Various small kingdoms ruled the area of Cote d’Ivoire between the 15th and 19th centuries, when European explorers arrived and then began to expand their presence. In 1844, France established a protectorate. During this period, many of these kingdoms and tribes fought to maintain their cultural identities - some well into the 20th century. For example, the Sanwi kingdom - originally founded in the 17th century - tried to break away from Cote d’Ivoire and establish an independent state in 1969.
Cote d’Ivoire achieved independence from France in 1960 but has maintained close ties with France. The export and production of cocoa and foreign investment drove economic growth that led Cote d’Ivoire to become one of the most prosperous states in West Africa. In December 1999, a military coup overthrew the government. In late 2000, junta leader Robert GUEI held rigged elections and declared himself the winner. Popular protests forced him to step aside, and Laurent GBAGBO was elected. In September 2002, Ivoirian dissidents and members of the military launched a failed coup that developed into a civil war. In 2003, a cease-fire resulted in rebels holding the north, the government holding the south, and peacekeeping forces occupying a buffer zone in the middle. In March 2007, President GBAGBO and former rebel leader Guillaume SORO signed an agreement in which SORO joined GBAGBO’s government as prime minister. The two agreed to reunite the country by dismantling the buffer zone, integrating rebel forces into the national armed forces, and holding elections. In November 2010, Alassane Dramane OUATTARA won the presidential election, but GBAGBO refused to hand over power, resulting in five months of violent conflict. In April 2011, after widespread fighting, GBAGBO was formally forced from office by armed OUATTARA supporters and UN and French forces. In 2015, OUATTARA won a second term. In October 2020, OUATTARA won a controversial third presidential term, despite a two-term limit in the Ivoirian constitution, in an election boycotted by the opposition. Through political compromise with OUATTARA, the opposition did participate peacefully in March 2021 legislative elections and won a substantial minority of seats. Also in March 2021, the International Criminal Court in The Hague ruled on a final acquittal for GBAGBO, who was on trial for crimes against humanity, paving the way for GBAGBO’s June 2021 return to Abidjan. GBAGBO has publicly met with President OUATTARA since his return in June 2021 as a demonstration of political reconciliation. The next presidential election is scheduled for 2025.
land: 318,003 sq km
water: 4,460 sq km
border countries (5): Burkina Faso 545 km; Ghana 720 km; Guinea 816 km; Liberia 778 km; Mali 599 km
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm
lowest point: Gulf of Guinea 0 m
mean elevation: 250 m
arable land: 9.1% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 14.2% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 41.5% (2018 est.)
forest: 32.7% (2018 est.)
other: 2.5% (2018 est.)
29,344,847 (2023 est.)
noun: Ivoirian(s)
adjective: Ivoirian
Akan 28.9%, Voltaique or Gur 16.1%, Northern Mande 14.5%, Kru 8.5%, Southern Mande 6.9%, unspecified 0.9%, non-Ivoirian 24.2% (2014 est.)
French (official), 60 native dialects of which Dioula is the most widely spoken
major-language sample(s):
The World Factbook, une source indispensable d’informations de base. (French)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Muslim 42.9%, Catholic 17.2%, Evangelical 11.8%, Methodist 1.7%, other Christian 3.2%, animist 3.6%, other religion 0.5%, none 19.1% (2014 est.)
note: the majority of foreign migrant workers are Muslim (72.7%) and Christian (17.7%)
Cote d’Ivoire’s population is likely to continue growing for the foreseeable future because almost 60% of the populace is younger than 25 as of 2020, the total fertility rate is holding steady at about 3.5 children per woman, and contraceptive use is under 30%. The country will need to improve education, health care, and gender equality in order to turn its large and growing youth cohort into human capital. Even prior to 2010 unrest that shuttered schools for months, access to education was poor, especially for women. The lack of educational attainment contributes to Cote d’Ivoire’s high rates of unskilled labor, adolescent pregnancy, and HIV/AIDS prevalence.Following its independence in 1960, Cote d’Ivoire’s stability and the blossoming of its labor-intensive cocoa and coffee industries in the southwest made it an attractive destination for migrants from other parts of the country and its neighbors, particularly Burkina Faso. The HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY administration continued the French colonial policy of encouraging labor immigration by offering liberal land ownership laws. Foreigners from West Africa, Europe (mainly France), and Lebanon composed about 25% of the population by 1998.Ongoing economic decline since the 1980s and the power struggle after HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY’s death in 1993 ushered in the politics of “Ivoirite,” institutionalizing an Ivoirian identity that further marginalized northern Ivoirians and scapegoated immigrants. The hostile Muslim north-Christian south divide snowballed into a 2002 civil war, pushing tens of thousands of foreign migrants, Liberian refugees, and Ivoirians to flee to war-torn Liberia or other regional countries and more than a million people to be internally displaced. Subsequently, violence following the contested 2010 presidential election prompted some 250,000 people to seek refuge in Liberia and other neighboring countries and again internally displaced as many as a million people. By July 2012, the majority had returned home, but ongoing inter-communal tension and armed conflict continue to force people from their homes.
