Ivory Coast |
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Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or the Ivory Coast is located in the West Africa. It shares its border with Liberia and Guinea to the west, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The de jure capital is Yamoussoukro (6 49 N, 5 17 W) while the de facto capital is Abidjan. HISTORY:- Cote D’lvoire was a lucrative site for the French and Portuguese Empires for ivory and slaves. Europeans touched the land in 1460s when Portugal ships reached the coasts of the country. French Empire started settling in the land in early 19th century. The nation was gradually coming under French rule and power was switching over from local tribes to the Frenchmen. In 1893, the land was completely occupied by the French. After the World War II, the territory became a self-governing republic in the French Union and gained its independence in 1960. Félix Houphouët-Boigny became the first President after independence. Demands from all the spheres of society for legalizing opposition parties led to the first democratic presidential elections in 1990. Houphouët-Boigny was reelected the president. Henri Konan Bédié became his successor after his death in 1993. In 1999, in a military coup, Bédié was dethroned and Gen. Robert Guei took charge. In 2000 elections, Guei’s attempts to rig the elections led a chaos and Laurent Gbagbo was declared the President. After 2002 rebellion, President Gbagbo and rebel leaders signed a treaty of ‘government of national unity’. This was only an initial stage of political instability of the country. GEOGRAPHY:- The nation is located at 8 00 N, 5 00 W in Western Africa occupying 318,000 sq km land area and 4,460 sq km water area. The coastline is 515 km long along with the North Atlantic Ocean. The lowest point is Gulf of Guinea (0 m) and the highest point is Mont Nimba (1,752 m). The land is mostly flat which rises to undulating plains. The northwestern region is mountainous. CLIMATE:- The climate of Cote d'Ivoire varies from tropical along the coasts to semiarid in far north. It has three seasons- warm and dry season persists from November to March, hot and dry season from March to May, and hot and wet season from June to October. GOVERNMENT:- Cote d'Ivoire is a republican nation. The constitution was approved by a referendum on 23rd July 2000. The legal system is based on the French civil codes, customary law, and judicial review in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court. The three branches of the government are: Executive branch comprises the President (chief of state), the Prime minister (head of government), and cabinet. Earlier only President can appoint the cabinet ministers, but now the power is shared by the President and the Prime minister. Legislative branch comprises the unicameral National Assembly (225 seats). Judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court consists of 4 chambers: Judicial Chamber for criminal cases Audit Chamber for financial cases Constitutional Chamber for judicial review cases Administrative Chamber for civil cases. Largest political parties include Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI), Parti Democratique de la Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI), Rassemblement des Republicaines (RDR), Union pour la Democratie et pour la Paix en Cote d'Ivoire (UDPCI). Suffrage is universal at 18. President Laurent Gbagbo Prime Minister Guillaume Soro ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Côte d'Ivoire is divided into 19 regions. These regins are in turn sub-divided into 58 departments. CULTURE:- Amílcar Cabral, Baltasar Lopes da Silva, Eugénio Tavares, Germano Almeida, Henrique Teixeira de Sousa, Jorge Barbosa, Manuel Lopes are the popular writers of the nation. Cote d'Ivoire has a variety of traditional folk music. Talking drums are also very popular. Carved wooden arts are very common in the country. ECONOMY:- Côte d'Ivoire is the most prosperous nation of West Africa. Cocoa and coffee are the main economic crops of the country. The country is the world's largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans. GDP/PPP (2006 est.): $29.05 billion; per capita $1,600. Real growth rate: 1.2%. Inflation: 3.2%. Unemployment: 13% in urban areas (1998). Arable land: 10%. Agriculture: coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber. Labor force: 6.738 million. Industries: foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity, ship construction and repair. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, hydropower. Budget: Revenues: $3.213 billion Expenditures: $3.826 billion (2007 est.) Public debt: 81.1% of GDP (2007 est.) Debt - external: $13.99 billion (31 December 2007 est.) Exports: $7.832 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish. Imports: $5.548 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): fuel, capital equipment, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: France, Netherlands, U.S., Nigeria, Italy, Thailand (2004). Monetary unit: CFA Franc LANGUAGE:- French is the official language. 60 native dialects including Dioula are widely spoken. CITIES:- The official capital is Yamoussoukro while the de facto capital is Abidjan. Abidjan is also the largest city. Bouaké, Daloa, Korhogo are the other major cities. POPULATION:- The estimated population of the country is 18,012,409 with a growth rate of 2.0%. Density per sq mi: 147 Literacy rate: 51% (2003 est.) RACE:- Akan 42.1% Voltaiques (Gur) 17.6% Northern Mandes 16.5% Krous 11% Southern Mandes 10% Other 2.8% (includes 130,000 Lebanese and 14,000 French) (1998) RELIGION:- Muslim 35-40% Indigenous 25-40% Christian 20-30% HEALTH:- Birth rate: 34.26 births/1,000 population (2008 est.) Death rate: 14.65 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.) Infant mortality rate: total: 85.71 deaths/1,000 live births Life expectancy at birth: total population: 49.18 years Total fertility rate: 4.35 children born/woman (2008 est.) HIV/AIDS - deaths: 47,000 (2003 est.) Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 63 UNICEF:- With UNICEF’s help 86% health centres are reopened. UNICEF supports 10,000 HIV-affected orphans with medications, nutrition and education. It trains hundreds of medical workers, improves maternity wards, supplies medications, equipment and 120,000 insecticide-treated bed nets. 5 million children are immunized against polio, and 7.5 million children against measles. Vitamin A supplements are provided to over 4 million children. UNICEF distributes 350,000 school kits, provides clean water to 600,000 people, and brings back 1,000 former child soldiers to society. TRANSPORTATION:- Railways: total: 660 km (2004). Highways: total: 80,000 km; paved: 6,500 km; unpaved: 73,500 km (2006 est.). Waterways: 980 km (navigable rivers, canals, and numerous coastal lagoons) (2003). Ports and harbors: Abidjan, Aboisso, Dabou, San-Pedro. Airports: 37 (2004 est.). Posted by subhasis on Friday Jul 04 reply Comments |
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