Country Profile

Traditionally one of West Africa’s most dynamic economies due to strong growth and development in the early decades of its independence, Côte d’Ivoire is famous for being the world’s largest producer of cocoa and, less felicitously, its recent history of political instability and civil strife. However, the country, which was divided between a rebel-held north and the government-controlled south, is now reunited and there has been no large-scale violence since a conflict over the 2010 presidential election was brought to an end in April 2011. Côte d’Ivoire also stands out for having some of the best transport infrastructure in West Africa and for its ethnic, religious and linguistic diversity, with over 60 languages and dialects being spoken throughout the country.