0-14 years: 36.65% (male 5,398,616/female 5,354,973)
15-64 years: 60.4% (male 8,935,673/female 8,789,040)
65 years and over: 2.95% (2023 est.) (male 389,248/female 477,297)
total dependency ratio: 79.2
youth dependency ratio: 74.9
elderly dependency ratio: 4.3
potential support ratio: 19.3 (2021 est.)
total: 21 years (2023 est.)
male: 21 years
female: 21 years
2.16% (2023 est.)
27.9 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
7.5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
1.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
the population is primarily located in the forested south, with the highest concentration of people residing in and around the cities on the Atlantic coast; most of the northern savanna remains sparsely populated with higher concentrations located along transportation corridors as shown in this
urban population: 53.1% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.38% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
231,000 YAMOUSSOUKRO (capital) (2018), 5.686 million ABIDJAN (seat of government) (2023)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.73 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
19.6 years (2011/12 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 20-49
480 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
total: 54 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
male: 61.2 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 46.7 deaths/1,000 live births
total population: 62.7 years (2023 est.)
male: 60.5 years
female: 65 years
3.47 children born/woman (2023 est.)
1.71 (2023 est.)
27.8% (2020)
improved: urban: 89.9% of population
rural: 69.1% of population
total: 79.8% of population
unimproved: urban: 10.1% of population
rural: 30.9% of population
total: 20.2% of population (2020 est.)
3.3% of GDP (2020)
0.16 physicians/1,000 population (2019)
improved: urban: 77.8% of population
rural: 35% of population
total: 57.1% of population
unimproved: urban: 22.2% of population
rural: 65% of population
total: 42.9% of population (2020 est.)
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies
respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis
note: on 31 August 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Côte d’Ivoire is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine
10.3% (2016)
total: 1.7 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 1.13 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.33 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.2 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0.04 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total: 9.4% (2020 est.)
male: 17.9% (2020 est.)
female: 0.9% (2020 est.)
12.8% (2016)
60.3% (2023 est.)
women married by age 15: 7%
women married by age 18: 27%
men married by age 18: 3.5% (2016 est.)
3.4% of GDP (2020 est.)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 89.9%
male: 93.1%
female: 86.7% (2019)
total: 11 years
male: 11 years
female: 10 years (2020)
deforestation (most of the country’s forests - once the largest in West Africa - have been heavily logged); water pollution from sewage, and from industrial, mining, and agricultural effluents
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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)
agricultural land: 64.8% (2018 est.)
arable land: 9.1% (2018 est.)
permanent crops: 14.2% (2018 est.)
permanent pasture: 41.5% (2018 est.)
forest: 32.7% (2018 est.)
other: 2.5% (2018 est.)
urban population: 53.1% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 3.38% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
2.04% of GDP (2016 est.)
0% of GDP (2018 est.)
particulate matter emissions: 40.41 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
carbon dioxide emissions: 9.67 megatons (2016 est.)
methane emissions: 10.3 megatons (2020 est.)
municipal solid waste generated annually: 4,440,814 tons (2010 est.)
municipal solid waste recycled annually: 133,224 tons (2005 est.)
percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 3% (2005 est.)
salt water lake(s): Lagune Aby - 780 sq km
Atlantic Ocean drainage: Niger (2,261,741 sq km), Volta (410,991 sq km)
municipal: 320 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
industrial: 240 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
agricultural: 600 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
84.14 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
one of West Africa’s most influential, stable, and rapidly developing economies; poverty declines in urban but increases in rural areas; strong construction sector and increasingly diverse economic portfolio; increasing but manageable public debt; large labor force in agriculture
$146.323 billion (2021 est.)
$136.702 billion (2020 est.)
$134.049 billion (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
7.04% (2021 est.)
1.98% (2020 est.)
6.23% (2019 est.)
$5,300 (2021 est.)
$5,100 (2020 est.)
$5,100 (2019 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
$42.498 billion (2018 est.)
