Location:

Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia

Area:

total: 322,460 sq km
land: 318,000 sq km
water: 4,460 sq km

Land boundaries:

total: 3,110 km
border countries: Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Mali.

Climate:

tropical along coast, semiarid in far north; three seasons - warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), hot and wet (June to October)

Natural resources:

petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron ore, cobalt, bauxite, copper, gold, nickel, tantalum, silica sand, clay, cocoa beans, coffee, palm oil, hydropower

Land use:

arable land: 10.23%
permanent crops: 11.16%
other: 78.61% (2005)

Population:

17,654,843
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 40.8% (male 3,546,674/female 3,653,990)
15-64 years: 56.4% (male 5,024,575/female 4,939,677)
65 years and over: 2.8% (male 238,793/female 251,134) (2006 est.)

Median age:

total: 19.2 years
male: 19.4 years
female: 18.9 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.03% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:

35.11 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:

14.84 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.95 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 89.11 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 105.73 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 71.99 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 48.82 years
male: 46.24 years
female: 51.48 years (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

570,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria, yellow fever, and others are high risks in some locations
water contact: schistosomiasis

Nationality:

noun: Ivoirian(s)
adjective: Ivoirian

Ethnic groups:

Akan 42.1%, Voltaiques or 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:

Muslim 35-40%, indigenous 25-40%, Christian 20-30% (2001)
note: the majority of foreigners (migratory workers) are Muslim (70%) and Christian (20%)

Languages:

French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 50.9%
male: 57.9%
female: 43.6% (2003 est.)