Simple directory > Regional > Côte d'Ivoire

Country : Côte d'Ivoire Official name: République de Côte d'Ivoire (Republic of Côte d'Ivoire) Head of State: President Laurent Gbagbo (FPI) (since Oct 2000) Head of government: Interim Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny (from 4 Dec 2005). The transition period is due to end in Oct 2005. Ruling party: Government of National Unity formed Mar 2003: Front Populaire Ivorienne (FPI) (Ivorian Popular Front); Parti Democratique de la Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) (Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire); Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR) (Rally of Republicans); Union pour la Démocratie et la Paix en Côte d'Ivoire (UDPCI) (Union for Democracy and Peace in Côte d'Ivoire); Parti Ivoirien des Travailleurs (PIT) (Ivorian Workers' Party); Mouvement des Forces d'Avenir (MFA) (Movement of the Forces with a Future); Union Démocratique Citoyenne (UDCY) (Citizens' Democratic Union); Mouvement Patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI) (Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire); Mouvement pour la Justice et la Paix (MJP) (Movement for Justice and Peace); Mouvement Populaire Ivoirien du Grand Ouest (MPIGO) (Ivorian Popular Movement for the Far West) (On 4 Mar 2004, the Parti Démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) (Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire) pulled out of the coalition government.) Area: 3,224,630 square km Population: 18.95 million (2004) Capital: Yamoussoukro (administrative capital); Abidjan (economic centre) Official language: French Currency: CFA franc (CFAf) = 100 centimes (Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community) franc). New notes have been issued; old notes cease to be legal tender from Jan 2005. Exchange rate: CFAf507.21 per US$ (Nov 2004); CFAf655.96 per euro (pegged Jan 1999) GDP per capita: US$710 (2003) GDP real growth: -2.20% (2003) Unemployment: 13.00% (2003) Inflation: 3.40% (2003) Balance of trade: US$1.90 billion (2003) Foreign debt: US$10.30 billion (2003)

Historical profile

1960 Côte d'Ivoire gained independence from France. Felix Houphouet-Boigny, selected by French colonial rulers as the most promising successor to their rule, established a benevolent authoritarian regime which tended towards paternalism. Politics were based around oligarchs who gained power through government position, ran state-owned companies or gained positions in the ruling party, the Parti Démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) (Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire.

1970s–1980s Economic decline increased the pressure for political reform. Laurent Gbagbo, a lecturer and long-term dissident, emerged as the main opposition leader. He went into exile in 1982.

1988 Gbagbo returned from exile and founded the Front Populaire d'Ivoirie (FPI) (Ivorian Popular Front) to campaign for multi-party democracy.

1990 Houphouet-Boigny was forced to call elections which were convincingly won by the PDCI. Houphouet-Boigny won the presidential election..

1993 President Felix Houphouet-Boigny died after 30 years in power. The presidency passed provisionally to the former Speaker of Parliament and leader of the ruling PDCI, Henri Konan-Bédié. Under the constitution, he held the position of president of the National Assembly until the autumn 1995 election.

1995 Legislative and presidential elections were convincingly won by Konan-Bédié and the PDCI party.

1999 President Bédié was toppled in a military coup. General Robert Gueï seized the presidency.

2000 Laurent Gbagbo declared himself president following controversial elections which saw a boycott by one of the leading political parties.

2001 There was an unsuccessful armed coup by rebel soldiers.

2002 The constitutional court granted citizenship to the main opposition leader, Alassane Ouattara. He had been banned from participation in legislative and presidential elections in 2000 due to doubts over his nationality.

2003 President Laurent Gbagbo (FPI) named Seydou Diarra as prime minister; he was sworn in on 10 March. A Government of National Unity was formed in March 2003: Front Populaire Ivorienne (FPI) (Ivorian Popular Front); Parti Démocratique de la Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) (Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire); Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR) (Rally of Republicans); Union pour la Démocratie et la Paix en Côte d'Ivoire (UDPCI) (Union for Democracy and Peace in Côte d'Ivoire); Parti Ivoirien des Travailleurs (PIT) (Ivorian Workers' Party); Mouvement des Forces d'Avenir (MFA) (Movement of the Forces with a Future); Union Démocratique Citoyenne (UDCY) (Citizens' Democratic Union); Mouvement Patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI) (Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire); Mouvement pour la Justice et la Paix (MJP) (Movement for Justice and Peace); Mouvement Populaire Ivoirien du Grand Ouest (MPIGO) (Ivorian Popular Movement for the Far West).

2004 Rebels appointed ministers to joined a coalition government. On 4 March, PDCI pulled out of the power-sharing cabinet amid ongoing violence. Abidjan came under bombardment from rebel forces. When the Côte d'Ivoire airforce targetted the rebel held town of Bouake it killed nine French soldiers in the air raid. The French airforce retaliated by wiping out the Côte d'Ivoire airforce. Pro-government demonstrators erupted onto the capital's streets, looting and threatening foreign, particuarly French, targets.

2005 A UN report accused both rebel and government forces of atrocities including torture, systematic rape and mass execution. In April, the government, rebel and opposition leaders signed a deal to end the civil war which had started in 2002; the deal was brokered by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki. A previous Government of National Reconciliation was revived and took over until elections in October.

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