IVORY COAST
(also known as Cote d'Ivoire)
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 322,460 km2; land area: 318,000 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico
Land boundaries: 3,110 km total; Burkina 584 km, Ghana 668 km,
Guinea 610 km, Liberia 716 km, Mali 532 km
Coastline: 515 km
Maritime claims:
Continental shelf: 200 m (depth);
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
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)
Terrain: mostly flat to undulating plains; mountains in northwest
Land use: arable land 9%; permanent crops 4%; meadows and pastures
9%; forest and woodland 26%; other 52%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment: coast has heavy surf and no natural harbors; severe
deforestation
PEOPLE
Population: 12,977,909 (July 1991), growth rate 3.9% (1991)
Birth rate: 48 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 12 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 4 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 97 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 52 years male, 56 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.8 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Ivorian(s); adjective--Ivorian
Ethnic divisions: over 60 ethnic groups; most important are the
Baoule 23%, Bete 18%, Senoufou 15%, Malinke 11%, and Agni; foreign
Africans, mostly Burkinabe about 2 million; non-Africans about 130,000 to
330,000 (French 30,000 and Lebanese 100,000 to 300,000)
Religion: indigenous 63%, Muslim 25%, Christian 12%,
Language: French (official), over 60 native dialects; Dioula most
widely spoken
Literacy: 54% (male 67%, female 40%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 5,718,000; over 85% of population engaged in
agriculture, forestry, livestock raising; about 11% of labor force are
wage earners, nearly half in agriculture and the remainder in government,
industry, commerce, and professions; 54% of population of working age
(1985)
Organized labor: 20% of wage labor force
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of the Ivory Coast; note--the local
official name is Republique de Cote d'Ivoire
Type: republic; multiparty presidential regime established 1960
Capital: Abidjan (capital city changed to Yamoussoukro in March
1983 but not recognized by US)
Legal system: based on French civil law system and customary law;
judicial review in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: National Day, 7 December
Executive branch: president, Council of Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee
Nationale)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)
Leaders:
Chief of State and Head of Government--President Dr. Felix
HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY (since 27 November 1960); Prime Minister Allassane
OUATTARE (since 7 November 1990)
Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast (PDCI), Dr. Felix
HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY;
Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), Laurent GBAGBO;
Ivorian Worker's Party (PIT), Francis WODIE;
Ivorian Socialist Party (PSI), Morifere BAMBA;
over 20 smaller parties
Suffrage: universal at age 21
Elections:
President--last held 28 October 1990 (next to be held October
1995);
results--President Felix HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY received 81% of the vote
in his first contested election; he is currently serving his seventh
consecutive five-year term;
National Assembly--last held 25 November 1990 (next to be held
November 1995);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(175 total) PDCI 163, FPI 9, PIT 1, independents 2
Communists: no Communist party; possibly some sympathizers
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Charles GOMIS; Chancery at
2424 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
797-0300;
US--Ambassador Kenneth L. BROWN; Embassy at 5 Rue Jesse Owens,
Abidjan (mailing address is 01 B. P. 1712, Abidjan); telephone 225
21-09-79 or 21-46-72
Flag: three equal vertical bands of orange (hoist side), white, and
green; similar to the flag of Ireland which is longer and has the colors
reversed--green (hoist side), white, and orange; also similar to the flag
of Italy which is green (hoist side), white, and red; design was based on
the flag of France
ECONOMY
Overview: Ivory Coast is among the world's largest producers
and exporters of coffee, cocoa beans, and palm-kernel oil. Consequently,
the economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices
for coffee and cocoa and to weather conditions. Despite attempts by the
government to diversify, the economy is still largely dependent on
agriculture and related industries. The agricultural sector accounts for
over one-third of GDP and about 80% of export earnings and employs about
85% of the labor force. A collapse of world cocoa and coffee prices in
1986 threw the economy into a recession, from which the country had not
recovered by 1990.
GDP: $10 billion, per capita $800; real growth rate - 2.9% (1990)
Agriculture: most important sector, contributing one-third to GDP
and 80% to exports; cash crops include coffee, cocoa beans, timber,
bananas, palm kernels, rubber; food crops--corn, rice, manioc, sweet
potatoes; not self-sufficient in bread grain and dairy products
Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis on a small scale for
the international drug trade
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $356
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $4.9 billion
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 660 km (Burkina border to Abidjan, 1.00-meter gauge,
single track, except 25 km Abidjan-Anyama section is double track)
Highways: 46,600 km total; 3,600 km bituminous and
bituminous-treated surface; 32,000 km gravel, crushed stone, laterite,
and improved earth; 11,000 km unimproved
Inland waterways: 980 km navigable rivers, canals, and numerous
coastal lagoons
Ports: Abidjan, San-Pedro
Merchant marine: 7 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 71,945 GRT/
90,684 DWT; includes 5 cargo, 1 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL)
tanker, 1 chemical tanker
Civil air: 12 major transport aircraft, including multinationally
owned Air Afrique fleet
Airports: 48 total, 41 usable; 7 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 16 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: system above African average; consists of
open-wire lines and radio relay links; 87,700 telephones; stations--3 AM,
17 FM, 11 TV; 2 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT earth stations; 2 coaxial
submarine cables
