The Cote D’Ivoire (known in English as the Ivory Coast) is an independent country in West Africa. It is a republic, having a president, a prime minister, and a National Assembly. The judicial system is headed by a Supreme Court.
It achieved independence from the former Federation of French West Africa in 1960.
Yamoussoukro is the official capital of the country, but most government functions are located in the former capital of Abidjan.
The total land area is 124,503 square miles (322,463 square kilometers).
The population includes one quarter foreigners: Africans from bordering states, Europeans (mainly French), Syrians, and Lebanese.
Of the indigenous people, there are sixty different cultural groups which are divided into four ethno-linguistic groups.
The type of economic activity is determined by location. Some inhabitants are coastal people mainly engaged in fishing. Others are planters, herders or subsistence farmers, and traders, according to the topographic region of the country where they live.
There is tropical rain forest in the south and savanna in the north of the country. Inhabitants of the forest zone plant coffee and cocoa and harvest timber. In the dry savanna zone of the north, people are primarily merchants and traders. There is also some industry, including sawmills and textile mills, an automobile assembly plant, breweries, and smaller plants.
French is the official national language and the language in which school instruction is given.
Religions are traditional religion, Islam, and Christianity (mainly Roman Catholicism).
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