricultural land: 64.8%
arable land 9.1%; permanent crops 14.2%; permanent pasture 41.5%
forest: 32.7%
other: 2.5% (2011 est.)
730 sq km (2012)
coast has heavy surf and no natural harbors; during the rainy season torrential flooding is possible
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 effluents
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
most of the inhabitants live along the sandy coastal region; apart from the capital area, the forested interior is sparsely populated
23,740,424
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 2016 est.)
noun: Ivoirian(s)
adjective: Ivoirian
Akan 32.1%, Voltaique or Gur 15%, Northern Mande 12.4%, Krou 9.8%, Southern Mande 9%, other 21.2% (includes European and Lebanese descent), unspecified 0.5% (2011-12 est.)
French (official), 60 native dialects of which Dioula is the most widely spoken
Muslim 40.2%, Catholic 19.4%, Evangelical 19.3%, Methodist 2.5%, other Christian 4.5%, animist or no religion 12.8%, other religion/unspecified 1.4% (2011-12 est.)
note: the majority of foreign migrant workers are Muslim (72%) and Christian (18%) (2014 est.)
Cote d’Ivoire’s population is likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future because almost 60% of the populace is younger than 25, the total fertility rate is holding steady at about 3.5 children per woman, and contraceptive use is under 20%. The country will need to improve education, health care, and gender equality in order to turn its large and growing youth cohort into human capital. Even prior to 2010 unrest that shuttered schools for months, access to education was poor, especially for women. As of 2015, only 53% of men and 33% of women were literate. The lack of educational attainment contributes to Cote d’Ivoire’s high rates of unskilled labor, adolescent pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS prevalence.
Following its independence in 1960, Cote d’Ivoire’s stability and the blossoming of its labor-intensive cocoa and coffee industries in the southwest made it an attractive destination for migrants from other parts of the country and its neighbors, particularly Burkina Faso. The HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY administration continued the French colonial policy of encouraging labor immigration by offering liberal land ownership laws. Foreigners from West Africa, Europe (mainly France), and Lebanon composed about 25% of the population by 1998.
Ongoing economic decline since the 1980s and the power struggle after HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY’s death in 1993 ushered in the politics of “Ivoirite,” institutionalizing an Ivoirian identity that further marginalized northern Ivoirians and scapegoated immigrants. The hostile Muslim north-Christian south divide snowballed into a 2002 civil war, pushing tens of thousands of foreign migrants, Liberian refugees, and Ivoirians to flee to war-torn Liberia or other regional countries and more than a million people to be internally displaced. Subsequently, violence following the contested 2010 presidential election prompted some 250,000 people to seek refuge in Liberia and other neighboring countries and again internally displaced as many as a million people. By July 2012, the majority had returned home, but ongoing inter-communal tension and armed conflict continue to force people from their homes.
0-14 years: 37.45% (male 4,483,215/female 4,407,595)
15-24 years: 20.93% (male 2,504,188/female 2,463,970)
25-54 years: 34.05% (male 4,133,975/female 3,950,734)
55-64 years: 4.15% (male 493,722/female 491,230)
65 years and over: 3.42% (male 389,551/female 422,244) (2016 est.)
total dependency ratio: 83.5%
youth dependency ratio: 77.9%
elderly dependency ratio: 5.6%
potential support ratio: 18% (2015 est.)
1.88% (2016 est.)
total: 20.7 years
male: 20.8 years
female: 20.6 years (2016 est.)
28.2 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)
9.5 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
urban population: 54.2% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 3.69% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
YAMOUSSOUKRO (capital) 259,000 (2014); ABIDJAN (seat of government) 4.86 million; Bouake 762,000 (2015)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
total number: 1,796,802
percentage: 35% (2006 est.)
645 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
total: 57.2 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 63.1 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 51.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
total population: 58.7 years
male: 57.5 years
female: 59.9 years (2016 est.)
3.46 children born/woman (2016 est.)
