IvoryCoastJH

= = = IVORY COAST =

= = = Flag Description = The Ivory Coast flag was adopted on December 3, 1959. Its design is after the French Tricolore The orange represents the savanna grasslands, green represents the coastal forests, white is of the country's rivers. = National Anthem (in English) = We salute you, O land of hope, Country of hospitality; Thy gallant legions Have restored thy dignity.

Beloved Ivory Coast, thy sons, Proud builders of thy greatness, All mustered together for thy glory, In joy will construct thee.

Proud citizens of the Ivory Coast, the country calls us. If we have brought back liberty peacefully, It will be our duty to be an example Of the hope promised to humanity, Forging unitedly in new faith The Fatherland of true brotherhood. To Listen go to: http://www.nationalanthems.info/ci.htm = Background =

=
They have been close to France ever since the independence in 1960, when cocoa started to be shipped out, this was a great investment beacuse of the money they made selling the cocoa. In December 1999, a military, the first Ivory Coast, took over the government of Ivory Coast. Junta leader Robert Guei rigged the elections in 2000 and declared himself the winner. Protest forced him to step aside andLaurent Gbagbo became the leader. Rebel forces claimed the northern half of the country, and in January 2003 were granted positions in a unity government under the Linas-Marcoussis Peace Accord. President Gbagbo and rebel forces resumed to imply the peace accord in December 2003 after a three-month standstill but issues that sparked the civil war, such as land ownership and citizenship, but it still remained unresolved. In March 2007 President Gbagbo and former New Force rebel leader Guillaume Soro signed a Political Agreement. As a result of the agreement, Soro joined Gbagbo's government as Prime Minister and the two agreed to reunite the country by taking apart the zone of confidence separating North from South, integrate rebel forces into the national armed forces and hold elections. Citizen identification and voter registration make an election planned for November 2009 was postponed with no future date set. Several thousand UN troops and hundreds of French remain in Ivory Coast to help the parties make their commitments and to support the peace process. =====

= Location = The Ivory Coast is close to many countries that are on the coast of Africa such as it is just east of Ghana and is just west of Liberia and Guinea also it is south of Mali and Burkina Faso and like many other countries around the Ivory Coast it is north of the Gulf of Guinea which is a part of the Atlantic Ocean. Then if you were trying to find the Ivory Coast on a map you would look for the longitude of 5º 33' N and the Longitude of 4º 03' W.



= Area = Total- 322,463 sq kilometers which is 124,504 sq miles Land- 318,003 sq kilometers which is 197,598 sq miles Water- 4,460 sq kilometers which is 1,722 sq miles

= Borders = Burkina Faso- 584 kilometers which is 363 miles Ghanna- 668 kilometers which is 415 miles Guinea- 610 kilometers which is 380 miles Liberia- 716 kilometers which is 445 miles Mali- 532 kilometers which is 330 miles Coastline- 515 kilometers which is 320 miles

= Climate = In the north it is partially arid and along the coast it is very tropical, and there are thee seasons that go on in the Ivory Coast which is from March to May it is warm and dry, then from June to October it is hot and dry, and then from November to March it is hot and wet.

= Terrain = It is mostly flat and has long and wide plains and it has high mountains up in the northwest also it has a long sandy coastline.

= Ethnic Groups = There are more than 60 ethnic groups, the key ones being the Baoule in the center, the Agri in the east, the Senufo in the north, the Dioula in the northwest and west, the Bete in the center and to the west and the Dan-Yacouba in the west. Houphouet Boigny is its his own group, the Baoule, who make up for 23% of the population. The succession of Konan Bedie, another Baoule, has annoyed many groups, the Bete is the main group that as been annoyed by them though.

= The Government = The Ivory Coast's government is very similar to the United States of America's government. Yamoussoukro has been the official capital of the Ivory Coast since 1983, although Abidjan has been the capital for the country. This country has mainly a Democratic Party. The president of this country is elected for a five year term, but the president can be appointed for as many years as they are re-elected. Every president appoints a Prime Minister and a Counsel of Ministers there is a 175 menmber legislature called the National Assembly. These people work together to make the Ivory Coast well organized.

= Suffrage = In the Ivory Coast you must be at least 18 to vote and be ruled as an adult and it there is no changes in this rule for males or females.

= GDP = The current GDP for the Ivory Coast is around 1,700 in there money and is about 709$ in American money which as grown 3.8% since recent years and the are ranks them 112th when being compared to other countries in the world.

