Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (in French, République de Côte d'Ivoire), is a country located in West Africa. It borders Liberia and Guinea to the west, Mali to the northwest and Burkina Faso to the northeast, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. It has an area of 322,464 km². Its capital is Yamoussoukro, although most of the government institutions are located in Abidjan.

The first contacts with Europeans in the area that is now Côte d'Ivoire date from the early 17th century, from hands of the Portuguese. Subsequently, the English, French and Dutch made their first contacts. In 1848, it was established as a French protectorate, later becoming a colony in 1893.^{[citation needed]} It gained its independence from France on August 7, 1960, being Félix Houphouët-Boigny the first president of the independent republic.

Its economy is based mainly on agriculture, with coffee and cocoa as its main export products. Since its independence, the Ivorian economy has experienced moments of great expansion, along with others of stagnation and crisis. In the last decade, the country has experienced significant economic growth.

Toponymy

The name was given to it by French colonists, due to the fact that an intense trade in ivory extracted from the tusks of the African elephant was practiced in the region. In 1985, the country's government requested that the French name, Côte d'Ivoire, be used in all languages, to avoid confusion caused by the diversity of exonyms (Ivory Coast, Costa do Marfim, Côte d'Ivoire, Elfenbeinküste, Ivoorkust, Costa d'Avorio, Boli Kosta, Norsunluurannikko, Elefántcsontpart, etc.). However, the Association of Spanish Language Academies continues to use the traditional Spanish name.

History

The territory that makes up the Ivory Coast was inhabited by agricultural peoples when in the XV century Portuguese traders arrived to the ivory and slave trade.

In the 17th century some Bantu states were created.

The Ivory Coast's own history is virtually unknown, although a Neolithic culture is believed to have existed there. From the 18th century, the country was invaded by two groups related to the Akan groups. In 1843 and 1844, Admiral Louis-Édouard Bouet-Willaumez signed treaties with the kings of the Grand Bassam and Assinie regions, placing his territories under a French protectorate.

Pre-Colonial Period

The territory has been inhabited since the Upper Paleolithic, as evidenced by some remains found, despite the difficulties for archeology due to the conditions of the terrain and the lack of tradition of excavations in the country. In ancient times, Saharan peoples settled in the north and the Kru, who came from Liberia, settled in the south. The different towns were organized into city-states without precise limits, which survived thanks to trade routes.

Colonization of West Africa.

The first European settlers were the Portuguese, who named the country after the amount of ivory they found. At the end of the 18th century French colonization began, with the conversion to Catholicism of the main tribal leaders, although they did not convert in official property of France until 1893.

French Period

France had its first contact with the Ivory Coast in 1637, when missionaries arrived in Assinie, near the border of the Gold Coast—now Ghana—and officially became a colony on March 10, 1893. Captain Binger, who had explored the Gold Coast frontier, was appointed the first governor. He negotiated border treaties with Liberia and the United Kingdom—for the Gold Coast. French explorers, missionaries, trading companies, and soldiers gradually extended the area under French control inland from the lagoon region. However, the pacification was not fulfilled until 1915.

From 1904 to 1958 it was a constituent unit of the federation of French West Africa, administered from Paris. It was a colony and overseas territory under the Third Republic.

During World War II, Vichy France remained in control until 1943. Following the fighting, French citizenship was granted to all African "subjects," the right to organize politically, and various forms of forced labor were recognized. were abolished.^{[citation needed]}

A turning point in relations with France was reached with the Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre) of 1956, which transferred a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in West Africa French and also removed the remaining voting inequities.

Independence

In December 1958, Ivory Coast became an autonomous republic within the French Community as a result of a referendum that brought community status to all members of the former French West African federation except Guinea, which had voted against the association. Ivory Coast became independent on August 7, 1960, and allowed its community membership to lapse. He established the market city of Abidjan as his capital.

