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Côte d’Ivoire, also known as Ivory Coast, is a country in West Africa with an area of 200,367 square miles. The country is split due to the Ivorian Civil War, with rebels holding the north and the government in the south. French is the official language, but 65 other languages are spoken. The country has a diverse population with various ethnic groups and religions. Côte d’Ivoire was a prosperous postcolonial state, but economic problems and corruption have led to difficulties.
The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire was formerly known as Côte d’Ivoire, and English speakers still often use the older name. The country is located along the western coast of Africa, although the coastal region of Côte d’Ivoire is actually its southern border, on the Gulf of Guinea. The total area is 200,367 square miles (322,460 square kilometers). The capital is officially located in Abidjan, but in reality Côte d’Ivoire is governed by the city of Yamoussouktro. Most economic activity remains in Abidjan, as do most other countries’ embassies, although many have closed due to the Ivorian civil war and attacks on Europeans. The population of Yamoussouktro is approximately 200,000, just a fraction of the estimated 17,654,843 people in Ivory Coast as of 2006.
Côte d’Ivoire is effectively split in two due to the Ivorian Civil War. There have been only sporadic clashes since 2004, but rebels continue to hold the northern part of the country in check while the government remains in the south. French troops and United Nations peacekeepers failed to reduce hostilities. The civil war arose from problems with the 1994 presidential election – the first competitive election in thirty years – exacerbated by an economic recession and tensions between various ethnic groups in Côte d’Ivoire.
French is the official language of Côte d’Ivoire, but 65 other languages are spoken in the country. The majority of Ivorians are either Roman Catholic or animist, but about 20 percent of the population are Muslim workers from the neighboring countries of Liberia, Guinea and Burkina Faso. The high number of immigrants is believed to exacerbate the unrest in Côte d’Ivoire.
Most of the major ethnic groups considered to be Ivorians arrived in the area relatively recently, beginning with migrations in the 17th century by Kru, Senufo and Lobi peoples. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Akan and Malinke also entered the area. French settlers settled in the Ivory Coast area starting in the 1840s, building cocoa, coffee and banana plantations that relied on forced labor. Côte d’Ivoire became an autonomous member of the French community under the leadership of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, an Ivorian of the Baoulé tribe, and the country became independent in 1960. Houphouët-Boigny was elected president in 1960 and has been continuously re-elected until his death in 1993.
Côte d’Ivoire was considered one of the most prosperous postcolonial states in West Africa, with heavy foreign investment and diversified agriculture. But as international prices of coffee, cocoa and other Ivorian products have fallen and Ivory Coast is facing economic problems exacerbated by corruption.
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