Côte d'Ivoire

The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire ( IPA: pronunciation: /kot divwa/ or /kot divwar/; commonly called Ivory Coast in English; see below about the name) is a country in West Africa. It borders Liberia and Guinea to the west, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the 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.

République de Côte d'Ivoire

Flag Coat of arms
Motto: (translation) Unity, Discipline and Labor
Anthem: L'Abidjanaise
Capital	Yamoussoukro (official) Abidjan ( de facto) 6°51′ N 5°18′ W
Largest city	Abidjan
Official language(s)	French
Government President Prime Minister	Republic Laurent Gbagbo Charles Konan Banny
Independence - Date	From France August 7, 1960
Area • Total • Water (%)	322,460 km² ( 67th) {{{areami²}}} mi² 1.4%%
Population • 2005 est. • 1975 census • Density	17,298,040 ¹ ( 57) ~6,700,000 54/km² ( 118th) {{{population_densitymi²}}}/mi²
GDP ( PPP) • Total • Per capita	2005 estimate $28,460 million ( 98) $1475 ( 162)
HDI ( 2003)	0.420 ( 163rd) – low
Currency	CFA franc ( XOF)
Time zone • Summer ( DST)	GMT ( UTC+0) not observed ( UTC+0)
Internet TLD	.ci
Calling code	+225
¹ Estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower population than would otherwise be expected.

History

Little is known about Côte d'Ivoire before the arrival of European ships in the 1460s. The major ethnic groups came relatively recently from neighbouring areas: the Kru people came from Liberia around 1600; the Senoufo and Lobi moved southward from Burkina Faso and Mali; in the 18th and 19th centuries the Akan people, including the Baoulé, migrated from Ghana into the eastern area of the country, and the Malinké from Guinea into the northwest.

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. Guerrilla warfare by the Baoulé and other eastern groups continued until 1917.

France's main goal was 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.

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 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. By 1979 the country was the world's leading producer of cocoa. 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; but 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 was not 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. But by the early 1980s, 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. Crime rose dramatically in Abidjan. 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. He favoured Henri Konan Bédié as his successor.

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, who 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 excluded many people from Ivorian nationality, and relationship between various ethnic groups became strained.

Similarly, Bédié excluded 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 reduced crime and corruption, and the generals pressed for austerity and openly campaigned in the streets for a less wasteful society.

A presidential election was held in October 2000 in which Laurent Gbagbo vied with Guéi, but it was neither peaceful nor democratic. The lead-up to the election was marked by military and civil unrest. Guéi's attempt to rig the election led to a public uprising, resulting in around 180 deaths and his swift replacement by the election's likely winner, Gbagbo. Alassane Ouattara, was disqualified by the country's Supreme Court, due to his Burkinabé nationality. This sparked violent protests in which his supporters, mainly from the country's Muslim north, battled riot police in the capital, Yamoussoukro.

On September 19, 2002, troops mutinied and gained control of the north. In Abidjan, rebels seized the gendarmerie, and former president Guéi was murdered with fifteen persons in his home. Alassane Ouattara took refuge in the French embassy. What exactly happened that night is disputed; some report the events as a military coup attempt, but other sources report that opponents were executed by pro-Gbagbo death squads and that the rebellion was an unplanned reaction.

An early ceasefire with the rebels, who had the full backing of the northern populace (mostly of Burkinabé origin), 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.

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.

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 planned. Though UN peacekeepers were deployed, relations between Gbagbo and the opposition continued to deteriorate.

Politics

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.

Since the incident on September 19, 2002 (refer to the history section), a civil war broke out, and the north part of the country has been seized by the rebels, the New Forces (FN). A new presidential election was expected to be held in October, 2005. However, this new election could not be held on time due to delay in the preparation.

Administrative Divisions

Côte d'Ivoire is divided into 19 regions (régions), which are further divided into 58 departments (départements).

Geography

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.

Economy

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

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. In November 2004, around 10,000 French and other foreign nationals evacuated Cote d'Ivoire due to attacks from pro-government youth militias.

Culture

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

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, Costa do Marfim in Portuguese, Ivoorkust in Dutch and so on. 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. Of course, this law can only apply within the country itself.

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":

• The Guardian newspaper's Style Guide says: "Ivory Coast, not "the Ivory Coast" or "Côte D'Ivoire"; its nationals are Ivorians"
• The BBC usually uses "Ivory Coast" both in news reports and on its page about the country [1].
• The Economist newsmagazine's Style Guide says "Côte d'Ivoire not Ivory Coast".
• The United States Department of State uses "Côte d'Ivoire" in formal documents, but uses "Ivory Coast" in many general references, speeches and briefing documents [2].
• Encyclopædia Britannica uses "Côte d'Ivoire".
• ABC News, The Times, the New York Times and SABC all use "Ivory Coast" either exclusively or predominantly.