The contemporary political history of Côte d'Ivoire is closely associated with the career of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, president of the republic and leader of the Parti Démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) until his death, on December 7, 1993. He was one of the founders of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA), the main pre-independence inter-territorial political party for all French West African territories except Mauritania.

Houphouët-Boigny first came to political prominence in 1944 as founder of the Syndicat Agricole Africain, an organization that won improved conditions for African farmers and formed a nucleus for the PDCI. After World War II, he was narrowly elected to the first Constituent Assembly. Representing the Ivory Coast in the French National Assembly from 1946 to 1959, he devoted much of his effort to interterritorial political organization and the subsequent improvement of working conditions. After thirteen years of service in the French National Assembly, including nearly three years as a minister in the French government, he became the prime minister of Côte d'Ivoire in April 1958, and the following year was elected its first President.

In May 1959, Houphouët-Boigny reinforced his position as a dominant figure in West Africa by bringing the Ivory Coast, Niger, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso), and Dahomey (Benin) to the Council of the Entente, a regional organization that promoted economic development. He maintained that the path to African solidarity was through step-by-step economic and political cooperation, recognizing the principle of non-intervention in the affairs of other African states.

The first multi-party elections were held in October 1990 and Houphouët-Boigny won convincingly with more than 85% of the vote.

After the death of Houphouët-Boigny

Houphouët-Boigny died on December 7, 1993, and was succeeded by his deputy Henri Konan Bédié, who was President of Parliament.

He was overthrown on December 24, 1999, by General Robert Guéï, a former army commander sacked by Bédié. This was the first coup in the history of the Ivory Coast. A decline in economic activity followed, and the junta vowed to return the country to democratic rule by the year 2000.

Guéï allowed elections to be held the following year, but when they were won by Laurent Gbagbo, he initially refused to accept defeat. But street protests forced him to resign, and Gbagbo became president on October 26, 2000.

On September 19, 2002, a rebellion broke out in the north and west and the country was divided into three parts. Mass killings occurred, notably in Abidjan from March 25-27, when government forces killed more than two hundred people, and on June 20-21 in Bouaké and Korhogo, where purges led to the execution of more than one hundred. people. A reconciliation process under international auspices began in 2003. Several thousand French and West African troops remained in Côte d'Ivoire to keep the peace and help implement the peace accords.

A disarmament was supposed to take place on October 15, 2004, but it was a failure. The Ivory Coast is now torn between rebel leader Guillaume Soro and President Laurent Gbagbo, who has blocked diplomatic advances made in Marcoussis and Accra. Of the laws related to Gbagbo's promised political reforms in Accra, only two out of ten have been voted so far. The rebel side has also failed to keep its promises, resulting in a state of quasi-civil war.

Frustration is now a dominant sentiment in the population, especially since the average quality of life had fallen since the era of Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Responsibility for the worsening situation is largely attributed to the people of the North, although the quality of life under the Houphouët-Boigny government was mainly due to patronage through the "Françafrique" (designed to consolidate France's influence in Africa), and the economy functioned mainly thanks to a poorly paid Burkinabé working class and immigrants from Mali.

Tensions between the Ivory Coast and France rose on November 6, 2004, after Ivorian airstrikes killed nine French soldiers and one relief worker. In response, French forces attacked the Yamoussoukro airport, destroying all Ivorian air force aircraft. Violent protests erupted in Abidjan and Yamoussoukro, and were marked by violence between Ivorians and French soldiers. Thousands of foreigners, especially French citizens, evacuated the two cities.

Between 2002 and 2004, the civil war broke out in the Ivory Coast.^{[citation needed]}

The situation developed until the democratic elections held in December 2010, in which, two days after the end, both candidates were proclaimed winners.

Government and politics

Since 1983, the official capital of the Ivory Coast has been Yamoussoukro; Abidjan, however, remains the economic capital and the seat of all diplomatic delegations. The population continues to suffer from an ongoing civil war.^{[citation needed]} International human rights organizations have pointed to problems with the treatment of captive non-combatants by both sides and the reappearance of child slavery among workers in cocoa production.

