Côte d'Ivoire is a country in West Africa. It has an area of 322,462 square kilometres (124,503 sq mi), and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along theGulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998[6] and was estimated to be 20,617,068 in 2009.[1] Côte d'Ivoire's first national census in 1975 counted 6.7 million inhabitants.[7]
Prior to its colonization by Europeans, Côte d'Ivoire was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. There were two Anyikingdoms, Indénié and Sanwi, which attempted to retain their separate identity through the French colonial period and after Côte d'Ivoire's independence.[8]An 1843–1844 treaty made Côte d'Ivoire a "protectorate" of France and in 1893, it became a French colony as part of the European scramble for Africa.
Côte d'Ivoire became independent on 7 August 1960. From 1960 to 1993, the country was led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny. It maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbours, while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially to France. Since the end of Houphouët-Boigny's rule, Côte d'Ivoire has experienced one coup d’état, in 1999, and a civil war, which broke out in 2002.[9] A political agreement between the government and the rebels brought a return to peace.[10] Côte d'Ivoire is a republic with a strong executive power invested in the President. Its de jurecapital is Yamoussoukro and the biggest city is the port city of Abidjan. The country is divided into 19 regions and 81 departments. It is a member of theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation, African Union, La Francophonie, Latin Union, Economic Community of West African States and South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone.
The official language is French, although many of the local languages are widely used, including Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin and Cebaara Senufo. The main religions are Islam, Christianity (primarily Roman Catholic) and various indigenous religions.
Through production of coffee and cocoa, the country was an economic powerhouse during the 1960s and 1970s in West Africa. However, Côte d'Ivoire went through an economic crisis in the 1980s, leading to the country's period of political and social turmoil. The 21st century Ivoirian economy is largely market-based and relies heavily on agriculture, with smallholder cash crop production being dominant.[1]
Establishment of french rule:
Compared to neighbouring Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire suffered little from the slave trade, as European slaving and merchant ships preferred other areas along the coast with better harbours. The earliest recorded European voyage to West Africa was made by the Portuguese and took place in 1482. The first West African French settlement, Saint Louis, was founded in the mid-seventeenth century in Senegal while, at about the same time, the Dutch ceded to the French a settlement at Goree Island off Dakar. A French mission was established in 1637 Assinie near the border with the Gold Coast(now Ghana).
Assinie's survival was precarious, however. It was not until the mid-nineteenth century that the French were firmly established in Côte d'Ivoire. In 1843–1844, French admiral Bouët-Willaumez signed treaties with the kings of the Grand Bassam and Assinie regions, placing their territories under a French protectorate. French explorers, missionaries, trading companies, and soldiers gradually extended the area under French control inland from the lagoon region. Pacification was not accomplished until 1915.
Activity along the coast stimulated European interest in the interior, especially along the two great rivers, the Senegal and the Niger. Concerted French exploration of West Africa began in the mid-nineteenth century but moved slowly, based more on individual initiative than on government policy. In the 1840s, the French concluded a series of treaties with local West African rulers that enabled the French to build fortified posts along the Gulf of Guinea to serve as permanent trading centres.
The first posts in Côte d'Ivoire included one at Assinie and another at Grand Bassam, which became the colony's first capital. The treaties provided for French sovereignty within the posts, and for trading privileges in exchange for fees or coutumes paid annually to the local rulers for the use of the land. The arrangement was not entirely satisfactory to the French, because trade was limited and misunderstandings over treaty obligations often arose. Nevertheless, the French government maintained the treaties, hoping to expand trade.
France also wanted to maintain a presence in the region to stem the increasing influence of the British along the Gulf of Guinea coast. The French built naval bases to keep out non-French traders and began a systematic conquest of the interior. (They accomplished this only after a long war in the 1890s againstMandinka forces, mostly from Gambia. Guerrilla warfare by the Baoulé and other eastern groups continued until 1917).[citation needed]
The defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and the subsequent annexation by Germany of the French province of Alsace Lorraine caused the French government to abandon its colonial ambitions and withdraw its military garrisons from its French West African trading posts, leaving them in the care of resident merchants. The trading post at Grand Bassam in Côte d'Ivoire was left in the care of a shipper from Marseille, Arthur Verdier, who in 1878 was named Resident of the Establishment of Côte d'Ivoire.[20]
In 1886, to support its claims of effective occupation, France again assumed direct control of its West African coastal trading posts and embarked on an accelerated program of exploration in the interior. In 1887 Lieutenant Louis Gustave Binger began a two-year journey that traversed parts of Côte d'Ivoire's interior. By the end of the journey, he had concluded four treaties establishing French protectorates in Côte d'Ivoire. Also in 1887, Verdier's agent, Marcel Treich-Laplène, negotiated five additional agreements that extended French influence from the headwaters of the Niger River Basin through Côte d'Ivoire.
Regions:
Côte d'Ivoire is divided into nineteen regions (régions):
Culture:
Main article: Culture of Côte d'Ivoire
[edit]Music
Main article: Music of Côte d'Ivoire
Each of the ethnic groups in Côte d'Ivoire has its own music genres, most showing strong vocal polyphony. Talking drums are also common, especially among theAppolo, and polyrhythms, another African characteristic, are found throughout Côte d'Ivoire and are especially common in the southwest.
[edit]Sport
Côte d'Ivoire won an Olympic silver medal for men's 400-metre in 1984. The Côte d'Ivoire football team has played in the World Cup twice, in Germany 2006 and in South Africa 2010. The national Rugby team played at the Rugby World Cup in South Africa in 1995.
[edit]Cuisine
Main article: Ivorian cuisine
The traditional cuisine of Côte d'Ivoire is very similar to that of neighboring countries in west Africa in its reliance on grains and tubers. Cassava and plantains are significant parts of Ivorian cuisine.[51] A type of corn paste called “Aitiu” is used to prepare corn balls, and peanuts are widely used in many dishes.[51] Attiéké is a popular side dish in Côte d'Ivoire made with grated cassava and is a vegetable-based couscous.[51] A common street-vended food is aloko, which is ripe banana fried in palm oil, spiced with steamed onions and chili and eaten alone or with grilled fish. Chicken is commonly consumed, and has a unique flavor due to its lean, low-fat mass in this region.[51] Seafood includes tuna,sardines, shrimp and bonito,[51] which are similar to tuna. Mafé is a common dish consisting of meat in a peanut sauce.[52] Slow-simmered stews with various ingredients are another common food staple in Côte d'Ivoire.[52] "Kedjenou" is a dish consisting of chicken and vegetables that are slow-cooked in a sealed pot with little or no added liquid, which concentrates the flavors of the chicken and vegetables and tenderizes the chicken.[52] It's usually cooked in a pottery jar called a canary, over a slight fire, or cooked in an oven.[52] "Bangui" is a local palm wine.
Ivorians have a particular kind of small, open-air restaurant called a maquis, which is unique to the region. Maquis normally feature braised chicken and fish covered in onions and tomatoes, served with attiéké, or kedjenou, a chicken dish made with vegetables and a mild sauce.
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