Although it is one of the smallest countries of Africa, the Côte d'Ivoire is a state of extraordinary cultural and financial wealth. The most dominant attraction of the country is its culture, so if you are fascinated in African history, music or art, this is the place to be. The country offers also a lot of natural beauty, from towering mountains to fishing villages.

Recent history

Cote d’Ivoire was a colony as a part of the French expansion in West Africa in 1893. Felixa Houphouet Boigny peacefully attained autonomy for Côte d’Ivoire in the year 1958 and independence on France in the year 1960.

From sixties, he kept strong economic and political relations with France. That is also why Côte d’Ivoire became one of the richest and mostly peaceful nations of Africa.

Topography

A few of large lagoons fringe the coast of Côte d’Ivoire, but most of them are inaccessible because of shore shoals. Tropical forests - once the largest in West Africa - have been heavily logged. While in the north and central area there lays an extensive savannah, western part of the country has mountain chains in the Odienné and Man regions, with several peaks rising to more than 1,500 metres. The most important rivers are the Sassandra, Bandama, and Komoé.

Climate

The average annual temperature is 26°C. The climate is tropical along coast, semiarid in far north; there are three seasons - warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), hot and wet (June to October).

Cities

Côte d’Ivoire has former metropolise Abidjan and an important administrative and commercial centre Bouake. Next signicicant cities include Daloa Mannas and Gagnoa. Yamoussoukro, intervening Bouafle and Dimbokro, was built as a new capital in the year 1983, though much government buildings remained in Abidjan.