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.
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 nationality remain unresolved. The
central government has yet to exert control over the northern
regions and tensions remain high between GBAGBO and rebel leaders.
Several thousand French and West African troops remain in Cote
d'Ivoire to maintain peace and facilitate the disarmament,
demobilization, and rehabilitation process.
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
land: 318,000 sq km
water: 4,460 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:
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 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, gold, nickel, tantalum, silica sand, clay, cocoa
beans, coffee, palm oil, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 9.75%
permanent crops: 13.84%
other: 76.41% (2001)
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, 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:
17,298,040
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
2005 est.)
Age structure:
0–14 years: 41% (male 3,490,536/female 3,596,208)
15–64 years: 56.3% (male 4,920,726/female 4,820,326)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 231,514/female 238,730) (2005 est.)
Median age:
total: 19.05 years
male: 19.36 years
female: 18.76 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.06% (2005 est.)
Birth rate:
35.51 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate:
14.94 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 90.83 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 107.64 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 73.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 48.62 years
male: 46.05 years
female: 51.27 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.58 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
7% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with