Profile - Ivory Coast

I INTRODUCTION
Côte d'Ivoire (French for "Ivory Coast"), republic in western Africa, bounded on the north by Mali and Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), on the east by Ghana, on the south by the Gulf of Guinea, and on the west by Liberia and Guinea. The country has an area of 322,462 sq km (124,503 sq mi). Yamoussoukro is the official capital, and Abidjan is the de facto capital and largest city.

II LAND AND RESOURCES
The coast of Côte d’Ivoire is fringed by a number of large and deep lagoons, most of which are inaccessible to shipping because of offshore shoals. Bordering the coast, a zone of dense tropical forests extends about 265 km (about 165 mi) inland in the east and west and about 100 km (about 60 mi) in the center. Beyond this, in the north and center, lies an extensive savanna (grassland with a few trees). The western part of the country is undulating, with mountain chains in the Odienné and Man regions. Several summits rise to more than 1,500 m (more than 5,000 ft). The principal rivers are the Sassandra, Bandama, and Komoé, none of which is navigable for more than about 65 km (about 40 mi) because of rapids and low water during the dry season.

A Climate
The southern portion of Côte d’Ivoire has a tropical climate, with hot and humid weather and heavy rains. Temperatures vary from 22° C (72° F) to 32° C (90° F), and the heaviest rains fall from April to July and in October and November. Away from the coast, in the savanna, temperature differences become more extreme, with night lows dropping in January to 12° C (54° F) and day highs in the summer rising above 40° C (104° F). Annual rainfall is 2,100 mm (about 83 in) in coastal Abidjan and 1,200 mm (about 48 in) in Bouaké, located on the nation’s central plain.

B Plants and Animals
The central band of Côte d’Ivoire is covered by forest with more than 225 species of trees, among which are obeche, mahogany, and iroko. Animals of the country include the jackal, hyena, panther, elephant, chimpanzee, crocodile, and various lizards and venomous snakes.

C Natural Resources
The principal resources of Côte d’Ivoire are its relatively rich soil, which favors agriculture, and the forests, which contain dense stands of commercially valuable hardwoods. Mineral deposits include gold, iron ore, manganese ore, diamonds, and petroleum (in offshore fields). Hydroelectric plants are located on the Bia and Bandama rivers; production of electricity in 1997 totaled 1.9 billion kilowatt-hours, much of which came from hydroelectric installations.

III POPULATION
The population of Côte d’Ivoire is diverse, comprising more than 60 ethnic groups. The principal groups include the Akan-speaking peoples of the southeast, the Kru of the southwest, the Voltaic groups of the northeast, and the Mandinka (also known as Mandingo or Malinke) and southern Mande peoples found in the northwest. A significant Lebanese community also exists.

A Population Characteristics
The population of Côte d’Ivoire (1998 estimate) is 15,446,231 . The overall population density is 48 persons per sq km (124 per sq mi).

An estimated 35 percent of Côte d’Ivoire’s people follow traditional religions; 39 percent are Muslim, and 26 percent are Christian, mainly Roman Catholic. French is the official national language; numerous African languages are also spoken.

B Political Divisions and Principal Cities
Côte d’Ivoire is divided into 49 departments, each administered by a centrally appointed prefect and an elected council. The main cities are Abidjan, with a population (1996 estimate, greater city) of 2.9 million; and Bouaké; (1988, 329,850), an important administrative and commercial center. Other urban centers include Daloa (121,842); Gagnoa, a marketing town; and Man. Yamoussoukro (1990 estimate, 120,000), between Bouaflé and Dimbokro, was designated the new national capital in 1983, but many government offices have remained in Abidjan.

C Education Education in Côte d’Ivoire is free, and primary education is compulsory. A vast television education program was begun in the early 1970s. In 1996 only 71 percent of primary-school aged children and 24 percent of secondary-school aged children were enrolled in school. The National University of Côte d’Ivoire (1958), in Abidjan, has a yearly attendance of about 21,000. A substantial number of advanced Côte d’Ivoire students study abroad. An estimated 40.2 percent of the adult population is literate.

D Culture
The modernized sector of Côte d’Ivoire’s population has been greatly influenced by French culture. The indigenous culture of the country remains strong, however, and is well known for its artistic creations, especially masks. The French language is almost universally used in the written literature of Côte d’Ivoire, to the exclusion of the African languages.

IV ECONOMY
The economy of Côte d’Ivoire is primarily agricultural, with 60 percent of the total labor force employed in farming and forestry. However, the government is attempting to diversify the economy to avoid dependence on a small number of export crops. Annual budget figures show approximately $1.9 billion in revenues and $3.4 billion in expenditures.

A Agriculture
The principal cash crops of Côte d’Ivoire are cacao, coffee, cotton, and pineapples. The country is among the world’s leading producers of cacao, which accounts for more than 40 percent of export earnings, and is one of Africa’s top coffee producers as well. The government encouraged production of cotton and pineapples to diversify the economy, which had suffered in the 1980s when commodity prices for cacao and coffee dropped sharply. Other crops being developed for export are palm kernels and rubber. Crops grown for local use include yams, cassava, plantains, rice, and maize; the government has initiated programs to achieve food self-sufficiency.

