Close ties to France since independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment made Cote d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the West African states, but did not protect it from political turmoil. In December 1999, a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history - overthrew the government. Junta leader Robert GUEI blatantly rigged elections held in late 2000 and declared himself the winner. Popular protest forced him to step aside and brought Laurent GBAGBO into power. Ivorian dissidents and disaffected members of the military launched a failed coup attempt in September 2002. Rebel forces claimed the northern half of the country, and in January 2003 were granted ministerial positions in a unity government under the auspices of the Linas-Marcoussis Peace Accord. President GBAGBO and rebel forces resumed implementation of the peace accord in December 2003 after a three-month stalemate, but issues that sparked the civil war, such as land reform and grounds for citizenship, remained unresolved. In March 2007 President GBAGBO and former New Force rebel leader Guillaume SORO signed the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. As a result of the agreement, SORO joined GBAGBO's government as Prime Minister and the two agreed to reunite the country by dismantling the zone of confidence separating North from South, integrate rebel forces into the national armed forces, and hold elections. Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of rebel forces have been problematic as rebels seek to enter the armed forces. Citizen identification and voter registration pose election difficulties, and balloting planned for November 2009 was postponed with no future date set. Several thousand UN troops and several hundred French remain in Cote d'Ivoire to help the parties implement their commitments and to support the peace process.

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia

slightly larger than New Mexico

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)

mostly flat to undulating plains; mountains in northwest

petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, gold, nickel, tantalum, silica sand, clay, cocoa beans, coffee, palm oil, hydropower

coast has heavy surf and no natural harbors; during the rainy season torrential flooding is possible

deforestation (most of the country's forests - once the largest in West Africa - have been heavily logged); water pollution from sewage and industrial and agricultural effluents

most of the inhabitants live along the sandy coastal region; apart from the capital area, the forested interior is sparsely populated

32.11 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

10.78 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

4.01 children born/woman (2010 est.)

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)

Muslim 38.6%, Christian 32.8%, indigenous 11.9%, none 16.7% (2008 est.)

French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken

republic; multiparty presidential regime established 1960

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

7 August 1960 (from France)

Independence Day, 7 August (1960)

approved by referendum 23 July 2000

based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (225 seats; members elected in single- and multi-district elections by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)

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

Citizen's Democratic Union or UDCY [Theodore MEL EG]; Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire or PDCI [Henri Konan BEDIE]; Ivorian Popular Front or FPI [Pascale Affi N'GUESSAN]; Ivorian Worker's Party or PIT [Francis WODIE]; Opposition Movement of the Future or MFA [Innocent Augustin ANAKY]; Rally of the Republicans or RDR [Alassane OUATTARA]; Union for Democracy and Peace in Cote d'Ivoire or UDPCI [Toikeuse MABRI]; over 144 smaller registered parties

Federation of University and High School Students of Cote d'Ivoire or FESCI [Serges KOFFI]; Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace or RHDP [Alphonse DJEDJE MADY]; Young Patriots [Charles BLE GOUDE]

ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, FZ, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

three equal vertical bands of orange (hoist side), white, and green; orange symbolizes the land (savannah) of the north and fertility, white stands for peace and unity, green represents the forests of the south and the hope for a bright future

Cote d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans and a significant producer and exporter of coffee and palm oil. Consequently, the economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices for these products, and, to a lesser extent, in climatic conditions. Despite government attempts to diversify the economy, it is still heavily dependent on agriculture and related activities, engaging roughly 68% of the population. Since 2006, oil and gas production have become more important engines of economic activity than cocoa. According to IMF statistics, earnings from oil and refined products were $1.3 billion in 2006, while cocoa-related revenues were $1 billion during the same period. Cote d'Ivoire's offshore oil and gas production has resulted in substantial crude oil exports and provides sufficient natural gas to fuel electricity exports to Ghana, Togo, Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso. Oil exploration by a number of consortiums of private companies continues offshore, and President GBAGBO has expressed hope that crude output could reach 200,000 barrels per day by the end of the decade. Since the end of the civil war in 2003, political turmoil has continued to damage the economy, resulting in the loss of foreign investment and slow economic growth. GDP grew by more than 2% in 2008 and nearly 4% in 2009. Per capita income has declined by 15% since 1999.

$35.86 billion (2009 est.)

$34.54 billion (2008 est.)

$33.75 billion (2007 est.)

$22.5 billion (2009 est.)

7.44 million (2009 est.) (2009 est.)

9.1% of GDP (2009 est.)

61.9% of GDP (2009 est.)

64.3% of GDP (2008 est.)

4.75% (31 December 2008)

4.25% (31 December 2007)

$4.242 billion (31 December 2008)

$4.451 billion (31 December 2007)

$2.117 billion (31 December 2008)

$1.915 billion (31 December 2007)

$NA (31 December 2008)

$4.404 billion (31 December 2007)

$6.141 billion (31 December 2009)

$7.071 billion (31 December 2008)

$8.353 billion (31 December 2007)

coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber

foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity, ship construction and repair

5.275 billion kWh (2007 est.)

3.231 billion kWh (2007 est.)

772 million kWh (2007 est.)

58,950 bbl/day (2009 est.)

24,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

115,700 bbl/day (2007 est.)

80,960 bbl/day (2007 est.)

100 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

1.3 billion cu m (2008 est.)

28.32 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$113 million (2009 est.)

$488 million (2008 est.)

$8.749 billion (2009 est.)

$10.09 billion (2008 est.)

cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish

Netherlands 13.92%, France 10.75%, US 7.79%, Germany 7.2%, Nigeria 6.99%, Ghana 5.56% (2009)

$6.475 billion (2009 est.)

$6.76 billion (2008 est.)

fuel, capital equipment, foodstuffs

Nigeria 20.75%, France 14.19%, China 7.18%, Thailand 5.09% (2009)

$3.267 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$2.253 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$12.08 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$14.05 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 469.21 (2009), 447.81 (2008), 481.83 (2007), 522.89 (2006), 527.47 (2005)

10.449 million (2008)

state-owned television operates 2 stations; no private terrestrial TV stations, but satellite TV subscription service is available; state-owned radio operates 2 stations; some private radio stations; transmissions of several international broadcasters are available (2007)

condensate 86 km; gas 180 km; oil 92 km (2009)

980 km (navigable rivers, canals, and numerous coastal lagoons) (2008)

Abidjan, Espoir, San-Pedro

Cote d'Ivoire Defense and Security Forces (FDSCI): Army, Navy, Air Force (2006)

18-25 years of age for compulsory and voluntary male and female military service; voluntary recruitment of former rebels into the new national army is restricted to ages 22-29 (2010)

despite the presence of over 9,000 UN forces (UNOCI) in Cote d'Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict still leaves displaced hundreds of thousands of Ivorians in and out of the country as well as driven out migrants from neighboring states who worked in Ivorian cocoa plantations; the March 2007 peace deal between Ivorian rebels and the government brought significant numbers of rebels out of hiding in neighboring states

Cote d'Ivoire is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; trafficking within the country is more prevalent than international trafficking and the majority of victims are children; women and girls are trafficked from northern areas to southern cities for domestic servitude, restaurant labor, and sexual exploitation; boys are trafficked internally for agricultural and service labor and transnationally for forced labor in agriculture, mining, construction, and in the fishing industry; women and girls are trafficked to and from other West and Central African countries for domestic servitude and forced street vending

illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for local consumption; utility as a narcotic transshipment point to Europe reduced by ongoing political instability; while rampant corruption and inadequate supervision leave the banking system vulnerable to money laundering, the lack of a developed financial system limits the country's utility as a major money-laundering center (2008)