Cote d'Ivoire

total:

0.93 cu km/yr (24%/12%/65%)

per capita:

51 cu m/yr (2000)

• 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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.02 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1.01 male(s)/female

total population:

1.03 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

malaria and yellow fever

water contact:

schistosomiasis

animal contact disease:

rabies

note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)

noun:

Ivoirian(s)

adjective:

Ivoirian

conventional long form:

Republic of Cote d'Ivoire

conventional short form:

Cote d'Ivoire

local long form:

Republique de Cote d'Ivoire

local short form:

Cote d'Ivoire

note: pronounced coat-div-whar

former:

Ivory Coast

name:

Yamoussoukro

geographic coordinates:

6 49 N, 5 17 W

time difference:

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

note: although Yamoussoukro has been the official capital since 1983, Abidjan remains the commercial and administrative center; the US, like other countries, maintains its Embassy in Abidjan

• based on French civil law system and customary law;
• judicial review in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

chief of state:

President Laurent GBAGBO (since 26 October 2000)

head of government:

Prime Minister Guillaume SORO (since 4 April 2007)

cabinet:

• Council of Ministers appointed by the president;
• note - under the current power-sharing agreement the prime minister and the president share the authority to appoint ministers

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (no term limits);
• election last held 26 October 2000 (next to be held 30 November 2008; elections were to be held in 2005 but have been repeatedly postponed by the government; the UN Security Council has extended the government's mandate);
• prime minister appointed by the president

election results:

Laurent GBAGBO elected president; percent of vote - Laurent GBAGBO 59.4%, Robert GUEI 32.7%, Francis WODIE 5.7%, other 2.2%

• Supreme Court or Cour Supreme consists of four chambers:
  • Judicial Chamber for criminal cases,
  • Audit Chamber for financial cases,
  • Constitutional Chamber for judicial review cases,
  • and Administrative Chamber for civil cases
  ;
• there is no legal limit to the number of members

• Citizen's Democratic Union or UDCY [Theodore MEL EG];
• Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire or PDCI [Henri Konan BEDIE];
• Ivorian Popular Front or FPI [Pascale Affi N'GUESSAN];
• Ivorian Worker's Party or PIT [Francis WODIE];
• Opposition Movement of the Future or MFA [Innocent Augustin ANAKY];
• Rally of the Republicans or RDR [Alassane OUATTARA];
• Union for Democracy and Peace in Cote d'Ivoire or UDPCI [Toikeuse MABRI];
• over 144 smaller registered parties

• Federation of University and High School Students of Cote d'Ivoire or FESCI [Serges KOFFI];
• Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace or RHDP [Alphonse DJEDJE MADY];
• Young Patriots [Charles BLE GOUDE]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Yao Charles KOFFI

chancery:

3421 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007

telephone:

[1] (202) 797-0300

FAX:

[1] (202) 244-3088

chief of mission:

Ambassador Wanda L. NESBITT

embassy:

Cocody Riviera Golf 01, Abidjan

mailing address:

B. P. 1712, Abidjan 01

telephone:

[225] 22 49 40 00

FAX:

[225] 22 49 43 32

agriculture:

68%

industry and services:

NA (2007 est.)

lowest 10%:

2%

highest 10%:

34% (2002)

general assessment:

• well developed by African standards;
• telecommunications sector privatized in late 1990s and operational fixed-lines have more than quadrupled since that time;
• with multiple cellular service providers competing in the market, cellular usage has increased sharply to roughly 40 per 100 persons

domestic:

open-wire lines and microwave radio relay; 90% digitalized

international:

• country code - 225;
• landing point for the SAT-3/WASC fiber-optic submarine cable that provides connectivity to Europe and Asia;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) (2007)

total:

660 km

narrow gauge:

660 km 1.000 meter gauge

note: an additional 622 km of this railroad extends into Burkina Faso (2006)

total:

80,000 km

paved:

6,500 km

unpaved:

73,500 km

note: includes intercity and urban roads; another 20,000 km of dirt roads are in poor condition and 150,000 km of dirt roads are impassable (2006)

males age 16-49:

4,369,735

females age 16-49:

4,287,042 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

2,393,104

females age 16-49:

2,381,607 (2008 est.)

male:

234,032

female:

230,799 (2008 est.)

• despite the presence of over 9,000 UN forces (UNOCI) in Cote d'Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict still leaves displaced hundreds of thousands of Ivorians in and out of the country as well as driven out migrants from neighboring states who worked in Ivorian cocoa plantations;
• the March 2007 peace deal between Ivorian rebels and the government brought significant numbers of rebels out of hiding in neighboring states

refugees (country of origin):

25,615 (Liberia)

IDPs:

709,000 (2002 coup; most IDPs are in western regions) (2007)

• Cote d'Ivoire is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation;
• trafficking within the country is more prevalent than international trafficking and the majority of victims are children;
• women and girls are trafficked from northern areas to southern cities for domestic servitude, restaurant labor, and sexual exploitation;
• boys are trafficked internally for agricultural and service labor and transnationally for forced labor in agriculture, mining, construction, and in the fishing industry;
• women and girls are trafficked to and from other West and Central African countries for domestic servitude and forced street vending

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Cote d'Ivoire is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to eliminate trafficking in 2007, particularly with regard to its law enforcement efforts and protection of sex trafficking victims;
• in addition, Ivoirian law does not prohibit all forms of trafficking, and Cote d'Ivoire has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)

• illicit producer of cannabis, mostly for local consumption;
• utility as a narcotic transshipment point to Europe reduced by ongoing political instability;
• while rampant corruption and inadequate supervision leave the banking system vulnerable to money laundering, the lack of a developed financial system limits the country's utility as a major money-laundering center