= Agricultural Products = They grow a wide diversity of tropical fruits, these fruits consist of pineapples and bananas and then to coffee, cocoa, and timber which are the main contributor to there GDP (50%) because they can grow these products basically all year round,corn cassava, cotton, rice, palm kernels, and sweet potatoes.

= Imports = Main products imported: food, goods; capital goods, fuel, transport equipment Big trade partners: France 26%, Nigeria 10%, China 7%, Italy 5%, Germany 4% Some regulations on the imports are: Tobacco:200 Cigarettes or 100 Cigarillos or 25 Cigars or 250 grams of Tobacco Alcohol:1 bottle of wine, 1 bottle of spirits Perfume: 205ml Toilet water: 500ml Gifts:reasonable amount of them

= Religion = ==== The Ivory Coast practices many different beliefs. 60% of the population practices their traditional beliefs that were developed in their villages many years ago. Out of the Ivory Coast population, about 20% practice the Muslim religion. These would mean covering your body in cloth if you were a woman. Only 10% of the people practice Christianity and Roman Catholicism. Even though a small percentage of the population practices Christianity, the largest Christian church in all of Africa is located in Yamoussoukro. This church is called Our Lady of Peace, and people from far away sometimes go there to worship there god there. Below is a picture of Our Lady of Peace. ====

= Terrain = ==== The western part of its coast the eastern part of its coast is flat and very sandy. On the western part of its coast, it is extremely rocky and filled with mountains. Past the coast, theres a tropical forest that is 95 to 185 miles wide. Mount Nimba, the tallest mountain in Ivory Coast going up to 5,749 ft. The Gulf of Guinea meets the coast of the country which reaches 1,300 ft above sea level. ====

= Natural Resources = ==== The country of the Ivory Coast contains many natural resources one of the resources found is petroleum.petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, gold, nickel, tantalum, silica sand, clay, cocoa beans, coffee, palm oil, hydro power are useful resources found in the Ivory Coast. Although these natural resources are useful the most helpful natural resoutce is not found in the ground but it is found in the rivers of this country and it is fish. ====

= Land usage = 52 % of the land is agricultural then in the North there is the forest region which had higher and more reliable rainfall and better soils, produced most export crops. The rainfall in the savanna averaged about two thirds of that in the forest region and was not very reliable from year to year. In addition, the soils were generally in poor condition which would make it extremely hard to grow anything there. Then the rest of the country was basically used to live and making a living there and also to help attract tourists from other countries.

= Natural Hazards = The coast has a very heavy surf and has no natural harbors, during the rain season flooding is possible and can wipe out small villages and can cause very strong currents which could take anybody down if anybody decides to swim in the rivers.

Comoe wiver


= Enviromental Issues = Deforestation Water pollution from sewage runs into rivers and industrial waste Some places make it hard to make there food or to find food. = = = Languages = French is the official language, and more than 60 people with Dioula is becoming the most widely spoken language in the ivory coast. = = = Capital = In 1983 Yamoussoukro became the official capital of Cote d'Ivoire. But some twenty years later it is still capital only in name: Abidjan is where everything happens. From 1960 onward the then president Felix Houpouet Boigny starting spending lots of money to make his native village into a big. The result is that you now find a small city with some 100,000 people and loads of huge governement buildings, a bigger-than-life cathedral, a presidential palace and eight-lane highways, although no traffic and roads leading no where.

= Leader = Laurent Gbagbo-Born on May 31, 1945, education- University of Abidjan, BA, 1969; University of Paris, Sorbonne, MA, 1970; University of Paris VII, PhD, 1979.

= Labor Force by Occupation = Agriculture- 68% Other-32

= Industries = Foodstuffs beverages wood products oil refining truck bus assembly textiles fertilizer building

= Currency and Exchange Rate = CFA Franc Exchange- 0.0021 US DOLLAR = = = Education System = The education system comprised three stages: primary school lasted six years, leading to a certificate of primary studies; secondary school lasted seven years, leading to a certificate or baccalaureat. University education, available only in Abidjan, culminated in a university degree. The school year was divided into three terms, beginning in September and separated by short Christmas and Easter holidays and a two-month summer recess. The average week consisted of approximately thirty hours of classes, Monday through Saturday morning. = = = Population = 20,617,068 57th in the world = = = Growth Rate = 2.133% 49th in the world

