Côte d'Ivoire is located in West Africa bordering Liberia and Guinea to the West, Mali and Burkina Faso to the North, Ghana to the East and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The climate varies from tropical on the coast to semi-arid in the far north.

The population of 18 million lives predominantly in the sandy coastal region with the forested interior being sparsely populated. The official language is French although there are over 60 native dialects.

Geology

Côte d'Ivoire is located in the south-central part of the West African Craton. The geology of the West of the country is dominated by Archaean gneissic basement of the Kenema--Man terrane. The Archaean rocks are intensely deformed and metamorphosed to granulite facies with migmatite, gneiss and banded iron formation (BIF) forming the dominant lithologies. Throughout the rest of the country Birimian sediments and volcanics relating to the Eburian orogeny, have been folded, metamorphosed, and intruded by a large suite of Eburian granites.

History

Côte d'Ivoire gained independence from France on 7 August 1960. Political stability, strong exports of cocoa and foreign investment made the country one of the most prosperous West African states. However, in December 1999 the government was overthrown in a military coup. Rigged elections followed in 2000 but public protests forced the Junta leader to step aside making way for Laurent Gbagbo. There followed a number of years of unrest with a failed coup in 2002 which resulted in rebel forces taking control of the north of the country.

Stability returned in March 2007 with the signing of the Ouagadougou Political Agreement which led to the former New Force rebel leader Guillaume Soro joining President Gbagbo's government as Prime Minister, the dismantling the zone of confidence separating the North of the country from the South, the integration of rebel forces into the national armed forces, and the promise of elections. French and UN troops remain in Cote d'Ivoire to help the parties implement these commitments and to support the peace process.

Economy

The Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans and a significant producer of palm oil, coffee, tropical hard woods and rubber. Since 2006 oil and gas production became the most significant source of earnings at US$1.3 billion exceeding the US$1 billion from cocoa. Oil companies currently active in Côte d'Ivoire include Canadian Natural Resources, Tullow Oil of the UK and the state owned petroleum company Petroci.

Mineral exploration and mining activity has increased significantly following stagnation during the years of unrest with the restarting of gold production at both the Ity and Angovia Mines by La Mancha and Cluff Gold respectively. Other projects are due to go in to production shortly including the Bonikro project developed by Equigold prior to the company's acquisition by Lihir Gold.