Côte d'Ivoire (often called Ivory Coast in English; see below about the name) is a country in West Africa. It borders Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana to the west, north, and east, and borders the Gulf of Guinea to its south. One of the most prosperous of the tropical West African states, its economic development has been undermined by political turmoil spawned by official corruption and refusal to adopt needed reforms. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Côte dIvoire (often called Ivory Coast in English; see below about the name) is a country in West Africa. ... West Africa is the region of western Africa generally considered to include these countries: Benin Burkina Faso Cameroon Côte dIvoire (Ivory Coast) Equatorial Guinea Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) Senegal Sierra Leone Togo Chad, Mauritania, and... The Republic of Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte dIvoire. ... The Republic of Guinea is a nation of northwest Africa. ... The Republic of Mali is a country in west Africa, formerly a French colony. ... Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation of western Africa. ... The Republic of Ghana is a nation of Africa, specifically West Africa within Sub-Saharan Africa. ... The gigantic Gulf of Guinea is the part of the Atlantic southwest of Africa. ...

(In Detail) (In Detail)
National motto (translation): Unity, Discipline and Labor
Official language	French
Capital	Yamoussoukro (official), Abidjan (de facto)
Capital's coordinates	6°51′ N 5°18′ W (http://kvaleberg.com/extensions/mapsources/index.php?params=6_51_N_5_18_W_)
Largest City	Abidjan
President	Laurent Gbagbo
Prime Minister	Seydou Diarra
Area  - Total  - % water	Ranked 67th 322,460 km² 1.4%
Population  - Total (2003)  - Density General info: Large flag of Côte dIvoire Dimensions: 453x302 pixels Source: Image originally derived from the public domain License: Originally public domain, modifications under GFDL Most of the flags have had their colours improved and many have been resized to the proper ratios. ... Coat of Arms of Cote d Ivoire (from govt. ... Flag ratio: 2:3 The flag of Côte dIvoire features three equal vertical bands of orange ( hoist side), white, and green. ... The Coat of Arms of Côte dIvoire in its current form was adopted in the year 2001. ... Here is a list of state mottos for countries and their subdivisions around the world. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... An official language is something that is given a unique status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... French (français, langue française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered in speakers only by Spanish and Portuguese. ... In politics a capital (also called capital city or political capital — although the latter phrase has an alternative meaning based on an alternative meaning of capital) is the principal city or town associated with its government. ... Yamoussoukro, a town of 100,000 inhabitants located 240 kilometers North of Abidjan, is the administrative capital of Côte dIvoire. ... Abidjan is the largest city and former capital of Côte dIvoire. ... See Cartesian coordinate system or Coordinates (elementary mathematics) for a more elementary introduction to this topic. ... Abidjan is the largest city and former capital of Côte dIvoire. ... Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office. ... Laurent Koudou Gbagbo (born May 31, 1945) is the president of Côte dIvoire (since 2000). ... The office of Prime Minister of Côte dIvoire was created in 1957. ... Seydou Elimane Diarra (born November 23, 1933) is the Prime Minister of Côte dIvoire. ... This article explains the meaning of area as a physical quantity. ... Here is a list of the countries of the world sorted by area. ... To help compare orders of magnitude of different geographical regions, we list here surface areas between 100,000 km² and 1,000,000 km². See also areas of other orders of magnitude. ... In the most common sense of the word, a population is the collection of people—or organisms of a particular species—living in a given geographic area. ... Population density can be used as a measurement of any tangible item. ...	Ranked 57th 16,962,491 53/km² This is a list of sovereign states and other territories by population. ...
Independence  - Declared  - Recognized Independence is autonomous self-government of a country by its residents and indigenous population. ...	From France August 7, 1960 (Year) August 7 is the 219th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (220th in leap years), with 146 days remaining. ...
Currency	CFA franc
Time zone	UTC
National anthem	L'Abidjanaise
Internet TLD	.ci
Calling Code	225

History

Main article: History of Côte d'Ivoire This is the history of Côte dIvoire. ...

Not much is known about Côte d'Ivoire prior to the arrival of European ships in the 1460s. The major ethnic groups came relatively recently from neighbouring areas: the Kru people migrated from Liberia around 1600; the Senoufo and Lubi moved southward from Burkina Faso and Mali. It wasn't until the 18th and 19th centuries that the Akan people, including the Baoulé, migrated from Ghana into the eastern area of the country and the Malinké migrated from Guinea into the northwest. The Kru are a tribe of people in inland Liberia. ... The Republic of Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte dIvoire. ... Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation of western Africa. ... The Republic of Mali is a country in west Africa, formerly a French colony. ... The Akan are an ethnic group from western Africa. ... Baoule is a language spoken in Côte dIvoire. ... The Republic of Ghana is a nation of Africa, specifically West Africa within Sub-Saharan Africa. ... The Malinké are an African ethnic group. ... The Republic of Guinea is a nation of northwest Africa. ...