= Migration Rate =

0 immigrants/1,000 population

= Infant Mortality Rate = Total- 90.83 deaths per 1,000 births Male- 107.64 deaths per 1,000 births Female- 73.52 deaths per 1,000 births

= Life Expectancy = Total population- 48.62 years Male- 46.05 years Female- 51.27 years

= Literacy = Total population- 50.9% Male- 57.9% Female- 43.6%

= Independence = From FranceIn December 1958, Ivory Coast became an autonomous republic within the French community as a result of that it brought the community status to all members of the Federation of French West Africa except Guinea, which had voted against association. They got there independence in 1960 from France. = Economic Overview = Ivory Coast Economy is a large Market based heavily on the agriculture about 70% of the Ivory Coasts people are engaged in some type of agricultural activity Its among the world's largest producers and exporters of coffee, cocoa, and palm oil

= Unemployment = It has went up about 40% to 50% since the civil war = = = Exports = = = Cocoa Coffee Rice Yams Corn Cotton Rubber Tobacco Lumber = = = Drugs = Cannabis Coca Cocaine Marijuana Hanish Heroin Poppy Straw Mandrax

= Internet Access = Able to use the Internet There are 660,000 Which ranks them 101st in the world

= Timeline = 1960 - France grants independence under President Felix Houphouet-Boigny. He holds power until he dies in 1993. 1993 - Henri Konan Bedie becomes president following the death of Houphouet-Boigny. 1993 - Henri Konan Bedie becomes president following the death of Houphouet-Boigny. 1995 October - Bedie re-elected in a ballot that is boycotted by opposition parties in protest at restrictions imposed on their candidates. 1999 - July - Alassane Ouattara, a Muslim, leaves job at International Monetary Fund and returns to run for president in 2000; his plan to challenge Bedie splits country along ethnic and religious lines. Opponents say he is national of Burkina Faso, not Ivory Coast. Coup 1999 - Bedie overthrown in military coup led by Robert Guei. Bedie flees to France. 2000 October - Guei proclaims himself president after announcing he has won presidential elections, but is forced to flee in the wake of a popular uprising against his perceived rigging of the poll.

2000 December - President Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) emerges as the biggest single party in parliamentary elections. 2001 January - Attempted coup fails. 2001 March - President Gbagbo and opposition leader Ouattara meet for the first time since violence erupted between their supporters in October 2000 and agree to work towards reconciliation. 2001 - Reports of child slave ship off Africa's west coast spark allegations of child slavery in cocoa plantations, straining international relations. Government moves to tackle the issue. 2001 March - Calls for fresh presidential and legislative elections after Alassane Ouattara's party gains majority at local polls.

2001 June - Amnesty International criticises government's human rights record over alleged extra-judicial killings of 57 northerners during presidential election campaign in October 2000. Eight gendarmes accused of the killings are cleared in August. 2001 October - President Gbagbo sets up National Reconciliation Forum. General Guei refuses to attend in protest against the arrest of his close aide Captain Fabien Coulibaly. 2001 November - Opposition leader Alassane Ouattara returns, ending year-long exile in France and Gabon. 2002 August - Ouattara's RDR opposition party given four ministerial posts in new government. Rebellion 2002 19 September - Mutiny in Abidjan by soldiers unhappy at being demobilised grows into full-scale rebellion, with Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement rebels seizing control of the north. 2002 October-December - Short-lived ceasefire in October gives way to further clashes and battle for key cocoa-industry town of Daloa. Previously unknown rebel groups seize towns in west. 2003 January - President Gbagbo accepts peace deal at talks in Paris. Deal proposes power-sharing government. 2003 March - Political parties, rebels agree on new government to include nine members from rebel ranks. "Consensus" prime minister, Seydou Diarra, is tasked with forming cabinet. 2003 May - Armed forces sign ceasefire with rebel groups. 2003 July - At a ceremony in the presidential palace, military chiefs and rebels declare that the war is over. 2003 August - Group of suspected mercenaries and their backers detained in France; said to have planned to assassinate President Gbagbo. 2003 December - 19 killed in armed attack on state TV building in Abidjan. UN deploys 2004 March - Deadly clashes during crackdown on opposition rally against President Gbagbo in Abidjan. First contingent of UN peacekeeping force deployed. 2004 May - UN report says March's opposition rally was used as pretext for planned operation by security forces. Report says more than 120 people were killed and alleges summary executions, torture.