On September 19, 2002, a civil war broke out, and the northern part of the country was taken over by the rebels, the FN (Forces Nouvelles). In October 2005, a new presidential election was expected to be held. However, this new election could not be held on time due to delays in preparations and was postponed first to October 2006, and then to October 2007, after reaching an agreement between the rival parties.

On June 29, 2007, Prime Minister Guillaume Soro survived an attack at the Bouaké International Airport.

Since the November 2010 elections, there has been a situation of tension similar to that of 2002. The National Electoral Council proclaimed Alassane Ouattara president, and his victory was recognized by the governments of the United States and France, as well as by the United Nations and the European Union. However, the Constitutional Court declared Laurent Gbagbo the winner, who had won the first round.

The UN and regional organizations have hastily recognized Ouatara's victory for Gbagbo's supporters. Gbagbo's prime minister, Guillermo Soro, head of the rebels who waged the 2002-2004 civil war, and reached a peace agreement with the president, changed sides and joined the ranks of Ouatarra, lending him his armed collaboration. The UN Security Council ordered measures to remove Gbagbo from office. French forces, as in 2004, intervened in the African country with their weapons. On Monday April 11, 2011, Gbagbo was arrested by forces loyal to the president-elect, Alassane Ouattara.

Under the presidency of Alassane Ouattara, justice is manipulated to neutralize his political opponents. The Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), in charge of the elections, is hotly contested by the opposition due to the control exercised over it by the Government. In 2016, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights recognized that the IEC was neither impartial nor independent and that the State of Côte d'Ivoire violated, among other things, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. In a confidential report made public by the press, European ambassadors evoke authorities that "are hermetic to internal or external criticism and politically too weak to accept the democratic game". Thousands of opponents are imprisoned by his regime.

Human Rights

In terms of human rights, regarding membership of the seven bodies of the International Bill of Human Rights, which include the Human Rights Committee (HRC), Côte d'Ivoire has signed or ratified:

Status of major international human rights instruments

Ivory Coast	International treaties
	CESCR		CCPR			CERD	CED	CEDAW		CAT		CRC			MWC	CRPD
	CESCR	CESCR-OP	CCPR	CCPR-OP1	CCPR-OP2-DP			CEDAW	CEDAW-OP	CAT	CAT-OP	CRC	CRC-OP-AC	CRC-OP-SC		CRPD	CRPD-OP
Pertenence
Signed and ratified, signed, but not ratified, neither signed nor ratified, without information, it has agreed to sign and ratify the body concerned, but also recognizes the competence to receive and process individual communications from the competent bodies.

Political-administrative organization

Ivory Coast Territorial Division (2000-2011)
N.o	Region	Pob. (1998)	Sup. (km2)	Capital
1	Denguelé	222 446	21 000	Odienné
2	Savanes	929 673	40 430	Korhogo
3	Bafing	139 251	9 033	Touba
4	Worodougou	378 463	22 195	I know.
5	Vallée du Bandama	1 080 432	28 200	Bouaké
6	Zanzan	700 999	38 131	Bondoukou
7	Dix-Huit Montagnes	936 502	16 600	Man
8	Haut-Sassandra	1 071 977	22 195	Daloa
9	Marahoué	554 805	9 114	Bouaflé
10	Lacs	476 173	8 663	Yamusukro
11	N'zi-Comoé	633 922	19 480	Dimbokro
12	Moyen-Comoé	394 741	6 900	Abengourou
13	Moyen-Cavally	508 728	14 150	Guiglo
14	Fromager	542 992	6 912	Gagnoa
15	Agnéby	525 211	9 093	Agboville
16	Bas-Sassandra	1 395 233	26 969	San Pedro
17	Sud-Bandama	682 021	10 727	Divo
18	Lagunes	3 733 362	12 949	Abijan
19	Sud-Comoé	459 367	7 619	Aboisso
Source: GeoHive.

