Ivory Coast
Name
| Official name | Republic of Côte d'Ivoire — République de Côte d'Ivoire; the name Côte d'Ivoire the only one the state accepts, in every language, since 1985 |
|---|---|
| English form | Ivory Coast — the translation the state rejects and the world still uses; Costa do Marfim in Portuguese, Elfenbeinküste in German |
| Former names | The Colony of Côte d'Ivoire (1893–1958); part of French West Africa (1904–1958); the Republic within the French Community (1958–1960) |
| Demonym | Ivorian — Ivoirien, Ivoirienne |
| Meaning of the name | The coast where the French bought ivory — the Côte des Dents, the "coast of teeth," of the 17th-century maps; the Grain, Gold and Slave coasts its neighbors |
| Motto | "Union, Discipline, Travail" — union, discipline, work |
Quick facts
| Capitals | Yamoussoukro, the political capital since 21 March 1983, about 350,000; Abidjan, the economic capital and the seat of the government in practice, about 6.3 million |
|---|---|
| Largest cities | Abidjan; Bouaké, about 800,000; Daloa; Korhogo; San-Pédro; Yamoussoukro; Man; Gagnoa |
| Official language | French; some 70 languages — Baoulé, Dioula, the trade tongue, Bété, Senufo, Anyin, Yacouba; Nouchi, the slang of Abidjan |
| Currency | West African CFA franc — ISO code XOF, F CFA; 655.957 to the euro |
| Time zone | Greenwich Mean Time, UTC±0, all year |
| Calling code | +225 |
| Internet domain | .ci |
| ISO 3166 codes | CI · CIV · 384 |
| Vehicle registration code | CI |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 220 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and E |
| Independence | 7 August 1960, from France — Félix Houphouët-Boigny the first president |
| National days | 7 August, Independence Day; 15 November, National Peace Day; 1 May; the Christian and Muslim feasts, both sets holidays; the Fête des Ignames of the Akan |
| Constitution | 8 November 2016 — the Constitution of the Third Republic, approved by the referendum of 30 October 2016, creating a vice president and a Senate and, by the Constitutional Council's reading of 2020, resetting the presidential term count; amended 2020 |
| Population | 29,389,150 at the census of 2021; about 32 million (UN, 2025 est.) |
| Area | 322,463 km² (124,504 sq mi) — land 318,003 km², water 4,460 km² |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | A vertical tricolor of orange, white and green — the savanna of the north and the blood of the young nation, peace and unity, the forests and the hope of the future — the reverse of Ireland's; adopted 3 December 1959, on the eve of independence.Flag of Ivory Coast |
|---|---|
| Coat of arms | An elephant's head, silver on green, between two golden palm trees under a rising sun, over a scroll with the name of the republic — the elephant of the name; adopted 1960, revised 1964 and 2001 |
| National anthem | "L'Abidjanaise" — words by Mathieu Ekra, Joachim Bony and Pierre-Marie Coty, music by Coty and Pierre-Michel Pango; adopted 1960, named for the old capital and kept when the capital moved |
| National motto | "Union, Discipline, Travail" |
| National colors | Orange, white and green |
| National animal | The elephant — the ivory of the name, the head of the arms and the football team, Les Éléphants; the forest elephants themselves nearly gone |
| National tree | The oil palm — on the arms; the cocoa tree the nation's living |
| National dish | Attiéké — the fermented cassava couscous of the lagoon peoples — with grilled fish; kedjenou, the chicken stew; garba, the street dish of attiéké and fried tuna; alloco, the fried plantain; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag, arms, anthem and motto are fixed by the Constitution; the animal and tree by the arms; the dishes widely cited |
Geography
| Location | West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea — between Liberia and Ghana on the coast, with Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso inland |
|---|---|
| Land borders | 3,458 km (2,149 mi) with five countries — Guinea 816, Liberia 778, Ghana 720, Mali 599, Burkina Faso 545 |
| Coastline | 515 km (320 mi) |
| Highest point | Mount Nimba, 1,752 m (5,748 ft), on the Guinean and Liberian border |
| Lowest point | The Atlantic Ocean, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 250 m (820 ft) |
| Rivers and lakes | The Bandama, 800 km, the longest, wholly Ivorian, through Lake Kossou to the sea; the Sassandra; the Comoé from Burkina Faso, through the park; the Cavally on the Liberian border; the lagoons of Ébrié, Aby and Grand-Lahou behind the coast, Abidjan on the first |