2004 November - Ivorian air force attacks rebels; French forces enter the fray after nine of their soldiers are killed in an air strike. Violent anti-French protests ensue. UN imposes arms embargo. 2004 December - Parliament passes reforms envisaged under the 2003 peace accord, including abolishing the need for a president to have Ivorian parents. 2005 April - After talks in South Africa the government and rebels declare an "immediate and final end" to hostilities. 2005 June - Massacres in western town of Duekoue: President Gbagbo says more than 100 people were killed, but contradicts widely-held view that ethnic rifts lay behind violence. Poll called off 2005 October - Planned elections are shelved as President Gbagbo invokes a law which he says allows him to stay in power. The UN extends his mandate for a further year. 2005 December - Economist Charles Konan Banny is nominated as prime minister by mediators. He is expected to disarm militias and rebels and to organise elections due in October 2006. 2006 January - Violent street demonstrations by supporters of President Gbagbo over what they see as UN interference in internal affairs. 2006 February - Main political rivals meet on Ivorian soil for the first time since the 2002 rebellion. They agree to meet again to iron out differences. 2006 June - Militias loyal to President Gbagbo miss disarmament deadlines. 2006 September - Political, rebel leaders say they've failed to make any breakthrough on the main issues standing in the way of elections - principally voter registration and disarmament. Government resigns over a scandal involving the dumping of toxic waste in Abidjan. Fumes from the waste kill three people and make many more ill. 2006 November - UN Security Council resolution extends the transitional government's mandate for another year Power-sharing deal 2007 March - Government and New Forces rebels sign a power-sharing peace deal, mediated by Burkina Faso. Under the deal, New Forces leader Guillaume Soro is named as prime minister.

2007 April - President Gbagbo declares "the war is over" between his government and northern rebels, as the two sides move to dismantle the military buffer zone. Within days aid workers report an increase in violence. 2007 May - Militia begin to disarm. 2007 June - Prime Minister Soro survives a rocket attack on his plane. 2007 October - UN Security Council votes to maintain sanctions for another year. 2007 December - Rebel, government soldiers pull back from front-line positions as part of process to reunite country. 2008 January - UN renews mandate of 8,000 peacekeepers for six months to ensure polls are held by mid-year. 2008 January - Ten people are arrested and charged for plotting a coup in December 2007. Their alleged ring-leader, Sergeant Ibrahim Coulibaly, denies the charges. 2008 April - President Gbagbo cancels custom duties after a second day of violent protests against rising food costs. Date of long-awaited presidential elections put back from June to the end of November. Disarmament begins 2008 May - Former rebels who still control the northern half of the country begin disarming. 2008 July - Ivory Coast complains that a 2004 UN arms embargo is crippling efforts to cut illegal fishing. The government increases diesel prices by 44% and petrol by 29% in response to rising world oil prices. 2008 August - The government halves ministerial salaries and those of state company managers to pay for a 10% fuel-price cut. 2008 October - The UN extends its arms embargo and sanctions on Ivory Coast's diamond trade for another year, promising to review the embargo once the country holds a presidential election. 2008 November - President Gbagbo and Prime Minister Soro agree to postpone presidential elections yet again, citing delays in voter registration and security concerns. IMF write-off 2009 April - International Monetary Fund (IMF) agrees to write off $3bn (£2bn) of Ivory Coast's $12.8bn national debt. 2009 May - Former rebels hand over 10 northern zones to civilian administrators, as part of the process of returning the northern part of the country to state control. 2009 October - UN extends ban on Ivory Coast's diamond trade for another year. 2009 November - Presidential elections, due on 29 November, are postponed again. 2010 February - Voter registration is suspended indefinitely after days of violent protests at government handling of process. President Gbagbo dissolves government and electoral commission, triggering further unrest. Guillaume Soro forms new coalition government including both main opposition parties after crisis talks brokered by Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore. 2010 March - Newly appointed electoral commission starts work. Provided by: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1043106.stm = = = Topography = = = = = = Sources = Book - Africa (Ivory Coast) By: William Mark Habeeb

Internet : https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world.../iv.html www.africaguide.com/country/ivoryc/ www.infoplease.com › [|World] › [|Countries] › [|Côte d'Ivoire] www.traveldocs.com/ci/govern.htm http://culturegrams.com/

= = = = = = = =