Compared to neighbouring Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire suffered little from the slave trade. European slaving and merchant ships preferred other areas along the coast with better harbours. France took an interest in the 1840s, enticing local chiefs to grant French commercial traders a monopoly along the coast. Thereafter, the French built naval bases to keep out non-French traders and began a systematic conquest of the interior. They accomplished this only after a long war in the 1890s against Mandinka forces, mostly from Gambia. Guerilla warfare by the Baoulé and other eastern groups continued until 1917.

The French had one overriding goal: to stimulate the production of exports. Coffee, cocoa and palm oil crops were soon planted along the coast. Côte d'Ivoire stood out as the only West African country with a sizeable population of 'settlers'; elsewhere in West and Central Africa, the French and English were largely bureaucrats. As a result, a third of the cocoa, coffee and banana plantations were in the hands of French citizens and a hated forced-labour system became the backbone of the economy.

The son of a Baoulé chief, Félix Houphouët-Boigny was to become Côte d'Ivoire's father of independence. In 1944 he formed the country's first agricultural trade union for African cocoa farmers like himself. Annoyed that colonial policy favoured French plantation owners, they united to recruit migrant workers for their own farms. Houphouët-Boigny soon rose to prominence and within a year was elected to the French Parliament in Paris. A year later the French abolished forced labour. As Houphouët-Boigny grew fonder of money and power, and became more ingratiated with the French, he gradually dropped the more radical stance of his youth. France reciprocated by making him the first African to become a minister in a European government. Félix Houphouët-Boigny (fālēks´ oofwā´-bwä´nye) ( October 18, 1905 - December 7, 1993) was the first President of Côte dIvoire ( 1960 - 1993). ...

At the time of Côte d'Ivoire's independence in 1960, the country was easily French West Africa's most prosperous, contributing over 40% of the region's total exports. When Houphouët-Boigny became the country's first president, his government gave farmers good prices to further stimulate production. Coffee production increased significantly, catapulting Côte d'Ivoire into third place in total output behind Brazil and Colombia. Cocoa did the same; by 1979 the country was the world's leading producer. It also became Africa's leading exporter of pineapples and palm oil. Behind the scenes, it was French technicians who had masterminded the programme, which was often referred to as the 'Ivoirian miracle'. In the rest of Africa, Europeans were driven out following independence; in Côte d'Ivoire, they poured in. The French community grew from 10,000 to 50,000, most of them teachers and advisers. For 20 years, the economy maintained an annual growth rate of nearly 10% - the highest of Africa's non-oil exporting countries.

Politically, Houphouët-Boigny ruled with an iron hand. The press wasn't free, and only one political party was tolerated. Houphouët-Boigny was also Africa's number one producer of 'show' projects. So many millions of dollars were spent transforming his village, Yamoussoukro, into the new capital that it became the butt of jokes. No one was laughing by the early 1980s though, when the world recession and a local drought sent shockwaves through the Ivoirian economy. Thanks also to the overcutting of timber and collapsing sugar prices, the country's external debt increased threefold. Rising crime in Abidjan made news in Europe. The miracle was over.

In 1990, hundreds of civil servants went on strike, joined by students protesting institutional corruption. The unrest forced the government to support multiparty democracy. Houphouët-Boigny became increasingly feeble and died in 1993. His hand-picked successor was Henri Konan-Bédié.

In October 1995, Bédié overwhelmingly won re-election against a fragmented and disorganised opposition. He tightened his hold over political life, sending several hundred opposition supporters to jail. In contrast, the economic outlook improved, at least superficially, with decreasing inflation and an attempt to remove foreign debt.

Unlike Houphouët-Boigny that was very careful in avoiding any ethnic conflict and left access to Ivorian nationality wide-open to immigrants from neighbouring countries, Bedié emphasized the concept of "Ivority" (Ivoirité) to exclude his rival Alassane Ouattara, having only one parent of Ivory Coast nationality, to run for future presidential election. As people originating from Burkina Faso are a large part of the Ivorian population this policy resulted in the exclusion of many people from Ivorian nationality and relationship between various ethnic groups becane strained. Alassane Ouattara is a political leader in Côte dIvoire. ... Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation of western Africa. ...

In parallel, Bédié exluded many potential opponents from the army. In late 1999, a group of dissatisfied officers staged a military coup putting General Robert Guéi in power, Bédié fled into exile in France. The coup had the effect of reducing crime and corruption, and the generals pressed for austerity and openly campaigned in the streets for a less wasteful society. Robert Guéï (March 16, 1941 - September 19, 2002) was the military ruler of the Côte dIvoire from December 24, 1999 to October 26, 2000. ...

