Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name République de la Côte d'Ivoire/Republic of the Ivory Coast Area 322,463 sq km/124,502 sq mi Capital Yamoussoukro Language French (official), over 60 ethnic languages Religion animist 17%, Muslim 39% (mainly in north), Christian 26% (mainly Roman Catholic in south) Time difference GMT +/-0 Major holidays 1 January, 1 May, 15 August, 1 November, 7, 24–25, 31 December; variable: Ascension Thursday, Eid-ul-Adha, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Whit Monday, end of Ramadan


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Abidjan, Bouaké, Daloa, Man, Korhogo, Gagnoa Major ports Abidjan, San Pedro Physical features tropical rainforest (diminishing as exploited) in south; savannah and low mountains in north; coastal plain; Vridi canal, Kossou dam, Monts du Toura Airports three international airports and 25 domestic and regional airports; total passengers carried: 46,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 1,300 km/808 mi; total passenger journeys: 243,000 (2000) Roads total road network: 50,400 km/31,318 mi, of which 9.7% paved (1999 est); passenger cars: 8 per 1,000 people (1998)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Laurent Gbagbo from 2000 Head of government Guillaume Soro from 2007 Political system emergent democracy Political executive limited presidency Administrative divisions 18 regions, comprising 57 departments Political parties Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), nationalist, free enterprise; Rally of Republicans (RDR), nationalist; Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), left of centre; Ivorian Labour Party (PIT), left of centre; over 20 smaller parties Death penalty abolished in 2000 Armed forces 17,100; plus 10,000 reservists (2004 est) Conscription selective conscription for 18 months Defence spend (% GDP) 1.2 (2004 est) Education spend (% GDP) 4.6 (2002 est) Health spend (% GDP) 1 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency franc CFA GDP (US$) 16.1 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 1.9 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 15.3 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 1,490 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 2.6% (2006 est) Labour force 37% of population: 52.5% agriculture, 11.8% industry, 35.7% services (1997 est) Foreign debt (US$) 11.8 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners France, USA, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Singapore, China, Panama, UK Resources petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, gold, nickel, reserves of manganese, iron ore, bauxite Industries agro-processing (dominated by cocoa, coffee, cotton, palm kernels, pineapples, fish), petroleum refining, tobacco Exports cocoa beans and products, petroleum and petroleum products, timber, coffee, cotton, tinned tuna. Principal market: France 18.3% (2005) Imports crude petroleum and petroleum products, machinery and vehicles, pharmaceuticals, fresh fish, plastics, cereals. Principal source: France 27.7% (2005) Arable land 10.2% (2006 est) Agricultural products cocoa (world's largest producer), coffee (world's fifth-largest producer), cotton, rubber, palm kernels, bananas, pineapples, yams, cassava, rice, plantains; fishing; forestry


POPULATION

Population 18,454,100 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.7% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 57 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 46 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 42%, 15–59 53%, 60+ 5% (2005 est) Ethnic groups five principal ethnic groups: the Akan (41%), in the east and centre, the Voltaic (16%), based in the north, the Malinke (15%) and Southern Mande (11%) in the west, and the Kron (4%), based in the centre and the west Life expectancy 46 (men); 47 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 194 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 10 Literacy rate 62% (men); 41% (women) (2003 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 0.9 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 0.8 (2002 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 7.1 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 65,000 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 98 (urban); 74 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 1.5 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 12.1 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 183 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 52 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 1.6 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 1 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

1460s Portuguese navigators arrived. 16th century Ivory export trade developed by Europeans and slave trade, though to a lesser extent than neighbouring areas; Krou people migrated from Liberia to the west and Senoufo and Lubi from the north. late 17th century French coastal trading posts established at Assini and Grand Bassam. 18th–19th centuries Akan peoples, including the Baoulé, immigrated from the east and Malinke from the northwest. 1840s French began to conclude commercial treaties with local rulers. 1893 Colony of Côte d'Ivoire created by French, after war with Mandinkas; Baoulé resistance continued until 1917. 1904 Became part of French West Africa; cocoa production encouraged. 1940–42 Under pro-Nazi French Vichy regime. 1946 Became overseas territory in French Union, with own territorial assembly and representation in French parliament: Felix Houphouët-Boigny, a Western-educated Baoulé chief who had formed Democratic Party (PDCI) to campaign for autonomy, elected to French assembly. 1947 A French-controlled area to the north, which had been added to Côte d'Ivoire in 1932, separated to create new state of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). 1950–54 Port of Abidjan constructed. 1958 Achieved internal self-government. 1960 Independence secured, with Houphouët-Boigny as president of one-party state. 1960s–1980s Political stability, close links maintained with France and economic expansion of 10% per annum, as country became one of world's largest coffee producers. 1986 Country's name officially changed from Ivory Coast to Côte d'Ivoire. 1987–93 Per capita incomes fell by 25% owing to austerity programme promoted by International Monetary Fund. 1990 Strikes and student unrest. Houphouët-Boigny re-elected president as multiparty politics re-established. 1993 Houphouët-Boigny died; succeeded by Baoulé Henri Konan Bedie. 1999 Bedie replaced in military coup by General Robert Guei. 2000 New constitution to restore civilian rule approved in referendum; Guei's attempt to rig presidential elections led to popular uprising in support of Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) Laurent Gbagbo; violence also surrounded subsequent parliamentary elections. 2001–02 Rebellion by mutinous soldiers against Gbagbo government; heavy fighting and death of former military ruler Guei. 2003 Power-sharing coalition government formed between leading political parties and rebel groups in French-brokered peace accord to end civil war. 2004 Resurgence of conflict; government attack on rebel positions and French peacekeeping forces led to French destruction of Ivorian air force; United Nations peacekeeping force deployed. 2005 Mediation by South Africa; government and rebels declared end of hostilities but violent incidents continued. 2006 Government and rebels signed new power-sharing agreement mediated by Burkina Faso; rebel leader Guillaume Soro appointed prime minister.


© RM 2009. Helicon Publishing is division of RM.