Ivory Coast

Cote d'Ivoire is a country located on the southern coast of West Africa. The political capital of Côte d'Ivoire is Yamoussoukro in the center of the country, and its economic capital and largest city is the port city of Abidjan. It is bordered by Guinea to the northwest, Liberia to the west, Mali to the northwest, Burkina Faso to the northeast, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) to the south. The official language of the republic is French, and the local languages ​​of the indigenous peoples are also widely used, including Beta, Baule, Diula, Dan, Anin and Sebaara Senufo. In total, 78 different languages ​​are spoken in Côte d'Ivoire. The country is home to a large number of adherents of Christianity, Islam and various indigenous religions.

Before colonization by Europeans, Côte d'Ivoire was home to several states, including Gyaman, the Kong Empire, and Baule. The area became a French protectorate in 1843 and became a French colony in 1893 amid Europe's struggle for Africa. He achieved independence in 1960 under the leadership of Felix Houfouet-Boigny, who ruled the country until 1993. Relatively stable by regional standards, Côte d'Ivoire has developed close political and economic ties with its West African neighbors, while maintaining close ties with the West, especially France. Its stability declined as a result of a coup d'état in 1999 and two civil wars, first between 2002 and 2007 and then in 2010-2011. In 2000, the country adopted a new constitution.

Côte d'Ivoire is a republic with a strong executive branch that belongs to its president. Thanks to the production of coffee and cocoa, the country was the economic center of West Africa in the 1960s and 1970s, although it experienced an economic crisis in the 1980s that contributed to a period of political and social upheaval. It was not until around 2014 that gross domestic product again reached its 1970s peak. In 2020, Côte d'Ivoire was the world's largest exporter of cocoa beans and had a high level of income for its region. In the 21st century, the Ivorian economy was largely market-based and it continues to depend heavily on agriculture, which is dominated by small-scale cash crop production.