| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long
form: Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
conventional short form: Cote d'Ivoire
local long form: Republique de Cote d'Ivoire
local short form: Cote d'Ivoire
former: Ivory Coast |
| Capital: |
Yamoussoukro; note - although Yamoussoukro
has been the official capital since 1983, Abidjan remains the commercial
and administrative center; the US, like other countries, maintains
its Embassy in Abidjan |
| Location: |
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
8 00 N, 5 00 W |
| Area: |
total: 322,460 sq km
land: 318,000 sq km
water: 4,460 sq km |
| Area
Comparative: |
slightly larger than New Mexico |
| Land
Boundaries: |
total: 3,110 km
border countries: Burkina Faso 584 km, Ghana 668 km, Guinea 610 km, Liberia 716 km, Mali 532 km |
| Coastline: |
515 km |
| Maritime
Claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 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 |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Gulf of Guinea 0 m
highest point: Mont Nimba 1,752 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, gold, nickel, tantalum, silica sand, clay, cocoa beans, coffee, palm oil, hydropower |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
republic; multiparty presidential regime established 1960 |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
19 regions; Agneby, Bafing, Bas-Sassandra, Denguele, Dix-Huit Montagnes, Fromager, Haut-Sassandra, Lacs, Lagunes, Marahoue, Moyen-Cavally, Moyen-Comoe, N'zi-Comoe, Savanes, Sud-Bandama, Sud-Comoe, Vallee du Bandama, Worodougou, Zanzan |
| Independence |
7 August 1960 (from France) |
| National
Holiday: |
Independence Day, 7 August (1960) |
| Constitution: |
a new constitution was adopted 4 August 2000 |
| 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 |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: President Laurent GBAGBO (since 26 October 2000);
head of government: Prime Minister Seydou DIARRA (since 25 January 2003); note - appointed as transitional Prime Minister by President GBAGBO as part of a French brokered peace plan
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 26 October 2000 (next to be held October 2005); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Laurent GBAGBO elected president; percent of vote - Laurent GBAGBO 59.4%, Robert GUEI 32.7%, Francis WODIE 5.7%, other 2.2% |
| Legislative
Branch: |
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (225 seats; members are elected in single- and multi-district elections by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: elections last held 10 December 2000 with by-elections on 14 January 2001 (next to be held October 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - FPI 96, PDCI-RDA 94, RDR 5, PIT 4, other 2, independents 22, vacant 2
note: a Senate is scheduled to be created in the next full election in 2005 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Supreme Court or Cour Supreme consists of four chambers: Judicial Chamber for criminal cases, Audit Chamber for financial cases, Constitutional Chamber for judicial review cases, and Administrative Chamber for civil cases; there is no legal limit to the number of members |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
Citizen's Democratic Union or UDCY [Eg Theodore MEL]; Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire-African Democratic Rally or PDCI-RDA [Henri Konan BEDIE]; Ivorian Popular Front or FPI [Laurent GBAGBO]; Ivorian Worker's Party or PIT [Francis WODIE]; Rally of the Republicans or RDR [Alassane OUATTARA]; Union for Democracy and Peace or UDPCI [Paul Akoto YAO]; over 20 smaller parties |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
17,298,040
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 41% (male 3,490,536/female 3,596,208)
15-64 years: 56.3% (male 4,920,726/female 4,820,326)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 231,514/female 238,730) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 19.05 years
male: 19.36 years
female: 18.76 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Ivoirian(s)
adjective: Ivoirian |
| Ethnic groups: |
Akan 42.1%, Voltaiques or Gur 17.6%, Northern Mandes 16.5%, Krous 11%, Southern Mandes 10%, other 2.8% (includes 130,000 Lebanese and 14,000 French) (1998) |
| Religions: |
Christian 20-30%, Muslim 35-40%, indigenous 25-40% (2001)
note: the majority of foreigners (migratory workers) are Muslim (70%) and Christian (20%) |
| Languages: |
French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
328,000 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
1.236 million (2003) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: well developed by African standards but operating well below capacity
domestic: open-wire lines and microwave radio relay; 90% digitalized
international: country code - 225; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean); 2 submarine cables (June 1999) |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 2, FM 9, shortwave 3 (1998) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
14 (1999) |
| Internet country
code: |
.ci |
| Internet hosts: |
3,795 (2004) |
| Internet users: |
90,000 (2002) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
total: 660 km
narrow gauge: 660 km 1.000-meter gauge
note: an additional 622 km of this railroad extends into Burkina Faso (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 50,400 km
paved: 4,889 km
unpaved: 45,511 km (1999 est.) |
| Waterways: |
980 km (navigable rivers, canals, and numerous coastal lagoons) (2003) |
| Pipelines: |
condensate 107 km; gas 223 km; oil 104 km (2004) |
| Ports and harbors: |
Abidjan, Aboisso, Dabou, San-Pedro |
| Merchant marine: |
|
| Airports: |
37 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 7
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 2
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 30
1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 15
under 914 m: 8 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
|