18.2% (2011/12)
5.7% of GDP (2014)
0.14 physicians/1,000 population (2008)
0.4 beds/1,000 population (2006)
improved:
urban: 93.1% of population
rural: 68.8% of population
total: 81.9% of population
unimproved:
urban: 6.9% of population
rural: 31.2% of population
total: 18.1% of population (2015 est.)
improved:
urban: 32.8% of population
rural: 10.3% of population
total: 22.5% of population
unimproved:
urban: 67.2% of population
rural: 89.7% of population
total: 77.5% of population (2015 est.)
3.17% (2015 est.)
464,700 (2015 est.)
25,100 (2015 est.)
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
animal contact disease: rabies
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2016)
8% (2014)
15.7% (2012)
4.7% of GDP (2014)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 43.1%
male: 53.1%
female: 32.5% (2015 est.)
total: 9 years
male: 10 years
female: 8 years (2014)
19.8
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2011/12 est.)
conventional long form: Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
conventional short form: Cote d'Ivoire
local long form: Republique de Cote d'Ivoire
local short form: Cote d'Ivoire
note: pronounced coat-div-whar
former: Ivory Coast
etymology: name reflects the intense ivory trade that took place in the region from the 15th to 17th centuries
presidential republic
7 August 1960 (from France)
name: Yamoussoukro; 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
geographic coordinates: 6 49 N, 5 16 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
12 districts and 2 autonomous districts*; Abidjan*, Bas-Sassandra, Comoe, Denguele, Goh-Djiboua, Lacs, Lagunes, Montagnes, Sassandra-Marahoue, Savanes, Vallee du Bandama, Woroba, Yamoussoukro*, Zanzan
Independence Day, 7 August (1960)
previous 1960, 2000; latest draft completed 24 September 2016, approved by referendum 30 October 2016, promulaged 8 November 2016 (2016)
civil law system based on the French civil code; judicial review of legislation held in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Cote d'Ivoire
dual citizenship recognized: no
residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Alassane Dramane OUATTARA (since 4 December 2010); note - the constitution of 2016 calls for the position of a vice-president
head of government: Prime Minister Daniel Kablan DUNCAN (since 21 November 2012)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (no term limits); election last held on 25 October 2015 (next to be held in 2020); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Alassane OUATTARA elected president; percent of vote - Alassane OUATTARA (RDR) 83.7%, Pascal Affi N'GUESSAN (ADF) 9.3%, Konan Bertin KOUADIO (independent) 3.9%, other 3.1%
elephant; national colors: orange, white, green
description: unicameral Parliament consists of the National Assembly (255 seats; members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote to serve 5-year terms); note - the new constitution of November 2016 calls for a bicameral legislature with the addition of a Senate
elections: last held on 11 December 2011 (next to be held on 18 December 2016)
election results: percent of vote by party - RDR 42.1%, PDCI 28.6%, UDPCI 3.1%, RDP 1.7%, other 24.5%; seats by party - RDR 122, PDCI 76, UDPCI 6, RDP 4, other 16, independents 31
Federation of University and High School Students of Cote d'Ivoire or FESCI [Augustin MIAN]
National Congress for the Resistance and Democracy or CNRD [Bernard DADIE]
Panafrican Congress for Justice and Peoples Equality or COJEP [Roselin BLY]
highest court(s): Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (organized into Judicial, Audit, Constitutional, and Administrative Chambers; consists of the court president, 3 vice-presidents for the Judicial, Audit, and Administrative chambers, and 9 associate justices or magistrates)
judge selection and term of office: judges nominated by the Superior Council of the Magistrature, a 7-member body consisting of the national president (chairman), 3 "bench" judges, and 3 public prosecutors; judges appointed for life
subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal (organized into civil, criminal, and social chambers); first instance courts; peace courts
Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire or PDCI [Henri Konan BEDIE]
Ivorian Popular Front or FPI [Pascal AFFIN'GUISSAN]
Liberty and Democracy for the Republic or LIDER [Mamadou KOULIBALY]
Movement of the Future Forces or MFA [Innocent Augustin ANAKY KOBENA]
Rally of the Republicans or RDR [Alassane Dramane OUATTARA]
Union for Cote d'Ivoire or UPCI [Gnamien KONA]
Union for Democracy and Peace in Cote d'Ivoire or UDPCI [Albert Toikeuse MABRI]
more than 144 smaller registered parties
ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, EITI (compliant country), Entente, FAO, FZ, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINUSMA, MONUSCO, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
chief of mission: Ambassador Daouda DIABATE (since 11 February 2011)
chancery: 2424 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 797-0300
FAX: [1] (202) 462-9444
chief of mission: Charge d'Affaires Andrew Haviland (since 2016); Ambassador Terence Patrick MCCULLEY retired in 2016
embassy: Cocody Riviera Golf 01, Abidjan
mailing address: B. P. 1712, Abidjan 01
telephone: [225] 22 49 40 00
FAX: [225] 22 49 42 02
three equal vertical bands of orange (hoist side), white, and green; orange symbolizes the land (savannah) of the north and fertility, white stands for peace and unity, green represents the forests of the south and the hope for a bright future
note: similar to the flag of Ireland, which is longer and has the colors reversed - green (hoist side), white, and orange; also similar to the flag of Italy, which is green (hoist side), white, and red; design was based on the flag of France
name: "L'Abidjanaise" (Song of Abidjan)
lyrics/music: Mathieu EKRA, Joachim BONY, and Pierre Marie COTY/Pierre Marie COTY and Pierre Michel PANGO
note: adopted 1960; although the nation's capital city moved from Abidjan to Yamoussoukro in 1983, the anthem still owes its name to the former capital
Cote d'Ivoire is heavily dependent on agriculture and related activities, which engage roughly two-thirds of the population. Cote d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans and a significant producer and exporter of coffee and pa
Following the end of more than a decade of civil conflict in 2011, Cote d’Ivoire has experienced a boom in foreign investment and economic growth. In June 2012, the IMF and the World Bank announced $4.4 billion in debt relief for Cote d'Ivoire under the H
$34.65 billion (2015 est.)
$87.12 billion (2016 est.)
$80.68 billion (2015 est.)
$74.33 billion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
8% (2016 est.)
8.5% (2015 est.)
7.9% (2014 est.)
$3,600 (2016 est.)
$3,400 (2015 est.)
$3,200 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
18.4% of GDP (2016 est.)
16.8% of GDP (2015 est.)
19.3% of GDP (2014 est.)
household consumption: 66%
government consumption: 15.2%
investment in fixed capital: 16.9%
investment in inventories: 0.8%
exports of goods and services: 43.3%
imports of goods and services: -42.2% (2016 est.)
agriculture: 17.6%
industry: 19.5%
services: 62.8% (2016 est.)
8.5% (2016 est.)
coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, cassava (manioc, tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber
foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, gold mining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity
8.543 million (2016 est.)
agriculture: 68%
industry and services: NA% (2007 est.)
NA%
42% (2006 est.)
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 31.8% (2008)
41.5 (2008)
36.7 (1995)
revenues: $6.839 billion
expenditures: $8.17 billion (2016 est.)
19.7% of GDP (2016 est.)
-3.8% of GDP (2016 est.)
50.9% of GDP (2016 est.)
49.1% of GDP (2015 est.)
calendar year
1.2% (2016 est.)
1.3% (2015 est.)
4.25% (31 December 2010)
4.25% (31 December 2009)
2.5% (31 December 2016 est.)
2.5% (31 December 2015 est.)
$9.416 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$8.516 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$13.92 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$12.55 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$11.19 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$9.812 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$12.49 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$11.71 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
$11.82 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
-$609 million (2016 est.)
-$567 million (2015 est.)
$11.73 billion (2016 est.)
$11.98 billion (2015 est.)
cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish
US 8.5%, Netherlands 6.2%, France 5.6%, Germany 5.6%, Nigeria 5.5%, Burkina Faso 5.5%, Belgium 5.3%, India 4.6%, Ghana 4.4%, Switzerland 4.1% (2015)
$8.966 billion (2016 est.)
$8.609 billion (2015 est.)
fuel, capital equipment, foodstuffs
Nigeria 21.9%, China 14.4%, France 11.4%, Bahamas, The 5% (2015)
$4.952 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$4.716 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$12.84 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$11.71 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$NA
$NA
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar -
604.4 (2016 est.)
591.45 (2015 est.)
591.45 (2014 est.)
494.42 (2013 est.)