| Terrain | The coastal lagoons and sandbar; the rainforest of the south, half cut for cocoa; the savanna plateau of the north; the mountains of the west around Man |
| Climate | Equatorial on the coast with two rainy seasons, April to July and October to November; tropical in the center; the dry savanna of the north with the harmattan from December |
| Natural hazards | Floods in Abidjan in the rains — the landslides of June 2018 and 2022; drought in the north; the coastal erosion at Grand-Bassam; the jihadist raids on the northern border from Burkina Faso since 2020 |
| Natural resources | Oil and gas offshore — the Baleine field found in 2021, the country's largest, producing since 2023; gold at Tongon and Ity; manganese, nickel, bauxite, diamonds; timber, cut; the cocoa and cashew lands |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 65%; forest about 9%, from 16 million hectares in 1960 to 3 million — among the fastest deforestation on earth |
| National parks | 8 — Taï, the last great block of West Africa's rainforest, with the pygmy hippos and the chimpanzees; Comoé, the largest in West Africa, 11,500 km²; Marahoué; Azagny; Banco within Abidjan; the Mount Péko and Sangbé parks; the Nimba reserve |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 5 — Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (1981, with Guinea), on the danger list; Taï National Park (1982); Comoé National Park (1983); the historic town of Grand-Bassam (2012), the first colonial capital; the Sudanese-style mosques of the north (2021); the Zaouli mask dance and the balafon on the intangible list |
| Administrative divisions | 14 districts — 12 with governors and the two autonomous districts of Abidjan and Yamoussoukro — of 31 regions; 108 departments; 201 communes |
People
| Population | 29,389,150 (census of 2021); about 32 million (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| Population density | About 100 per km² (260 per sq mi) — the south and Abidjan crowded |
| Population growth | About 2.5% a year |
| Median age | About 20 years |
| Life expectancy | About 62 years |
| Fertility rate | About 4.3 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 53% |
| Adult literacy | About 60% |
| Ethnic groups | Some 60 — the Akan about 28%, the Baoulé and Anyin of the center and east; the Voltaic or Gur about 16%, the Senufo and Lobi of the north; the Northern Mandé about 15%, the Malinké and Dioula; the Kru about 8%, the Bété and Wê of the west; the Southern Mandé about 7%, the Yacouba and Gouro; foreign nationals about 24%, the Burkinabé above all |
| Languages | French by about 60%; Dioula the market language of the whole country; Baoulé the largest mother tongue; Bété, Senufo, Anyin, Yacouba, Guéré and the rest; Nouchi |
| Religion | Muslim about 43%, in the north and the migrant quarters; Christian about 40% — Catholic about 17%, Evangelical about 12%, Methodist; traditional beliefs about 4%; the two faiths mixed in most families (census of 2021) |
| Human Development Index | 0.582 (2023 data, 2025 report) — medium; about 160th of 193 — rising with the growth, the poverty rate about 40% |
| The foreigners | About 6 million foreign nationals, a quarter of the people — the Burkinabé, Malians, Guineans and Ghanaians of the cocoa and coffee farms since the 1930s, the Lebanese of the trade; the "ivoirité" of the 1990s that questioned their place, and Ouattara's own, the root of the wars |
| Sport | Football — Les Éléphants, African champions in 1992, 2015 and at home on 11 February 2024, and at the World Cups of 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2026; Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré, Sébastien Haller; the Abidjan marathon; the Olympic taekwondo gold of Cheick Cissé in 2016, the country's first |
| Diaspora | About a million abroad — in France, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Italy, the United States and Morocco |
Government
| Form of government | Presidential republic under the Constitution of 2016 — the president head of state, elected for five years, twice, the count reset in 2020 by the Constitutional Council; a vice president; a prime minister for the administration; the National Assembly and the Senate |
|---|---|
