Location of Côte d'Ivoire. Source: Vardion/Wikipedia

Source: CIA World Factbook

Côte d'Ivoire (formerly "Ivory Coast") is a west African nation with its coast along the  Gulf of Guinea in the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia.

Côte d'Ivoire's major environmental issues include: 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.

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.

Geography

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

Geographic Coordinates: 8 00 N, 5 00 W

Area: 322,460 km² (318,000 km² land and 4,460 km² water)

arable land: 10.23%
permanent crops: 11.16%
other: 78.61% (2005) 

Land Boundaries: 3,110 km. Border countries: Burkina Faso 584 km, Ghana 668 km, Guinea 610 km, Liberia 716 km, Mali 532 km

Coastline: 515 km

Maritime Claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm

Natural Hazards: coast has heavy surf and no natural harbors; during the rainy season torrential flooding is possible

Terrain: Mostly flat to undulating plains; mountains in northwest. Its lowest point is the Gulf of Guinea (0 metres) and its highest point is Mont Nimba (1,752 metres)

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)

Government

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

Capital: Yamoussoukro

Independence Date: 7 August 1960 (from France)

Legal System: based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

International Environmental Agreements

Côte d'Ivoire is party to international agreements on: 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, and Whaling.

People and Society

Population: 18,373,060

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 40.4% (male 3,660,057/female 3,767,893)
15-64 years: 56.7% (male 5,233,772/female 5,180,841)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 253,573/female 276,924) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 1.96% (2008 est.)

Birthrate: 34.26 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: NA

Life Expectancy at Birth: 49.18 years (2008 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 4.35 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Languages: French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken

Literacy: 48.7% (male: 60.8% - female: 38.6% [2000 est.])

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 81 cu km (2001)

Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 0.93 cu km/yr (24% domestic, 12% industrial, 65% agriculture). Per capita: 51 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber

Irrigated Lands: 730 sq km (2003)

Resources

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

Energy

Health

Prevalence Rate of HIV/AIDS in adults: 7% (2003 est.)

Conflict

International Dispute:  Despite the presence of over 9,000 UN forces (UNOCI) in Cote d'Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict still leaves displaced hundreds of thousands of Ivorians in and out of the country as well as driven out migrants from neighboring states who worked in Ivorian cocoa plantations; the March 2007 peace deal between Ivorian rebels and the government brought significant numbers of rebels out of hiding in neighboring states

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (country of origin): 25,615 (Liberia). Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): 709,000 (2002 coup; most IDPs are in western regions) (2007)

Economy

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 diversify 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 (Purchasing Power Parity): $32.18 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $19.6 billion (2007 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 1.6% (2007 est.)

GDP-per capita (PPP): $1,700 (2007 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:

agriculture: 27.5%
industry: 22.2%
services: 50.2% (2007 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: 42% (2006 est.)

Industries: foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity, ship construction and repair

Exports: cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish

Export Partners: Germany 9.7%, Nigeria 9.1%, Netherlands 8.4%, France 7.3%, US 7%, Burkina Faso 4.4% (2006)

Imports: fuel, capital equipment, foodstuffs

Import Partners: Nigeria 30.5%, France 16.4%, China 6.7% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: ODA, $60 million (2007 est.)

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF)

Ports and Terminals: Abidjan, Espoir, San-Pedro

Further Reading

1. CIA World Factbook