510.29 (2012 est.)
population without electricity: 15,000,000
electrification - total population: 26%
electrification - urban areas: 42%
electrification - rural areas: 8% (2013)
7.9 billion kWh (2014 est.)
5.8 billion kWh (2014 est.)
900 million kWh (2014 est.)
54 million kWh (2012 est.)
1.5 million kW (2014 est.)
60.3% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
39.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
33,000 bbl/day (2015 est.)
35,150 bbl/day (2013 est.)
74,960 bbl/day (2013 est.)
100 million bbl (1 January 2016 es)
76,910 bbl/day (2013 est.)
38,000 bbl/day (2014 est.)
44,020 bbl/day (2013 est.)
3,369 bbl/day (2013 est.)
1.996 billion cu m (2014 est.)
1.996 billion cu m (2014 est.)
0 cu m (2013 est.)
0 cu m (2013 est.)
28.32 billion cu m (1 January 2016 es)
6.6 million Mt (2013 est.)
total subscriptions: 277,248
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1 (July 2015 est.)
total: 25.408 million
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 109 (July 2015 est.)
general assessment: well-developed by African standards; telecommunications sector privatized in late 1990s and operational fixed lines have increased since that time with two fixed-line providers operating over open-wire lines, microwave radio relay, and fiber-optics; 90% d
domestic: with multiple mobile-cellular service providers competing in the market, usage has increased sharply to well over 105 per 100 persons
international: country code - 225; landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) (2011)
2 state-owned TV stations; no private terrestrial TV stations, but satellite TV subscription service is available; 2 state-owned radio stations; some private radio stations; transmissions of several international broadcasters are available (2007)
.ci
total: 4.892 million
percent of population: 21% (July 2015 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 1
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 10
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 359,260
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 4,719,120 mt-km (2015)
TU (2016)
27 (2013)
total: 7
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2013)
total: 20
1,524 to 2,437 m: 6
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 3 (2013)
1 (2013)
condensate 101 km; gas 256 km; oil 118 km; oil/gas/water 5 km; water 7 km (2013)
total: 660 km
narrow gauge: 660 km 1.000-m gauge
note: an additional 622 km of this railroad extends into Burkina Faso (2008)
total: 81,996 km
paved: 6,502 km
unpaved: 75,494 km
note: includes intercity and urban roads; another 20,000 km of dirt roads are in poor condition and 150,000 km of dirt roads are impassable (2007)
980 km (navigable rivers, canals, and numerous coastal lagoons) (2011)
major seaport(s): Abidjan, San-Pedro
oil terminal(s): Espoir Offshore Terminal
Republican Forces of Cote d'Ivoire (Force Republiques de Cote d'Ivoire, FRCI): Army, Navy, Cote d'Ivoire Air Force (Force Aerienne de la Cote d'Ivoire) (2015)
18-25 years of age for compulsory and voluntary male and female military service; conscription is not enforced; voluntary recruitment of former rebels into the new national army is restricted to ages 22-29 (2012)
1.65% of GDP (2012)
1.49% of GDP (2011)
1.65% of GDP (2010)
disputed maritime border between Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana
IDPs: 308,272 (post-election conflict in 2010-2011, as well as civil war from 2002-2004; most pronounced in western and southwestern regions) (2015)
stateless persons: 700,000 (2015); note - many Ivoirians lack documentation proving their nationality, which prevent them from accessing education and healthcare; birth on Ivorian soil does not automatically result in citizenship; disputes over citizenship and the associated rights of the large population descended from migrants from neighboring countries is an ongoing source of tension and contributed to the country's 2002 civil war; some observers believe the government's mass naturalizations of thousands of people over the last couple of years is intended to boost its electoral support base; the government in October 2013 acceded to international conventions on statelessness and in August 2013 reformed its nationality law, key steps to clarify the nationality of thousands of residents; since the adoption of the Abidjan Declaration to eradicate stateless in West Africa in February 2015, 6,400 people have received nationality papers
illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for local consumption; utility as a narcotic transshipment point to Europe reduced by ongoing political instability; while rampant corruption and inadequate supervision leave the banking system vulnerable to money laundering, the lack of a developed financial system limits the country's utility as a major money-laundering center (2008)
