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Where is Cote d'Ivoire?
About Cote d'Ivoire
The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

Cote d'Ivoire is a large country in western Africa.

Cote d'Ivoire borders the Atlantic Ocean.

The land is mostly flat with mountains in the north west.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Cote d'Ivoire, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 8 00N
Longitude - 5 00W

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Check the weather in Yamoussoukro now.

This is the time in Yamoussoukro now

The Ivorian flag is three equal vertical stripes of orange, on the flag pole side, white and green. Orange represents the land of the north and fertility, white stands for peace and unity while green is for the forests of the south and the hope for a bright future.

The capital of Cote d'Ivoire is Yamoussoukro.

Cote d'Ivoire is a presidential republic with a president as head of state and head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in Cote d'Ivoire is the African franc.

French is the official language.

Hear the National Anthem


These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Ivorian National Anthem called Song of Abidjan It was adopted in 1960. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

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.

We have already written our own history of England but are asking schools in Cote d'Ivoire to provide us with a detailed history of their own country. Check how here.


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The total land area of Cote d'Ivoire is 318,003 sq kms which is the 28th largest in Africa.

Cote d'Ivoire has lakes, rivers and canals which total 4,460 sq kms.

Cote d'Ivoire has boundaries with 5 countries

• Guinea 816 kms
• Liberia 778 kms
• Ghana 720 kms
• Mali 599 kms
• Burkina Faso 545 kms

Cote d'Ivoire has a coastline of 515 kms which is the 24th longest in Africa.

The highest point in Cote d'Ivoire is Monts Nimba at 1,752 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Cote d'Ivoire is 26.26 million people, making it the 16th largest country in Africa by population.

Of this number 13.07 million are females and 13.19 million are males.

A person from Cote d'Ivoire is called an Ivorian.

To be a citizen of Cote d'Ivoire, one of your parents must be a citizen of Cote d'Ivoire. It is not sufficient to be born in Cote d'Ivoire. You have to live in Cote d'Ivoire for 5 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Cote d'Ivoire, by population are:-

• Abidjan 3,677,115 people
• Abobo 900,000
• Bouaké 567,481
• Daloa 215,652
• San-Pédro 196,751

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



50.8% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Cote d'Ivoire is 30.1 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Cote d'Ivoire is 8.4 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

There are 54.4 deaths of girls under 1 year per 1,000 of births and 70.6 deaths of boys.

The median age for females is 19.8 and for males is 20.0. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 19.8.

The elderly dependency ratio is 5.3. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 18.9. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Cote d'Ivoire spends 5.7% of its total income on health care.

There are 0.23 doctors per 1,000 people.

We have no figures for the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people.

10.3% of the population are estimated as obese.

93.1% of the urban population and 68.8% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

32.8% of the urban population and 10.3% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Cote d'Ivoire releases 6.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 16th highest in Africa.

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Cote d'Ivoire spends 4.4% of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 6 in Cote d'Ivoire. Primary education is for six years until age 12 and secondary education must continue till 16 but can go on to 18/19. This may be followed by further education at a university or college.

We are waiting for information for school terms in Cote d'Ivoire.

32.5% of females and 53.1% of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

3.9% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 5.1% are unemployed while with males 2.8% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Cote d'Ivoire is 8.75 million.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

9.4% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 7 paved airports in Cote d'Ivoire, which is the 29th highest number in Africa.


There are 660 kilometres of railways in Cote d'Ivoire, the 28th longest in Africa.


There are 15,272 kilometres of roads in Cote d'Ivoire, which means Cote d'Ivoire is in 12th place for the most kilometres of roads in Africa.

There are 4 major national newspapers in Cote d'Ivoire.

There are 31.75 million mobile phone users.

1% of the people have a fixed landline.



6.30 million people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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