National name: République de Côte d'lvoire

President: Laurent Gbagbo (2000)

Prime Minister: Seydou Diarra (2003)

Area: 124,502 sq mi (322,460 sq km)

Population (2005 est.): 17,298,040 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 35.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 90.8/1000; life expectancy: 48.6; density per sq mi: 139

Capital (2003 est.): Yamoussoukro (official), 185,600

Largest city: Abidjan (administrative capital), 4,113,600 (metro. area), 3,427,500 (city proper)

Monetary unit: CFA Franc

Languages: French (official) and African languages (Diaula esp.)

Ethnicity/race: Akan 42.1%, Voltaiques (Gur) 17.6%, Northern Mandes 16.5%, Krous 11%, Southern Mandes 10%, other 2.8% (includes 130,000 Lebanese and 14,000 French) (1998)

Religions: indigenous 25%–40%, Islam 35%–40%, Christian 20%–30% (2001)

Literacy rate: 51% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $24.78 billion; per capita $1,500. Real growth rate: –1%. Inflation: 1.4%. Unemployment: 13% in urban areas (1998). Arable land: 10%. Agriculture: coffee, cocoa beans, bananas, palm kernels, corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sweet potatoes, sugar, cotton, rubber; timber. Labor force: 6.7 million; 68% agricultural. Industries: foodstuffs, beverages; wood products, oil refining, truck and bus assembly, textiles, fertilizer, building materials, electricity, ship construction and repair. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, hydropower. Exports: $5.124 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): cocoa, coffee, timber, petroleum, cotton, bananas, pineapples, palm oil, fish. Imports: $3.36 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): fuel, capital equipment, foodstuffs. Major trading partners: France, Netherlands, U.S., Spain, Nigeria, UK (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 263,700 (2000); mobile cellular: 450,000 (2000). Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 8, shortwave 3 (1998). Radios: 2.26 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 14 (1999). Televisions: .09 million (2000). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 5 (2001). Internet users: 70,000 (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 660 km (2002). Highways: total: 50,400 km; paved: 4,889 km; unpaved: 45,511 km (1999 est.). Waterways: 980 km navigable rivers, canals, and numerous coastal lagoons. Ports and harbors: Abidjan, Aboisso, Dabou, San-Pedro. Airports: 36 (2002).