The Ivorian Territorial Organization retains several attributes that were established during the period of French colonization, so the division was highly centralized at first. The number of departments gradually increased until it reached fifty-five in 1987. As of August 2009, the country was organized into nineteen regions and two districts; the regions were subdivided into a total of eighty-one departments, which were made up of sub-prefectures that totaled 390 throughout the country.

The country was organized into nineteen regions from July 12, 2000 until September 28, 2011, when Decree No. 2011-264 reorganized it into fourteen districts (districts), two of them called autonomous districts (districts autonomous); These were made up of departments (départements), each of which was organized into sub-prefectures (sous-préfectures). Various sources disagree on the details of the resulting divisions.

Among the changes resulting from the 2011 reorganization is the formation of two autonomous districts: Abidjan and Yamoussoukro, which were separated from their regions (Lagunes and Lacs, respectively). The regions of Denguélé, Savanes, Vallée du Bandama, and Zanzan became districts without any change in the territory. The former regions of Agnéby and Lagunes (excluding the autonomous district of Abidjan), were merged to form the district of Lagunes. Bafing and Worodougou regions were merged to form Woroba district. The department of Fresco was transferred from the Sud-Bandama region to the Bas-Sassandra region to form the Bas-Sassandra district, while the rest of the Sud-Bandama region was merged with the Fromager region to form the Goh Djiboua district. The Dix-Huit Montagnes and Moyen-Cavally regions were merged to form the Montagnes district. The Haut-Sassandra and Marahoué regions were merged to form the Sassandra-Marahoué district. The N'zi-Comoé and Lacs regions (excluding the Yamoussoukro Autonomous District) were merged to form the Lacs District. The Moyen-Comoé and Sud-Comoé regions were merged to form the Comoé district.

Geography

Map of Costa de Marfil

Satellite image.

Ivory Coast offers a varied range of landscapes, from desert savannah in the north to virgin jungle. The southern limit is marked by extensive beaches. This area, rainier, is characterized by large plantations of export products: coffee, cocoa and bananas. In the north, the landscape is made up of a granite plateau covered with savannahs. In this area, smallholders grow sorghum, corn, and peanuts.

Topography

The territory of Côte d'Ivoire looks like a quadrilateral whose lower edge corresponds to a coastline of 515 kilometers. The country is characterized by a low altitude, where the main elevations correspond to plateaus and plains. The western highlands, however, have some reliefs greater than 1,000 meters (Mount Nimba, the country's highest elevation, reaches 1,752 m a.s.l.).

Ecology

According to WWF, the territory of Côte d'Ivoire is divided into six ecoregions:

• Western Sudanese savannah, north.
• Mosaic of jungle and savannah of Guinea, downtown.
• Eastern Guinean Jungle, southeast.
• Western Guinean forest of lowlands, in the southwest.
• Ginean mountain range in the western mountains.
• Mangrove Guinean, at some points of the coast.

Economy

Maintaining close ties with France since independence in 1960, the diversification of agriculture for export, and the encouragement of foreign investment, have made Côte d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous tropical African countries. However, in recent years Côte d'Ivoire has been subject to more competition and declining prices on the global market for its main agricultural crops: coffee and cocoa. This, coupled with high internal corruption, makes life difficult for growers and those exporting to foreign markets.

Poverty increases between 2011 and 2016.

Enemies for many years, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana agreed in 2019 to impose a minimum price on cocoa on multinational companies, in order to protect producers, who receive between 4 and 6 percent of the profits from cocoa. sector: on June 11, they announced that they are suspending the sale of cocoa for the 2020-2021 campaign if a minimum price of 2,300 euros per ton is not established.

Demographics

Family of a village of Mali

In 2007, Ivory Coast had a population of 18,000,000. Life expectancy is 49 years. The average number of children per woman is 4.43. 50.9% of the population is literate. It is estimated that 7% of the population is infected with the HIV virus (causing AIDS).

