IVORY COAST

Basic information Population 23.7 million Capital Yamoussoukro Official language French; lot of vernacular languages spoken Religion: Islam 39%, Christianity 33%, Folk religion 12%, others 16% Presidential republic Gained its independence under French control in August 7, 1960

History Islam was spread to Ivory Coast in the 11th century by Sudanic empires From 14th to 16th century different empires controlled the country’s area: the Ghana empire, the Mali empire and Songhai The French influence began in the 19th century About 150,000 Ivorian men died in WW1 Gained its independence peacefully in 1960 Nearly 10% average annual growth rate for the next 20 years Two civil wars (2002-2007 & 2010-2011)

Economy Largest economy in the West African Economic and Monetary Union Largest exporter of cocoa beans in the world Total GDP $37 billion (nominal), $96 billion (PPP) GDP per capita $1,500 (nominal), $3,800 (PPP) Gini coefficient 41 (medium) HDI 0.47 (low)

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What is/what has gone wrong? Lots of issues: high corruption, mismanagement of funds, poor governance, low democracy, political conflicts and civil wars, rampant deforestation and overpopulation Abundant natural resources, but still a very poor country  resource curse About half a million people live with HIV/AIDS, malaria deaths high Most of the water bodies are polluted

Anything positive? GDP per capita has started to grow in recent years Inflation is currently low Rapid growth in life expectancy (though still below the level of 1980s) HIV infection rate has been decreasing over the last decade A slight decrease in unemployment rate

What should be done? The ”roots” should be fixed: better democracy, better management of natural resources, investments in economy Violent political conflicts should be stopped More education and prevention on healthcare and education Overpopulation should be got under control