An election was held in October 2000 in which Laurent Gbagbo vied with Robert Guéi for the presidency, but it was neither peaceful nor democratic. The lead up to the elections was marked by military and civil unrest. Guéi's attempt to fix the election led to a public uprising, resulting in around 180 deaths and his swift replacement by the elections' likely winner, Gbagbo. Alassane Ouattara, was disqualified by the country's Supreme Court, which based his ineligibility on his Burkinabé nationality. The disqualification sparked violent protests in which his supporters, mainly from the country's Muslim north, battled riot police in the capital, Yamoussoukro. Alassane Ouattara is a political leader in Côte dIvoire. ...

On September 19, 2002, troops from mutinied and gained control of north of the country. In Abidjan, the gendarmerie was seized by the rebels and former president Guéi was murdered with fifteen persons in his home, Alassane Ouattara refugied in French embassy. What happened exactly on September 19 night is confuse some report the events as military Coup attempt, but other sources report that opponents were executed by pro-Gbabo death squadrons and that the rebellion was an unplanned reaction. September 19 is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years). ...

An early ceasefire with the rebels, who had the full backing of the northern populace (mostly of Burkinabé origins), proved short-lived and fighting over the prime cocoa-growing areas resumed. France sent in troops to maintain the cease-fire boundaries, and militias, including warlords and fighters from Liberia and Sierra Leone, took advantage of the crisis to seize parts of the west. The Republic of Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte dIvoire. ... The Republic of Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. ...

In January 2003, President Gbagbo and rebel leaders signed accords creating a 'government of national unity'. Curfews were lifted and French troops cleaned up the lawless western border of the country. But the central problems remained, and neither side achieved its goals. 2003: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for January, 2003. ...

Since then, the unity government has proven extremely unstable. In March 2004, 120 people were killed in an opposition rally. A later report concluded the killings were pre-planned. Though UN peacekeepers were deployed, relations between Gbagbo and the opposition continued to deteriorate. 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths • 08 Abu Abbas • 20 Queen Juliana • 28 Peter Ustinov • 30 Alistair Cooke More March 2004 deaths Ongoing events EU Enlargement Exploration of Mars: Rovers Haiti Rebellion Israeli-Palestinian conflict Occupation of Iraq Same-sex marriage in...

Politics

Main article: Politics of Côte d'Ivoire Côte dIvoire is a republic, with a multiparty presidential regime established in 1960. ...

The official capital since 1983 is Yamoussoukro; however, Abidjan remains the administrative center. Most countries maintain their embassies in Abidjan. The population continues to suffer because of an on-going civil war. International human rights organizations have noted problems with the treatment of captive non-combatants by both sides and the re-emergence of child slavery among workers in cocoa production. Yamoussoukro, a town of 100,000 inhabitants located 240 kilometers North of Abidjan, is the administrative capital of Côte dIvoire. ... Abidjan is the largest city and former capital of Côte dIvoire. ...

Départements

Main article: Départements of Côte d'Ivoire Côte dIvoire is divided into 58 départements: See also Politics of Côte dIvoire Categories: Lists of subnational entities | Côte dIvoire ...

Côte d'Ivoire is divided into 58 departments (départements). The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ...

Geography

Map Of Côte d'Ivoire

Main article: Geography of Côte d'Ivoire Map of Côte dIvoire. ... Map of Côte dIvoire. ... Côte dIvoire (the Ivory Coast) is a sub-Saharan nation in southern West Africa located at 8 00°N, 5 00°W. The country is shaped like a square and borders the Gulf of Guinea in the north Atlantic Ocean to the south (515km of coastline) and five...

Côte d'Ivoire is a country of western Sub-Saharan Africa. It borders Liberia and Guinea in the west, Mali and Burkina Faso in the north, Ghana in the east, and the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) in the south. Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa south of the Sahara Desert, is the term used to describe those countries of Africa that are not part of North Africa. ... The Republic of Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte dIvoire. ... The Republic of Guinea is a nation of northwest Africa. ... The Republic of Mali is a country in west Africa, formerly a French colony. ... Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation of western Africa. ... The Republic of Ghana is a nation of Africa, specifically West Africa within Sub-Saharan Africa. ... The gigantic Gulf of Guinea is the part of the Atlantic southwest of Africa. ... The Atlantic Ocean is Earths second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of its surface. ...

Economy

Main article: Economy of Côte d'Ivoire This article describes the Economy of Côte dIvoire The Ivorian economy is largely market based and depends heavily on the agricultural sector. ...

