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In many English speaking nations, we generally call this country Ivory Coast, but officially it’s the Republic of Côte D’ivoire and we’re going with the French name on this one. 

It’s a country on the southern coast of West Africa with a lot of neighbors: Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana, as well as the Atlantic Ocean. Let’s learn more about Côte D’ivoire!

Côte D’ivoire Basics

Côte D’ivoire has a population of 31.5 million people, making it the third most populous nation in West Africa. It is 124,503 square miles or 322,462 square kilometers. 

Its capital is also its largest city, which is Abidjan. 

The official language is French, but many indigenous languages are also commonly used. In all about 78 different languages are spoken in Ivory Coast. 

Côte D’ivoire was colonized by France and gained its independence in 1960. Recent history in the country has been unstable, with a coup in 1999 followed by two civil wars, but things have improved with a new constitution that was adopted in 2016. The country is a presidential republic that also has a prime minister and a two-body legislature. 

The name came from the French translation of a name given to the area by the Portuguese because of the heavy ivory trade in the region. Since 1986, Côte D’ivoire has officially been the country’s name for diplomatic purposes in an effort to stop countries from translating the name. 

It is considered the most biodiverse nation in west Africa, with more than 1,200 animal species. There are nine national parks and six ecoregions including different kinds of forests, savanna and mangrove. 

Côte D’ivoire is the world’s largest exporter of cocoa beans and produces a lot of rubber as well. 

Côte D’ivoire National Symbols

The Côte D’ivoire flag features three vertical stripes in orange, white and green (it looks like the Irish flag with the colors reversed). The orange represents the savannas and the land’s fertility, while white is for peace and green is hope for themselves and others and a brighter future. 

The flag was enshrined in the country’s constitution in 1960.

“L’Abidjanaise,” or “Song of Abidjan,” has been the national anthem since 1960. 

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It probably won’t surprise you that the elephant is considered a national symbol of Côte D’ivoire, in particular the African forest elephant. The elephant is featured on the coat of arms, along with the sun, two palm trees and the country’s name. 

The Internet tells me Côte D’ivoire doesn’t have a national flower but it’s associated with the flowers of the baobab tree, or tree of life. The flowers are white and hang down from the tree, and they bloom at night. 

Côte D’ivoire Activities for Kids

Now would be a good time to pull out some elephant facts and crafts. Everything Mom has some fun elephant facts, and you can find some fun elephant crafts for kids at Creative Family Fun. 

Check out more fun facts about Côte D’ivoire at Activity Village. There are lots of great country studies, mini books and other things at Teachers Pay Teachers. (And yes, some that say Ivory Coast as well.) I also like this unit study from Beyond Imagination P on Etsy. 

Making Friends has a little printable fact sheet you can download. 

Learn more about cocoa production in the Ivory Coast in this video from Africa Scope.

National Dish shares a recipe for alloco and kelewele, fried plantain and roasted nuts, for Côte D’ivoire, but you can also try fufu, which we’ve talked about before, or maafe, a west African peanut stew which can be made with different meats. Check out a recipe at My Pretty Brown Eats.