The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (French: La République de Côte d'Ivoire) is a West African country bordering Ghana, Liberia, Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. The coastline is about 500 km long.
Côte d'Ivoire covers an area of about 320,000 square kilometers and has a population of about 26.4 million (2020).
The administrative divisions of Côte d'Ivoire are divided into 31 regions.
The Ivorian army has an army strength of 27,400 men.
The naval strength is about 1,000 men.
The Air Force has a strength of 1400 men.
Côte d'Ivoire is rich in natural resources such as diamonds, gold, manganese, nickel, uranium, iron and oil. As of 2013, the proven reserves of oil are about 220 million barrels, natural gas reserves are 1.1 trillion cubic meters, iron ore is 1.5 billion tons, bauxite is 1.2 billion tons, nickel is 440 million tons, and manganese is 35 million tons.
The country's industries mainly include agricultural product processing, cotton spinning, oil refining, chemical industry, building materials, wood and mining.
Côte d'Ivoire is generally flat, with most of the inland plains below 400 meters above sea level, and the seaside is also lowland and swampy. The climate is dominated by tropical rainforests and savannahs, with abundant rainfall, and most of the country's land can be cultivated.
Koditwa's main cash crops are cocoa and coffee, cocoa production and export volume ranked first in the world, coffee production ranked third in Africa, cashew nut production ranked second in the world, cotton production ranked fourth in Africa, and palm oil production ranked fifth in the world.
Forest resources are abundant and timber has always been a major export product. Forest areas have declined sharply due to excessive logging, agricultural development, drought and forest fires; 15 million hectares were in 1960 and only 2.5 million hectares remained in 1991.
There are 69 ethnic groups in Côte d'Ivoire, each of which has its own language, but the majority of the population speaks Diura and the official language of Côte d'Ivoire is French.
There is no unified religious belief in Côte d'Ivoire, with one third of the inhabitants practicing Islam, one third of the population converting to Christianity and the other third being either non-religious or primitive.
Once upon a time, Côte d'Ivoire was a hub for African specialties, and the prosperity of trade made it one of the most developed countries in Africa, with not only a number of good ports in the sea, but also a road network in all directions.
Côte d'Ivoire was once one of the most prosperous tropical countries in West Africa, where political corruption and the civil war of 2002-2011 have brought the economy to a standstill.
Côte d'Ivoire has a large number of foreign nationals, mostly from neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Liberia, which should have been attracted to the earlier period of rapid economic development in Côte d'Ivoire.
In this way, the number of immigrants exceeded that of the natives of Côte d'Ivoire, and the ethnic structure of Côte d'Ivoire was completely reversed, and immigrants dominated the country, and aggravated ethnic and religious contradictions in the country, leaving a curse for the subsequent civil strife.
Ivory Coast is known as the only country destroyed by migration, transforming from a rich country into a country with a "low level of human development", with a poverty and illiteracy rate of about 50 per cent and an average life expectancy of its inhabitants in just over 50 years.
Côte d'Ivoire is a multi-ethnic country, each with its own unique marriage customs. The Ebrière people, who live on the southeast coast of Côte d'Ivoire, practise polygamy and are accustomed to considering polygamy to be a sign of wealth.
Côte d'Ivoire has two capitals, its economic capital is Abidjan, the financial and trade center of the West African region, and its political capital is Yamoussoukro.
The iconic building of the capital Yamoussoukro, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, the Guinness Book of World Records, lists it as the most cathedral in the world.