Maintaining close ties to France since independence in 1960, diversification of agriculture for export, and encouragement of foreign investment has made Côte d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the tropical African states.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Côte d'Ivoire Demographics of Côte dIvoire, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands. ...

76% of the population are considered Ivorians. They belong to different peoples, which linguistically are summarized under the language groups of Kwa, Kru, Mande, and Gur.

Since Cote d'Ivoire has established itself as one of the most successful west African nations, about 20% of the population consists of workers from neighbouring Liberia, Burkina Faso and Guinea. This fact has created steadily increasing tension in recent years, especially since most of these workers are Muslims while the native-born population is largely Christian, primarily Roman Catholic, and animist. 4% of the population is of non-African ancestry. Many are French, British, and Spanish citizens, as well as Protestant missionaries of American and Canadian background. Recently, some 50,000 French foreign nationals have evacuated Cote d'Ivoire due to political upheaval. A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... This article is about the religious people known as Christians. ... The Catholic Church in Côte dIvoire is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. ... This article is in need of attention. ...

Culture

Main article: Culture of Côte d'Ivoire The culture of Cote dIvoire is mostly muslim and christian. ...

• Music of Côte d'Ivoire: Alpha Blondy, Gyil, Djun-djun
• Islam in Côte d'Ivoire

See also: List of writers from Côte d'Ivoire, Art of Côte d'Ivoire Côte dIvoires capital, Abidjan, is perhaps the most influential city in recorded African music, with performers coming from across the continent to record their singles and albums. ... Alpha Blondy (born 1 January 1953) is a reggae singer, born Seydou Koné in Dimbokoro, Côte dIvoire. ... The gyil is a pentatonic percussion instrument, common to Ghana, Burkina Faso and Côte dIvoire. ... The Djun-Djun or Djum-Djum (pronounced dununs or dundun) is a cylindrical, double-headed bass drum carved from solid Dembu log and using with cow skin membranes. ... Islam came to West Africa in three waves. ... African Writers (by country): This is a list of literary figures from the African continent, listed by country, including poets, novelists, childrens writers, essayists, and scholars, listed by country. ... Makonde carving c. ...

The name

History

The country was originally known in English as Ivory Coast, and corresponding translations in other languages: Elfenbeinküste in German, Costa de Marfil in Spanish, and so on. Because of the disorder this could allegedly produce in international settings, in October 1985 the government requested that the country be known as Côte d'Ivoire in every language. In fact, according to national law, the name of the country cannot be translated from French. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ...

Usage

Despite the Ivorian government's ruling, "Ivory Coast" (sometimes "the Ivory Coast") is still the most commonly used name in English. Governments, however, use "Côte d'Ivoire" for diplomatic reasons. Journalistic Style guides usually (but not always) recommend "Ivory Coast": Style guides generally give guidance on language use. ...

• The Guardian newspaper's Style Guide (http://www.guardian.co.uk/styleguide/page/0,5817,184827,00.html) says: "Ivory Coast, not "the Ivory Coast" or Côte D'Ivoire; its nationals are Ivorians"
• The BBC usually uses "Ivory Coast".
• The Economist newsmagazine's Style Guide (http://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=805717) says "Côte d'Ivoire not Ivory Coast".
• The United States Department of State uses "Côte d'Ivoire".

The Guardian was also the name of a U.S. television series. ... ... Front cover, February 21, 2004 The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication of The Economist Newspaper Limited in London. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ...

Miscellaneous topics

• Communications in Côte d'Ivoire
• Transportation in Côte d'Ivoire
• Military of Côte d'Ivoire
• Foreign relations of Côte d'Ivoire
• Civil war in Ivory Coast
• Category:Côte d'Ivoire music

Telephones - main lines in use: 182,000 (1998) Telephones - mobile cellular: more than 60,000 (December 1998) Telephone system: well-developed by African standards but operating well below capacity domestic: open-wire lines and microwave radio relay; 90% digitalized international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1... Railways total: 660 km narrow gauge: 660 km 1. ... The 17,000-man Ivorian Armed Forces (FANCI) include an army, navy, air force, and gendarmerie. ... This article is in need of attention. ... The Civil war in Côte dIvoire began on September 19, 2002, and restarted in November 2004. ...

References

• Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

World Factbook 2004 cover The World Factbook is an annual publication by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with basic almanac-style information about the various countries of the world. ...

External links

• Parti Ivoirien du Peuple (http://www.pipci.org/)
• Lonely Planet country profile (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/africa/cote_divoire/)
• BBC country profile (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/country_profiles/1043014.stm)
• AfricaST country profile (http://www.africast.com/country.php?strCountry=Ivory%20Coast)
• French Soldiers Machine-gun Civilians on 'Ivory Coast'. (video, November 2004) (http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/37105)

Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...