Did you know that French is the official language of Ivory Coast? Here’s presenting interesting and fun facts about the French-speaking African country of Ivory Coast/ The Republic of Cote d'Ivoire.

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Facts About Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast or the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire is an African country located in the western part of the continent of Africa. It boasts of an area of 322, 462 square kilometers and has a population of 21,058,798. Before being occupied by Europeans, Ivory Coast played host to important states like the Kong Empire, Gyaaman and Baoule. However, Ivory Coast experienced a sea change when it became a French colony in 1893. This was during the peak of Europe’s obsession with Africa. Almost 70 years later, the country broke free from French chains when it attained independence on 7 August, 1960. From then on until 1993, Ivory Coast was ruled by Félix Houphouët-Boigny. The country was plagued with a coup and a civil war in 1999 and 2000, respectively. This however, was only after the rule of Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Peace was restored in the country after an agreement with the Government and the rebels. Ivory Coast is now a Republic and is headed by a powerful executive head in the form of its President. Read on to dive deeper into interesting and fun facts about the African nation of Ivory Coast.
Image: Rodrigo_Soldon@flickr
 
Interesting And Fun Facts About Ivory Coast 
  • Ivory Coast or Cote d'Ivoire is located in Western Africa, between Ghana and Liberia and bordering the North Atlantic Ocean.
  • Ivory Coast, in terms of geographical area occupied, is just a little bigger than New Mexico.
  • The country’s neighbors comprise Mali, Ghana, Liberia, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.
  • Ivory Coast experiences three main seasons, warm and dry weather from November to March, hot and dry from March to May, and hot and wet from June to October.
  • The African country of Ivory Coast was the first black Republic and first non-English speaking country to win an Academy Award. The Oscar went to the country’s film ‘Black and White in Color’ when it won the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film. 
  • Ivory Coast was known as Ivory Coast only until October 1985. The country is now officially known as ‘The Republic of Cote d'Ivoire’.
  • French is the official language of ‘The Republic of Cote d’Ivoire’. Apart from French, Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin and Cebaara Senufo make up for the vernacular languages of the African country.
  • Did you know that Ivory Coast is a member country of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)? The country gained it membership in the 1960s and since then has been sending athletes to take part in the prestigious Games tournament.
  •  Ivory Coast first took part in the Miss Universe pageant in July 1986, in Panama City when the country was represented by Marie Francoise Koume.
  • Ivory Coast is home to more than 60 ethnic groups, but comparatively has still been a very peaceful country. That goes to say a lot, doesn’t it?
  • Football or soccer is extremely popular in this African country. Chelsea’s Didier Yves Drogba Tebily is the Ivory Coast’s most popular soccer star.
  • Yamoussoukro is Cote d'Ivoire's capital; however, Abidjan, the country’s ex-capital is its largest city.
  • More than 70% of the nation’s population depends on the success of its agriculture and tourism industries.
  • Ivory Coast is one amongst the top Cocoa producing countries of the world. In recent times, palm oil and bananas too have managed to graduate into important revenue earning crops.
  • Ivory Coast, at present, is headed by President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Guillaume Soro.

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