B Forestry and Fishing The production of timber is of major economic importance to the Côte d’Ivoire economy. The most important export timbers are mahogany, iroko, sipo, obeche, and makore. Some 15 million cu m (529 million cu ft) of timber were produced in 1997. Fishing is conducted along the coast; the catch was 70,526 metric tons in 1996.

C Mining and Manufacturing Offshore oil was discovered in commercial quantities in 1977, and production began in 1980; output in 1997 was 6.9 million barrels a year. Côte d’Ivoire also produces about 75,000 carats of diamonds in 1996, and gold mining began in the early 1990s. Industries include food-processing plants, lumber and textile mills, oil refineries, automobile and bicycle assembly plants, and plywood, furniture, cement, shoe, steel-container, and aluminum-sheet production.

D Currency, Banking, and Trade Côte d’Ivoire is a member of the six-nation West African Monetary Union. The currency is the CFA franc, issued by the Central Bank for the States of West Africa (583.7 CFA francs equal U.S.$1; 1997 average). An exchange rate of 50 CFA francs equal to 1 French franc was in force from 1948 to 1994, when the CFA franc was devalued by 50 percent.

In 1996 exports totaled $4.4 billion and imports were $3 billion. Principal trading partners for exports are France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Burkina Faso, and the United States; chief partners for imports are the United States, Ghana, Germany, and Italy.

E Transportation and Communications The port of Abidjan is one of the busiest in West Africa. A new port exists at San Pedro, which is linked to Mali by rail. A railroad links Abidjan to Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. The total length of operated railroad track in the country is 639 km (397 mi). Only a small portion of the estimated 50,400 km (31,317 mi) of roads are paved. The government operates several radio and television stations. In 1996 there were 157 radio receivers and 62 television sets for every 1,000 inhabitants. Côte d’Ivoire had 9 telephone mainlines for every 1,000 people in 1997.

V GOVERNMENT According to the Côte d’Ivoire constitution of 1960, executive authority is vested in an elected president assisted by a council of ministers selected by the president. The president and the 175 members of the unicameral National Assembly are all elected for five-year terms by universal adult suffrage. The Côte d’Ivoire Democratic party is the country’s leading political party, although a multiparty system was adopted in 1990. The judicial system includes a supreme court that comprises constitutional, judicial, administrative, and auditing chambers. A high court of justice is empowered to try government officials, including the president, for high crimes. Other courts include appellate, state security, and courts of first instance.

VI HISTORY
Ancestors of most of the present population of Côte d’Ivoire seem to have moved into the area relatively late (18th to 19th century), mostly from the northeast and east. The Kru, however, came from the west across the Cavally River. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and began trading in slaves and ivory. Strong tribal kingdoms flourished in the northeastern and eastern parts of the country. Europeans did not penetrate inland until the 1830s, when the French signed treaties with coastal rulers. As part of the French expansion in West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire was made a colony in 1893. The French were bitterly resisted, however, and frequent revolts occurred. In 1904 Côte d’Ivoire became a constituent territory of the Federation of French West Africa. Faced with dissidence, the French resorted increasingly to direct rule, undermining traditional rulers.

In 1919 the northern part of the colony was detached to form part of the new colony of Upper Volta, which was dissolved in 1932, only to be reconstituted in 1948. In 1944 Félix Houphouët-Boigny, a Baule chief, farmer, and doctor, founded a union of African farmers. From this organization emerged the first major African political party, the interterritorial African Democratic Rally and its constituent section, the Côte d’Ivoire Democratic party, both led by Houphouët-Boigny. The party was opposed by the French administration, and the tension flared into violence in 1949. In 1950 Houphouët-Boigny reversed his policy and began to cooperate with the French. On December 4, 1958, Côte d’Ivoire was proclaimed a republic within the French Community. After national elections in 1959, Houphouët-Boigny became premier and was elected president in November 1960, following the achievement of full independence on August 7 of that year.

Côte d’Ivoire enjoyed political stability and great economic growth during the 1960s and 1970s, despite occasional challenges to the generally conservative, business-oriented outlook of Houphouët-Boigny by students and members of the armed forces. An alleged conspiracy by army officers to stage a coup was thwarted in 1973; an attempt on the president’s life was made in 1980; and student unrest in early 1982 caused a temporary closing of the University of Abidjan. During the late 1980s the aging president sponsored grandiose building projects, especially in Yamoussoukro, while the national economy slumped. In October 1990 Houphouët-Boigny won his seventh five-year term as president, in Côte d’Ivoire’s first multiparty election. He died in office in 1993 and was replaced as president by the head of the National Assembly, Henri Konan Bedie. Bedie was reelected in October 1995 elections that were boycotted by opposition parties protesting restrictions Bedie had placed on opposition candidates. In December legislative elections Bedie’s Democratic Party won over 80 percent of the seats in the National Assembly despite the end of the opposition’s boycott.

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