Côte d'Ivoire

Overview

Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is a West African republic of about 322,000 km² on the Gulf of Guinea, with Yamoussoukro as its political capital and Abidjan as its economic hub; its population is roughly 31.5 million. The name recalls the ivory trade that drew 15th–16th-century Portuguese merchants to this stretch of coast.

History

Pre-colonially the territory hosted the Muslim Kong Empire, the Abron kingdom of Gyaaman, Baoulé and Agni states, and lay at the southern edge of the Mali and Songhai trading spheres. France established protectorates from 1843–44, made Côte d'Ivoire a colony in 1893, and completed pacification only in 1915 after fierce resistance from Samori Touré's Wassoulou Empire. It formed part of French West Africa (1904–1958), becoming autonomous in December 1958 and fully independent on 7 August 1960.

Félix Houphouët-Boigny, a Baoulé chief's son and former French cabinet minister, ruled as president until 1993, maintaining one-party rule, close ties with France ("Françafrique"), and an export economy built on coffee and cocoa — the "Ivorian miracle" delivered nearly 10% annual growth for two decades, and by 1979 the country was the world's leading cocoa producer. Recession and drought in the 1980s triggered debt crisis and unrest. Under Henri Konan Bédié (1993–99), the exclusionary doctrine of "Ivoirité" deepened ethnic and north–south divisions, contributing to the 1999 coup of General Robert Guéï, Laurent Gbagbo's contested 2000 victory, a civil war that split the country (2002–2007), and a second war in 2010–11 after Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to Alassane Ouattara; roughly 3,000 died before Gbagbo's arrest.

Later history and present status

Since 2011, under Ouattara, the economy has rebounded with average real growth above 7%, and Côte d'Ivoire remains the world's largest cocoa exporter. The population mixes Akan, Mandé, Gur and Kru peoples with large immigrant communities; Islam (~42%) and Christianity (~40%) predominate. A new constitution was adopted in 2016, and Ouattara secured controversial third and fourth terms (2020, 2025).