1982 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1982 (Wikisource)
Geography
Area
323,750 km2; 40% forest and woodland, 8% cultivated, 52% grazing, fallow, and waste; 322 km of lagoons and connecting canals extend east-west along eastern part of the coast
Coastline
515 km
Land boundaries
3,227 km WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
12 nm (fishing 200 nm; exclusive economic zone 200 nm)
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
7 major indigenous ethnic groups; no single tribe more than 20% of population; most important are Agni, Baoule, Krou, Senoufou, Mandingo; approximately 2 million foreign Africans, mostly Upper Voltans; about 75,000 to 90,000 non-Africans (50,000 to 60,000 French and 25,000 to 30,000 Lebanese)
Labor force
over 85% of population engaged in agriculture, forestry, livestock raising; about 11% of labor force are wage earners, nearly half in agriculture, remainder in government, industry, commerce, and professions
Language
French official, over 60 native dialects, Dioula most widely spoken
Literacy
about 65% at primary school level
Nationality
noun—Ivorian(s); adjective—Ivorian
Organized labor
20% of wage labor force
Population
8,569,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 3.3%
Religion
66% animist, 22% Muslim, 12% Christian
Government
Branches
President has sweeping powers, unicameral legislature, separate judiciary
Capital
Abidjan Political subdivisions: 24 departments subdivided into 127 subprefectures
Communists
no Communist party; possibly some sympathizers
Elections
legislative and municipal elections were held in November 1980; Houphouët-Boigny reelected in October 1980 to his fifth consecutive five-year term Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast (PDC1), only party; Houphouët-Boigny firmly controls party
Government leader
President Félix HOUPHOUËT-BOIGNY
Legal system
based on French civil law system and customary law; constitution adopted 1960; judicial review in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court; legal education at Abidjan School of Law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Member of
AFDB, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, ECOWAS, EIB (associate), Entente, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMCO, IMF, IPU, ITU, Niger River Commission, NAM, OAU, OCAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
National holiday
7 December
Official name
Republic of the Ivory Coast
Suffrage
universal over age 21
Type
republic; one-party presidential regime established 1960
Economy
Agriculture
commercial—coffee, cocoa, wood, bananas, pineapples, palm oil; food crops—corn, millet, yams, rice; other commodities—cotton, rubber, tobacco, fish; self-sufficient in most foodstuffs but rice, sugar, and meat imported
Aid
economic commitments—Western (non-US) ODA and OOF (1970-79), $1,341 million; US authorizations, including Ex-Im (FY70-80), $141 million
Budget
(1980), revenues $2.8 billion, current expenditures $2.8 billion, development expenditures $1.4 billion
Electric power
721,500 kW capacity (1980); 1.717 billion kWh produced (1980), 210 kWh per capita
Exports
$3.0 billion (f.o.b., 1980 est.); cocoa (32%), coffee (23%), tropical woods (19%), cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil
Fiscal year
calendar year
Fishing
catch 92,050 metric tons (1979 est.); exports $44.7 million (1979), imports $71.9 million (1979)
GDP
$10.3 billion (1980 est.), $1,250 per capita; real average annual growth rate, 6.8% (1980 est.)
Imports
$2.6 billion (f.o.b., 1980 est.); manufactured goods and semifinished products (50%), consumer goods (40%), raw materials and fuels (10%)
Major industries
food and lumber processing, oil refinery, automobile assembly plant, textiles, soap, flour mill, matches, three small shipyards, fertilizer plant, and battery factory
Major trade partners
(1979) France and other EC countries about 65%, US 10%, Communist countries about 3%
Monetary conversion rate
about 211.3 Communaute Financiere Africaine francs=US$1 (1980)
Communications
Airfields
50 total, 47 usable; 3 with permanent-surface runways; 3 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 9 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Civil air
23 major transport aircraft
Highways
45,600 km total; 2,461 km bituminous and bituminous-treated surface; 31,939 km gravel, crushed stone, laterite, and improved earth; 11,200 km unimproved
Inland waterways
740 km navigable rivers and numerous coastal lagoons
Ports
2 major (Abidjan, San Pedro), 3 minor
Railroads
657 km of the 1,173 km Abidjan to Ouagadougou, Upper Volta line, all single track meter gauge (1.00 m); only diesel locomotives in use
Telecommunications
system above African average; consists of open-wire lines and radio-relay links; 78,400 telephones (1.2 per 100 popl.); 3 AM, 8 FM, and 6 TV stations; 2 Atlantic Ocean satellite stations; 2 coaxial submarine cables
Military and Security
Military manpower
males 15-49, 2,081,000; 1,068,000 fit for military service; 84,000 males reach military age (18) annually