| President | Alassane Dramane Ouattara (Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace, RHDP), since 4 December 2010 — the fifth; an economist of the IMF and the West African central bank, prime minister 1990–93, born 1 January 1942 at Dimbokro; barred from the elections of 1995 and 2000 over his parents' origins under the "ivoirité" laws; the fourth term from 8 December 2025 at 83 |
| The 2025 election | Held 25 October 2025: Ouattara 89.77% by the commission's provisional count of 27 October and 91.23% by the final, 3,759,030 votes; Jean-Louis Billon 3.09% provisional and 3.14% final; Simone Gbagbo 2.46%, Ahoua Don Mello 2.00%, Henriette Lagou 1.17%; turnout 50.10% of 8,568,456 registered, barely 20% in the opposition's Gagnoa; Laurent Gbagbo barred by his conviction of 2018 and Tidjane Thiam, the former Credit Suisse chief and PDCI leader, by his French citizenship; the ban on demonstrations of October and the arrests; the vote "excluding the most promising opposition candidates," in the German foundation's words, and "peaceful and transparent," in the government's |
| Vice President | Tiémoko Meyliet Koné (RHDP), since 20 April 2022 — the governor of the West African central bank before, born 1949 |
| Prime Minister | Robert Beugré Mambé (RHDP), since 17 October 2023 — the governor of the Abidjan district before, born 1952; succeeded Patrick Achi |
| Parliament | The National Assembly — 255 members elected for five years, on 27 December 2025: the RHDP 197 of the 255, 77%, by the preliminary count; the PDCI-RDA and the independents the rest; Gbagbo's PPA-CI boycotting; the Senate — 99, two-thirds elected by the councils and a third appointed; a 30% quota for women on the party lists |
| The next election | Due in October 2030 |
| The crisis of 2010–11 | The election of 28 November 2010 — Ouattara declared the winner by the electoral commission with 54% and Gbagbo by the Constitutional Council, which annulled the north's votes; five months of two presidents, the battle of Abidjan, and about 3,000 dead by the count of the commission of inquiry; the French Licorne force and the UN mission's strikes; Gbagbo captured in his bunker on 11 April 2011 and sent to the International Criminal Court, which acquitted him of crimes against humanity in 2019 and confirmed it in 2021; his return in June 2021 and his pardon of 2022, his conviction at home of 2018 standing |
| The wars before | The coup of 24 December 1999 against Bédié — the first in the country's history; the rebellion of 19 September 2002 that split the country between the rebel north of Guillaume Soro and Gbagbo's south for five years; the Ouagadougou accord of 2007; the "ivoirité" doctrine of 1995 that made the northerners foreigners at the root of both |
| Legal system | Civil law on the French model with customary law; the Constitutional Council; the Court of Cassation, the Council of State and the Court of Audit; the Supreme Court split in 2016 |
| Districts and regions | 14 districts under governors appointed by the president; 31 regions with elected councils; the communes with their mayors |
| The north and the Sahel | The jihadist attacks from Burkina Faso since the Kafolo raid of 11 June 2020 on the northern border; the army's posts and the French base handed over in February 2025; the withdrawal of the last French troops; the coups of the neighbors and the ECOWAS split |
| United Nations | Member since 20 September 1960; the UN mission UNOCI of 2004–2017; a Security Council seat in 1964–65, 1990–91 and 2018–19 |
| Memberships | ECOWAS, whose bank sits in Lomé; the West African Economic and Monetary Union; the African Union; the African Development Bank, headquartered in Abidjan since 1965; the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie; the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; the Council of the Entente |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$95 billion (2025, IMF) — the largest economy of French-speaking West Africa and of the CFA zone |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$2,900 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$8,000 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 6–7% a year since 2012 — among the fastest in Africa for a decade; inflation about 3% |
| Economy by sector | Services about 55%, industry about 25%, agriculture about 20% — employing about 40% |
| Currency | West African CFA franc (XOF), fixed to the euro |
| Cocoa | The largest producer in the world — about 2 million metric tons a year, about 40% of the world's supply, from a million small farms of the south and west; the price paid the farmers set by the state each October, raised to 2,800 francs a kilo in 2025 on the record world prices; the grinding at home the goal; the deforestation and the child labor the charges |