77% of the population consider themselves Ivorians: they represent several different peoples and language groups. Some 65 languages are spoken in the country. One of the most common is the dioula, used in commerce, as well as the Muslim population. French, used by 70% of the population (99% in Abidjan), is the official language, is taught in schools and serves as a lingua franca in urban areas (particularly in Abidjan). The number of French speakers is very high compared to most French-speaking countries in Africa, due to its use as an inter-ethnic language.

Since Côte d'Ivoire has established itself as one of the most prosperous countries in West Africa, around 20% of the population consists of workers from neighboring Liberia, Burkina Faso and Guinea. This fact has created a constantly growing tension in recent years, especially since the majority of these workers are Muslim, while the native-born population is largely Christian (mainly Catholic) and animist. 0.4% of the population is of non-African descent. Some 50,000 are French citizens, 40,000 Lebanese and, to a lesser extent, Vietnamese, Jewish and Spanish, as well as Protestant missionaries from the United States and Canada. In November 2004, around 10,000 French and other foreign nationals evacuated Ivory Coast due to attacks by young pro-government militias.

Demographic evolution

Demographic evolution.

Culture

The great cultural diversity of the Ivory Coast, a West African country bordered by Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, is exemplified by a multitude of ethnic groups, events, festivals, music and art. There are more than sixty indigenous ethnic groups, although they can be reduced to seven large ethnic groups, based on common cultural and historical characteristics.

Each ethnic group has its own language, which gives the country a great linguistic variety: for this reason, French, the country's official language, is widespread (70% of the population speaks it fluently), since It is used as an inter-ethnic language.

Sports

Didier Drogba is considered not only the best footballer in the country's history, but also one of the best African football players in history.

Lately, not a few Ivorians have excelled in international soccer, as well as their national team.

In 2006, the Ivory Coast participated for the first time in its history in the FIFA World Cup, beating Cameroon, one of the best teams in Africa, in the African qualifying round. Already in the tournament played in Germany, they lost against Argentina 2-1, and then they were eliminated when they lost to the Netherlands 2-1. They got their first three points by beating Serbia and Montenegro 3-2 in the last game, in which neither played anything. He returned to participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, but did not make it past the first phase. In his participation in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he was again eliminated in the group stage.

In the African Cup of Nations, it has managed to win the 1992 and 2015 editions, the latter against Ghana, in addition to obtaining second place in 2006, third place four times (1965, 1968, 1986, 1994) and the fourth in two others (1970 and 2008).

It is remembered for having some of the best African soccer players in its history such as Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré, Kolo Touré, Gervinho, Salomon Kalou, among others who excelled in European clubs, generally in England.

The country has hosted many great events at the continental level, some of them being the 1985 and 2013 editions of the continental basketball championship, where the local team obtained fifth and first place, respectively. In football, it hosted the 1984 African Cup of Nations and the one that will take place in 2023, likewise, his team won the tournament in the 1992 and 2015 editions, and second place in 2006 and 2012. Finally In 2017, the eighth edition of the Jeux de la Francophonie took place in Abidjan.

Another sport in which the country has stood out is Taekwondo, which has given it three of the four Olympic medals in the summer editions, two bronze medals, obtained by Ruth Gbagbi in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, and the only gold medal achieved by an Ivorian, Cheick Sallah Cissé, also in Rio 2016. Also, Firmin Zokou has obtained various medals in events such as world and continental championships and the Pan-African Games.

The remaining medal, and the first to be obtained, was thanks to Gabriel Tiacoh, who obtained silver in the 400-meter dash in Los Angeles in 1984. In this sport, Marie-Josée Ta Lou and Murielle Ahouré are also recognized.

Ivory Coast has never participated in the Winter Olympics.

Rugby is also popular and successful. His national team participated in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, held in South Africa, being eliminated in the group stage. While, in the continental tournament, he reached the semifinals in the 2007 and 2008-09 editions.