Congo, Democratic Republic of.

Cote d'ivoire

Country Profile

Djibouti


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General

The Republic of Cote d'Ivoire gained its independence from France in 1970. It is situated in West Africa and is bordered by Ghana, Liberia, Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. The country maintained relative stability for a long period of time, until 1999-2000, when a military coup overthrew the democratically-held government. The coup resulted from years of economic downturn that was a result of decreased foreign investments and a steep decline in the price for its main export, cocoa. Continued political instability and falling prices for main exports have continued to impede growth in Cote d'Ivoire.

The main ethnic groups in Cote d'Ivoire are Akan, Voltaiques or Gur, Northern Mandes, Krous, Southern Mandes and other various tribes and ethnic groups. The three major religions are Islam, Christianity, and Indigenous beliefs with all comprising an equal percentage of the population. The official language of Cote d'Ivoire is French as a result of its close ties with France, however more than 60 native dialects are still spoken throughout the country.

The government of Cote d'Ivoire is a republic with a multiparty presidential regime and a legal system based on French civil and customary law. The past couple of years have been turbulent for the government, since a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history - overthrew the government led by President Henri Konan Bedie. Presidential and legislative elections held in October and December 2000 provoked violence due to the exclusion of opposition leader Alassane Outtara. In October 2000, Laurent Gbagbo replaced junta leader Robert Guei as president, ending 10 months of military rule. The president is democratically elected for a 5-year term, and appoints both the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister, Seydou DIARRA, was appointed as a transitional Prime Minister by President Gbagbo as part of a French brokered peace plan.

Cote d'Ivoire is among the world's largest producers and exporters of coffee, cocoa beans, and palm oil. Its other exports consist mainly of other agricultural products such as bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber. Consequently, the economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices for these products and to weather conditions. Despite government attempts to diversify the economy, it is still largely dependent on agriculture and related activities, which engage roughly 68% of the population. After several years of lagging performance, the Ivorian economy began a comeback in 1994, due to the improved prices for cocoa and coffee, growth in nontraditional primary exports such as pineapples and rubber, limited trade and banking liberalization, offshore oil and gas discoveries, and generous external financing and debt rescheduling by multilateral lenders and France. Moreover, government adherence to donor-mandated reforms led to a jump in growth to 5% annually during 1996-99. The political instability in 1999-2001 led to negative growths due to continued low prices of key exports, decreased foreign investments, and post-coup instability.

Education

Health

The main health epidemic that Cote d'Ivoire faces is HIV/AIDS, which has infected more than 1 million people throughout the country. The high percentage of HIV/AIDS along with the low percentage of animal products in the Ivorian diet has resulted in decreased life expectancy rates. In 2002, the life expectancy was 44.72 years for the average person in the country. In addition to the decreased life expectancy, only 52% of the population have access to improved sanitation, while 77% of the population have access to improved water sources.

Food & Diet

Agriculture plays a big and important role in the daily lives for many people in Cote d'Ivoire. The industry provides job for many of its citizens as well as providing the main staples for the Ivorian diet. In 2002 more than 2,504 calories out of 2,594 calories came from agricultural sources while the other 90% came from animal sources. The main staples in the diet are rice, wheat, maise and starchy roots. The starchy roots consist mainly of cassava and yams. The decreased percentage of animal sources along with illnesses suffered from the HIV/AIDS epidemic have resulted in more than 21% of the population are either to thin or to short for their age.

Indicators

Population

	1991	1995	1999	2002
Total (millions)	12,420,931	14,114,808	15,474,938	16,597,693
< 5 years	2,347,117	2,551,907	2,702,615	2,840,928
5-14 years	3,545,137	4,100,568	4,469,044	4,734,154
> 14 years	6,528,677	7,462,333	8,303,279	9,022,611
Population Growth Rate	1980-90		1990-2000
			2.45
TFR (Total Fertility Rate)	1990		2000
	6.2		5.61
Under- five Mortality Rate	1990		2000
	72		175
IMR (Infant Mortality Rate)	1990		2000
	114		92.23
MMR (deaths per 100,000 live births)	1990		2000
			580
% Pregnant Women Immunized against Tetanus	2000		2000

DPT Immunization (% < 12 mths)
Measles Immunization (% < 12mths)

*Economic*

GDP (US $ billions)	1990		2000
			25.5
GNP per capita at PPP (US $)	1990		2000
	780		680
GNP annual growth rate	1990		2000

% Below Poverty Line ($1/day)
Public Expenditure on Health (% of GDP)	1990		2000
			2.7
Public Expenditure on Education (% of GDP)	1990		2000


*Education*

	1990	1995	1999	2002
Literacy pop. over 15
Females	74.3	68.7
Males	49.5	44.9
Gross Primary School Enrollment (% of age group)
Females		45
Males		61
Gross Secondary School Enrollment (% of age group)
Females
Males

*Health and Nutrition*

% of Births Attended	1990		2000
	50		47
% Pop. Access Improved Sanitation	1990		2000
			52
% Pop. Access Improved Water	1990		2000
			77
% Pop. living with HIV/AIDS, (age 15 -49)	1990		2000

Weight/Age (% less than –2 z-score)	1990		2000
			21
Height/Age (% less than –2 z-score)			22
Median Duration Breastfeeding
Food and Dietary Indices	1991	1995	1999	2002
Total Calories Consumed (kcals/day)	2,498	2,524	2,575	2,594
Animal Sources of food (kcals/day)	118	94	108	90

Sources

1. http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html

2. http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty/report/

3. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

4. http://www.measuredhs.com/data/indicators

5. http://apps.fao.org/page/collections?subset=nutrition

6. http://genderstats.worldbank.org

7. http://www.undp.org/hdr2002/indicator/

8. http://www.state.gov

9. http://www.childinfo.org/

10. Europa World Year Book 2001, 42nd edition, 2nd volume

Population

GNP per capita at PPP (US $)

Sources