| Cashews | The largest producer of raw cashew nuts in the world since 2015 — about a million metric tons, from the north, most of it shipped raw to Vietnam and India |
| Other exports | Rubber — the largest producer in Africa; palm oil; coffee, the old crop, robusta; cotton; bananas and pineapples; gold from Tongon and Ity; the oil of Baleine, some 60,000 barrels a day and rising; the refined products of Abidjan |
| Trade partners | The Netherlands, the United States, Switzerland and Germany for the cocoa; China, Nigeria and France for the imports; the port of Abidjan the trade hub of the Sahel |
| Public finances | Public debt about 60% of GDP; the Eurobonds of the 2020s; the IMF program of 2023; the infrastructure of the Ouattara years — the bridges of Abidjan, the highways, the stadiums of 2024 |
| Income classification | Lower-middle income (World Bank) |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airport | Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport at Port-Bouët, Abidjan — the hub of French-speaking West Africa; Yamoussoukro; Bouaké; San-Pédro |
|---|---|
| Airline | Air Côte d'Ivoire, the national carrier since 2012, to the capitals of the region; Air France and the rest |
| Main ports | Abidjan — the largest port of West Africa, on the Ébrié Lagoon through the Vridi canal of 1950, the outlet of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, with the container terminal of 2022; San-Pédro, the cocoa port, the second |
| Railways | The Abidjan–Ouagadougou line of 1,260 km, 660 km in the country, built 1904–54 and run by Sitarail; the Abidjan Metro, Line 1 of 37 km under construction since 2017 by the French, for the late 2020s |
| Roads | About 82,000 km (51,000 mi), about 8,000 km paved; the Abidjan–Yamoussoukro highway and its extension toward Bouaké; the bridges of Abidjan — the Henri Konan Bédié of 2014, the Alassane Ouattara of 2023 — over the lagoon; the coastal road |
| The Basilica | The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace at Yamoussoukro — the largest church in the world, 30,000 m² and 158 m to the top of its dome, built 1985–89 for US$300 million and consecrated by John Paul II on 10 September 1990 |
History in dates
| c. 1710 | The Kong Empire of the Dioula |
|---|---|
| c. 1730 | Queen Pokou leads the Baoulé from Ghana — the legend of the sacrifice |
| 1637 | The first French missionaries at Assinie |
| 1843 | The French posts at Assinie and Grand-Bassam |
| 1893 | The Colony of Côte d'Ivoire, 10 March; Grand-Bassam the capital, then Bingerville and Abidjan |
| 1904 | French West Africa |
| 1944 | Houphouët-Boigny founds the African Agricultural Union; forced labor abolished, 1946 |
| 1960 | Independence, 7 August |
| 1983 | Yamoussoukro the capital, 21 March |
| 1990 | The Basilica consecrated, 10 September; the multiparty election |
| 1993 | Houphouët-Boigny dies, 7 December; Henri Konan Bédié |
| 1999 | The coup of 24 December — General Guéï |
| 2000 | Laurent Gbagbo president, 26 October |
| 2002 | The rebellion of 19 September; the country divided |
| 2007 | The Ouagadougou accord, 4 March |
| 2010 | The election of 28 November; the crisis of two presidents |
| 2011 | The battle of Abidjan; Gbagbo captured, 11 April; Ouattara sworn in, 6 May |
| 2016 | The Constitution of the Third Republic, 8 November |
| 2019 | Gbagbo acquitted at The Hague, 15 January |
| 2020 | Ouattara's third term, 31 October |
| 2024 | The Africa Cup of Nations won at home, 11 February |
| 2025 | The fourth term, 25 October; inaugurated 8 December; the Assembly, 27 December |
| 2026 | The World Cup, the fourth |
Records & firsts
| The largest cocoa producer | About 40% of the world's |
|---|---|
| The largest cashew producer | Since 2015 |
| The largest church in the world | The Basilica of Yamoussoukro |
| Two capitals | Yamoussoukro and Abidjan |
| The largest port of West Africa | Abidjan |
| Africa's largest rubber producer | The plantations of the south |
| The largest economy of the CFA zone | About US$95 billion |
| Three African titles | 1992, 2015 and 2024 |
| A name in one language only | Côte d'Ivoire, since 1985 |
| Among the fastest deforestation | From 16 million hectares to 3 million |
| Queen Pokou | The Baoulé's founding sacrifice |
| Thirty-three years of one president | Houphouët-Boigny, 1960–93 |
Frequently asked questions
Is it Ivory Coast or Côte d'Ivoire?