4.09% (2021 est.)
2.43% (2020 est.)
-1.11% (2019 est.)
Fitch rating: B+ (2015)
Moody’s rating: Ba3 (2015)
note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.
agriculture: 20.1% (2017 est.)
industry: 26.6% (2017 est.)
services: 53.3% (2017 est.)comparison rankings:
household consumption: 61.7% (2017 est.)
government consumption: 14.9% (2017 est.)
investment in fixed capital: 22.4% (2017 est.)
investment in inventories: 0.3% (2017 est.)
exports of goods and services: 30.8% (2017 est.)
imports of goods and services: -30.1% (2017 est.)
yams, cassava, cocoa, oil palm fruit, sugar cane, rice, plantains, maize, cashew nuts, rubber
foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, gold mining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity
6.2% (2021 est.)
8.876 million (2021 est.)
3.47% (2021 est.)
3.49% (2020 est.)
3.32% (2019 est.)
total: 5.7% (2021 est.)
male: 4.8%
female: 6.8%
39.5% (2018 est.)
37.2 (2018 est.)
on food: 39.6% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
on alcohol and tobacco: 3.1% of household expenditures (2018 est.)
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 31.8% (2008)
revenues: $8.804 billion (2019 est.)
expenditures: $10.145 billion (2019 est.)
-4.2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
47% of GDP (2017 est.)
47% of GDP (2016 est.)
12.11% (of GDP) (2020 est.)
calendar year
-$1.974 billion (2020 est.)
-$1.349 billion (2019 est.)
-$2.285 billion (2018 est.)
$13.232 billion (2020 est.)
$13.791 billion (2019 est.)
$13.084 billion (2018 est.)
note: Data are in current year dollars and do not include illicit exports or re-exports.
Netherlands 10%, United States 6%, France 6%, Spain 5%, Malaysia 5%, Switzerland 5%, Germany 5%, Vietnam 5% (2019)
cocoa products, rubber, gold, cashews, crude petroleum, bananas (2021)
$12.66 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$12.881 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$13.183 billion (2018 est.)
China 18%, Nigeria 13%, France 11% (2019)
crude petroleum, rice, frozen fish, refined petroleum, packaged medicines (2019)
$6.257 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$4.935 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$13.07 billion (31 December 2017 est.)
$11.02 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar -
Exchange rates:
554.531 (2021 est.)
575.586 (2020 est.)
585.911 (2019 est.)
555.446 (2018 est.)
580.657 (2017 est.)
population without electricity: 6 million (2020)
electrification - total population: 71.1% (2021)
electrification - urban areas: 94.9% (2021)
electrification - rural areas: 45.1% (2021)
installed generating capacity: 2.197 million kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 5,924,320,000 kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 1.178 billion kWh (2019 est.)
imports: 172 million kWh (2019 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 1.957 billion kWh (2019 est.)comparison rankings:
fossil fuels: 75.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 0.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 24.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
production: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
consumption: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
exports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
imports: 0 metric tons (2020 est.)
proven reserves: 0 metric tons (2019 est.)
total petroleum production: 33,000 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 56,500 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 30,200 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 69,200 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 100 million barrels (2021 est.)
69,360 bbl/day (2017 est.)
31,450 bbl/day (2015 est.)
7,405 bbl/day (2015 est.)
production: 2.425 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)
consumption: 2.425 billion cubic meters (2019 est.)
exports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est.)
proven reserves: 28.317 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)
11.88 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from coal and metallurgical coke: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 7.332 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 4.548 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
8.225 million Btu/person (2019 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 1 (2020)
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 10
annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 779,482 (2018)
annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 5.8 million (2018) mt-km
TU
27 (2021)
7
note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
20
note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control
1 (2021)
101 km condensate, 256 km gas, 118 km oil, 5 km oil/gas/water, 7 km water (2013)
total: 660 km (2008)
narrow gauge: 660 km (2008) 1.000-m gauge
note: an additional 622 km of this railroad extends into Burkina Faso
total: 81,996 km (2007)
paved: 6,502 km (2007)
unpaved: 75,494 km (2007)
note: includes intercity and urban roads; another 20,000 km of dirt roads are in poor condition and 150,000 km of dirt roads are impassable
980 km (2011) (navigable rivers, canals, and numerous coastal lagoons)
total: 25 (2022)
by type: oil tanker 2, other 23
major seaport(s): Abidjan, San-Pedro
oil terminal(s): Espoir Offshore Terminal
manyapis