Close ties to France since independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment made Cote d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the tropical African states, but did not protect it from political turmoil.

In December 1999, a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history - overthrew the government. Junta leader Robert Guei blatantly rigged elections held in late 2000 and declared himself the winner. Popular protest forced him to step aside and brought runner-up Laurent Gbagbo into power.

Ivorian dissidents and disaffected members of the military launched a failed coup attempt in September 2002. Rebel forces claimed the northern half of the country, and in January 2003 were granted ministerial positions in a unity government under the auspices of the Linas-Marcoussis Peace Accord.

President Gbagbo and rebel forces resumed implementation of the peace accord in December 2003 after a three-month stalemate, but issues that sparked the civil war, such as land reform and grounds for citizenship, remain unresolved.

The central government has yet to exert control over the northern regions and tensions remain high between Gbagbo and opposition leaders. Several thousand French and West African troops remain in Cote d'Ivoire to maintain peace and facilitate the disarmament, demobilization, and rehabilitation process.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 18,013,409 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 40.6% (male 3,603,386/female 3,711,211) 15-64 years: 56.6% (male 5,128,824/female 5,060,027) 65 years and over: 2.8% (male 246,130/female 263,831) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 19.3 years male: 19.5 years female: 19 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 1.995% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 34.69 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 14.74 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 0.971 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.014 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.933 male(s)/female total population: 0.994 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 87.41 deaths/1,000 live births male: 103.84 deaths/1,000 live births female: 70.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 49 years male: 46.43 years female: 51.66 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 4.43 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 7% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 570,000 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 47,000 (2003 est.) Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria, yellow fever, and others are high risks in some locations water contact: schistosomiasis note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007)

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Nationality: noun: Ivoirian(s) adjective: Ivoirian

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Ethnic groups: Akan 42.1%, Voltaiques or Gur 17.6%, Northern Mandes 16.5%, Krous 11%, Southern Mandes 10%, other 2.8% (includes 130,000 Lebanese and 14,000 French) (1998)

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Religions: Muslim 35-40%, indigenous 25-40%, Christian 20-30% (2001) note: the majority of foreigners (migratory workers) are Muslim (70%) and Christian (20%)

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Languages: French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 50.9% male: 57.9% female: 43.6% (2003 est.)

Cote d'Ivoire is among the world's largest producers and exporters of coffee, cocoa beans, and palm oil. Consequently, the economy is highly sensitive to weather conditions and to fluctuations in international prices for these products. Despite government attempts to diversify the economy, it is still heavily dependent on agriculture and related activities, engaging roughly 68% of the population. Growth was negative in 2000-03 because of the difficulty of meeting the conditions of international donors, continued low prices of key exports, foreign divestment and civil war. Political turmoil has continued to damage the economy since 2004, with a rising risk premium associated with doing business in the country, foreign investment shriveling, transportation costs increasing, French businesses fleeing, and criminal elements that traffic in weapons and diamonds gaining ground. The government will continue to survive financially off of the sale of cocoa, which represents 90% of foreign exchange earnings, but the government will probably lose between 10% and 20% of its cocoa harvest to northern rebels who smuggle the cocoa they control to neighboring countries where cocoa prices are higher. The government remains hopeful that ongoing exploration of Cote d'Ivoire's offshore oil reserves will result in significant production that could boost daily crude output from roughly 33,000 barrels per day (b/d) to more than 200,000 b/d by the end of the decade.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $29.05 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $17.19 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 1.2% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,600 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 27% industry: 18.5% services: 54.5% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 6.738 million (68% agricultural) (2006 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 13% in urban areas (1998)

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Population below poverty line: 37% (1995)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.1% highest 10%: 28.8% (1995)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 45.2 (1998)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.2% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 11.8% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $2.837 billion expenditures: $3.154 billion; including capital expenditures of $420 million (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 69.4% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber

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Industries: foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity, ship construction and repair

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Industrial production growth rate: 15% (1998 est.)

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Electricity - production: 4.625 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 3.202 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 1.1 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 32,900 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 23,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 220 million bbl (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - production: 1.3 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 1.3 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 28.32 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $460 million (2006 est.)

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Exports: $7.832 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish

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Exports - partners: France 18.3%, Netherlands 9.7%, US 9.1%, Nigeria 7.2%, Germany 4.2% (2006)

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Imports: $5.548 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: fuel, capital equipment, foodstuffs

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Imports - partners: Nigeria 27.6%, France 25.4%, China 4.3% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.4 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $11.96 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $1 billion (1996 est.)

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Currency (code): Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States

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Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 522.89 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year