Both name the same country, and the country has an answer: since October 1985 its government has asked that it be called Côte d'Ivoire in every language and has refused to recognize translations, and the United Nations, the Olympic movement and most governments have complied. "Ivory Coast" is the English translation, still the commoner form in English speech, search and the sports pages, and the name this site uses in its address and heading. The name is the French traders' for the stretch of the Gulf of Guinea where the elephants' tusks were bought from the 16th century.
What is the official name of Côte d'Ivoire?
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire — République de Côte d'Ivoire — independent from France on 7 August 1960 under Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who governed it for thirty-three years. It was a French colony from 1893, part of French West Africa from 1904, and an autonomous republic within the French Community from 1958.
What is the capital of Côte d'Ivoire?
Two of them. Yamoussoukro, the village where Houphouët-Boigny was born, has been the official and political capital since 21 March 1983, a planned city of wide boulevards and about 350,000 people in the center of the country, with the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, the largest church in the world, which he built there. Abidjan on the Ébrié Lagoon, the capital until 1983, remains the economic capital and the seat of most of the government and the embassies, a city of about 6.3 million, the largest French-speaking city of West Africa. Bouaké in the center is the second city; San-Pédro the cocoa port; Korhogo the town of the north.
How big is Côte d'Ivoire, and how many people live there?
About 322,463 km² (124,504 sq mi) — a little larger than New Mexico, about the size of Germany — on the Gulf of Guinea between Liberia and Ghana, with Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north. The census of 2021 counted 29,389,150 people; the UN estimates about 32 million for 2025, a quarter of them born abroad or the children of migrants from Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea, drawn by the cocoa and the coffee for a century.
What are the highest and lowest points of Côte d'Ivoire?
Mount Nimba, 1,752 m (5,748 ft), at the point where the country meets Guinea and Liberia in the west — a World Heritage site shared with Guinea; and the Atlantic. The country is a plateau tilted to the sea, cut by the Bandama, the Sassandra, the Comoé and the Cavally, with the rainforest of the south, the savanna of the north and the lagoons behind the sandbar of the coast, on which Abidjan is built.
What currency does Côte d'Ivoire use?
The West African CFA franc (ISO code XOF), shared with the seven other members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union and fixed at 655.957 to the euro, issued by the Central Bank of West African States — which sits in Dakar, though the country is the union's largest economy; the eco, the currency long planned to replace it, not yet born. Clocks keep Greenwich Mean Time, UTC±0, all year.
Who governs Côte d'Ivoire?
President Alassane Ouattara of the Rally of Houphouëtists, head of state since 4 December 2010, whose victory in the election of that year was refused by Laurent Gbagbo until the battle of Abidjan and the French and UN intervention of April 2011; re-elected in 2015, in 2020 for a contested third term after the constitution of 2016 was held to have reset the count, and on 25 October 2025, at 83, for a fourth, with 89.77 percent of the vote by the commission's provisional count, his two chief rivals barred from the ballot and half the electorate voting. Robert Beugré Mambé has been prime minister since October 2023 and Tiémoko Meyliet Koné vice president since 2022; the ruling party took 197 of the 255 seats of the National Assembly in December 2025 with Gbagbo's party boycotting. The next election is due in 2030.
World knowledge, A to Z — the flags of every country, the sciences, places, people and more.
We Value Your Opinion Comments