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Cote d'Ivoire |
Capital: Yamoussoukro
Languages: French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Background: Close ties to France since independence in 1960, diversification of agriculture for export, and encouragement of foreign investment have made Cote d'Ivoire the most prosperous of the tropical African states. About 20% of the population are workers from neighboring countries. On 25 December 1999, a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history - overthrew the government led by President Henri Konan BEDIE. Junta leader Robert GUEI held elections in late 2000. Amid reports of election rigging, popular protest forced GUEI to step aside and brought runner-up 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 nationality remain unresolved.
PEOPLE
Population: 18,013,409 (July 2007 est.); 21,058,798 (July 2010)
Life expectancy at birth:
2007
Total population: 49 years
Male: 46.43 years
Female: 51.66 years (2007 est.)
2010
Total population: 56.19 years
Male: 55.27 years
Female: 57.13 years (2010 est.)
Age structure:
2007
0-14 years: 40.6% (male 3,603,386/female 3,711,211)
15-64 years: 56.6% (male 5,128,824/female 5,060,027)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 246,130/female 263,831) (2007 est.)
2010
0-14 years: 40.6% (male 4,215,912/female 4,146,077)
15-64 years: 56.6% (male 5,942,642/female 5,720,108)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 296,074/female 296,255) (2010 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.995% (2007 est.); 2.105% (2010 est.)
Population below poverty line: 42% (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate: 7% (2003 est.); 3.9% (2007 est.)
People living with HIV/AIDS: 570,000 (2003 est.); 480,000 (2007 est.)
Literacy - definition: age 15 and over can read and write Total population: 50.9% Male: 57.9% Female: 43.6% (2003 est.)
Refugees and Internally Displaced People:
Refugees (country of origin): 39,919 (Liberia) (2006)
Refugees (country of origin): 25,615 (Liberia) (2007)
IDPs: 750,000 (2002 coup; most IDPs are in western regions) (2006)
IDPs: 709,000 (2002 coup; most IDPs are in western regions) (2007)
ECONOMY
Unemployment rate: N/A
Labour force by Occupation: N/A
Agricultural Products: coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber
Industries: foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity, ship construction and repair
Exports – Commodities: cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish
Exports – Partners:
France 18.3%, Netherlands 9.7%, US 9.1%, Nigeria 7.2%, Germany 4.2% (2006)
Netherlands 13.92%, France 10.75%, US 7.79%, Germany 7.2%, Nigeria 6.99%, Ghana 5.56% (2009)
Imports – Commodities: fuel, capital equipment, foodstuffs
Imports – Partners:
Nigeria 27.6%, France 25.4%, China 4.3% (2006)
Nigeria 20.75%, France 14.19%, China 7.18%, Thailand 5.09% (2009)
ENVIRONMENT
Environment – Current issues: 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
Natural hazards: coast has heavy surf and no natural harbors; during the rainy season torrential flooding is possible
Source: CIA World Factbook
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