Bonjour, welcome to the Ivory Coast, the amazing country in West Africa!
The Ivory Coast is in West Africa by the Atlantic Ocean. Its name comes from ivory, which was traded on the coast.
The Ivory Coast is surrounded by Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana. The long Atlantic coastline consists of rocky cliffs with picturesque coves and sandy beaches. In the north there is a tropical rain forest with huge 50-meter tall trees. The rain forest reaches into the central highlands. The further inland you go, the more savanna covers the land.
The last third of the country is covered by dry savannah. Besides acacia trees and briers not much grows here.
For comparison: The country is about as large as Germany.
Abidjan and Yamoussoukro
Abidjan is located on the Gulf of Guinea. During the French colonial era the city was expanded into a military seaport. Within only a few decades the city grew to a metropolis and now counts over six million inhabitants. It is the biggest city in the country and also its economic hotspot. Abidjan is also known as the “Paris of West Africa”. The city districts are built in a French colonial style and prompt memories of the long French rule here.
Since 1983 Yamoussoukro is the new capital. Yamoussoukro used to be a small village in the middle of Ivory Coast. Within only a few decades the village was turned into a modern city with skyscrapers and big boulevards. The most magnificent building is probably the palace of the former president Félix Houphouet-Boigny, who was known to be extremely fond of gold and luxury. The modern mosque with stylized minarets is worth a visit. But the true highlight of Yamoussoukro is the huge cathedral Notre Dame de la Paix. How come is the largest church in the world in exactly this rain forest? The same ex-president who built the great palace also commissioned this church. He decided to build a cathedral that dwarfs all others. The Notre Dame de la Paix is an exact copy of the St. Peter's Basilica, only a little larger.
Peoples and Languages
60 different ethnic groups live in the Ivory Coast. The Baoulé, who enjoy a strong position in the state, live around Yamoussoukro. The Dan populate the area around the city Man. They are well known for their masks and their beautiful songs for several voices. The Malinké and Dioula populate the area a little further north. They are traders and their language is widely spread. The Agni created an influential kingdom, which was known for its harsh laws. Not every foreigner who visited the Agni returned alive. The tribes on the coast and in the southern part of the country are christian. The northern peoples are of islamic belief. This is why mosques can be found in the northern part of the Ivory Coast and christian churches can be found in the south. French is the only official language of Ivory Coast. Next to French everybody speaks their traditional african language.
Abidjan is a colorful, loud, and worth a trip. The Ifon-Museum offers insight into the way of life and the handicraft of the different peoples of the Ivory Coast. On the vibrant market Marché Artisanal you can find art and handiwork, souvenirs, and delicious food, such as Ochoko, also known as plantains, which are then fried in palmoil and seasoned with a good amount of garlic and chili. Fish and seafood are served alongside. The Basilica of Yamoussoukro is so colossal that every visitor wants to see it.
Schools and Education
The schools in the Ivory Coast are structured similar to the schools in France. There are elementary schools, high schools, and schools for higher education. The smaller children can romp around in nursery schools. Class takes place in French according to the French curriculum. School is compulsory here. Attending school is free of charge so all children have the possibility to learn. Elementary school takes six years. After different exams one can attend a high school, provided the parents have enough money. The high schools in the Ivory Coast are usually private and very expensive. During the civil war in 2005 many schools were destroyed and teachers began to leave the unsafe regions.
Economy and Natural Resources
The economy of the country used to be based solely on the cocoa plant. The Ivory Coast is the world’s largest cocoa producer. This sounds good at first. The problem is that many children are forced to work on the plantations. Even today two thirds of the Ivorians live off agriculture. They drudge on plantations or process agricultural products. The export earnings come from the sale of coffee, cocoa, palm oil, and tropical woods. Mineral oil was found in the seventies. Today the earnings from oil far exceed those of coffee and cocoa beans.
Animals and National Parks
Elephants have become very rare in Ivory Coast. They have almost been hunted to extinction due to their fangs. Today they are well protected. Leopards, hyenas, and jackals roam the plains of the north while hunting antelope and buffalo. Duikers wander the woods; the dwarf-antelopes have adjusted to the scrub and undergrowth of the thick forest. Monkeys are plentiful in Ivory Coast. Chimpanzees, gorillas, colobus monkeys, and vervet monkeys are still found very often. But due to the increasing amount of poachers, many mammals now face extinction. This is why large protected areas have been created. You can catch a tour of the rain forest in the national park Parc du Banco. The Taï National Park in the southwestern part of Ivory Coast still consist of a prehistoric rain forest, with trees that reach up to 50 meters. A research center for chimpanzees was created here. Its findings have fascinated the experts.
The first inhabitants of Ivory Coast were the forest peoples. Europeans disparagingly called them Pygmies, for they were quite small and dainty. They lived as hunters and gatherers and roamed about the rain forests. In the 9th century Bantu peoples from the Congo began migrating to Ivory Coast and established small kingdoms. The kingdom of the Agni was small but it was famous for its secret mysteries like the mystery of the holy monkeys of Soko. Even today the king of Agni holds audiences in his palace in Abengourou. You can visit him there and if you are lucky you can see the glorious mask dances, for which the Agni are quite famous. When Portuguese tradesmen reached Ivory Coast in the 15h century, the Ivorian’s had no idea which horrors the sailors would bring over the country. European powers took control over the region of Ivory coast. They began to built trading posts and harbours. In 1893, Ivory Coast was made a French colony. Coffee, cocoa, and palm oil crops were soon planted along the coast. The farmers were forced to work for the French and had to pay taxes. It was not before 1960 when Ivory Coast gained its independence.
Ivory Coast Today
For many years a civil war shattered the country. The struggle between rebel troops and government troops was terminated in 2007 and a peace treaty was signed. Since then the democratically elected Alassane Ouattara is the head of state. One of his tasks is to reconcile the country and fight poverty and corruption. Ivory Coast has enough natural resources and fertile soil to find back to the economic strength it once had. Another one of his tasks is to rebuild schools and train teachers, so that all children can attend classes again. The children can only profit from the riches of their country if they have a good education.
Did you know?
Around 1900 there were around fourteen million hectares of rain forest in Ivory Coast. Today only around 2,5 million hectares of rain forest are left. The reason for this intense clear-cutting is the high price for tropical woods on the world market. Large campaigns against the tropical wood industry were started. The effect was, that Westerners bought less and less wood from Africa. Nevertheless, the clear-cutting didn’t stop. The reason: the quickly growing number of inhabitants needed new acreage to farm on. The farmers began burning down parts of forests. Sometimes these fires became uncontrollable and more rain forest than planned was destroyed.