1. IVORY COAST

2. 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

3. 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 ( & )

4. 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)

5. Mean income

6. Gini index

7. Poverty headcount

8. GDP per capita

9. Inequality

10. Population

11. Inflation

12. Life expectancy at birth

13. Unemployment

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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