Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.6% (FY99)
Transnational Issues Costa Rica
Disputes - international: legal dispute over navigational rights of Rio San Juan on border with Nicaragua
Illicit drugs:
transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South America;
illicit production of cannabis on small, scattered plots; domestic
cocaine consumption is rising, particularly crack cocaine
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Cote d'Ivoire
Introduction Cote d'Ivoire
Background:
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 tropical African states,
but did not protect it from political turmoil. On 25 December 1999,
a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history -
overthrew the government led by President Henri Konan BEDIE. Junta
leader Robert GUEI held elections in late 2000, but excluded
prominent opposition leader Alassane OUATTARA, blatantly rigged the
polling results, and declared himself winner. Popular protest forced
GUEI to step aside and brought runner-up Laurent GBAGBO into power.
GBAGBO spent his first two years in office trying to consolidate
power to strengthen his weak mandate, but he was unable to appease
his opponents, who 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.
However, the central government has yet to exert control over the
northern regions and tension remains high between GBAGBO and rebel
leaders. Several thousand French and West African troops remain in
Cote d'Ivoire to maintain peace and help implement the peace accords.
Geography Cote d'Ivoire
Location:
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana
and Liberia
Geographic coordinates:
8 00 N, 5 00 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 322,460 sq km
water: 4,460 sq km
land: 318,000 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:
continental shelf: 200 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 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
Elevation 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, hydropower
Land use: arable land: 9.28% permanent crops: 13.84% other: 76.88% (1998 est.)
Irrigated land:
730 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards:
coast has heavy surf and no natural harbors; during the rainy
season torrential flooding is possible
Environment - current issues: 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
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber
83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
most of the inhabitants live along the sandy coastal region; apart
from the capital area, the forested interior is sparsely populated
People Cote d'Ivoire
Population:
16,962,491
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
2003 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 45.4% (male 3,796,393; female 3,902,210)
15–64 years: 52.4% (male 4,541,997; female 4,347,531)
65 years and over: 2.2% (male 179,323; female 195,037) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 17 years
male: 17.3 years
female: 16.6 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
2.15% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
40.01 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
18.41 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate:
−0.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.92 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate: