Cote d’Ivoire is a semi-arid country located on the coast of West Africa, bordering Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana. Roughly the size of New Mexico, the region is mostly dry, except for the tropical locations along the Atlantic Ocean. Most months, the land is hot or warm, experiencing three “wet” months a year, usually towards the end of summer. According to the CIA World Factbook, Cote d’Ivoire’s land is roughly 20% arable or suitable for crops. The country is rich in natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, copper, gold, nickel, cocoa beans and coffee, to name a few. The largest population resides along the 515 kilometer coastline, with the largest and most commercial city being Abidjan. (It should be noted that the official capital is Yamoussoukro, which is located close to the center of the country, in a much less populated area.) Most political operations and embassies are also located in the coastal city.
Originally colonized by France, Cote d’Ivoire liberated itself in 1960, although remaining close to France politically and culturally. Since independence, the country has strived to maintain itself as a multiparty republic. However, at the turn of the 21st century, a military coup overthrew the government and Robert Guei, a local rebel leader, elected himself leader. For the next few years, political unrest weighed heavily on the country, until Guei stepped down and named Laurent Gbagbo as President. The war ended with a cease fire in 2003. Eventually, the new president and rebel leaders were able to negotiate a treaty that merged the political rivals and stabilized the government. A new election was not held until 2010, when Alassane Dramane Quattara was elected president of Cote d’Ivoire, although he was not allowed to take office for five months due to a standoff by the prior administration. With the help of both France and the United Nations, the country is attempting to move beyond its political upheavals and return to its status as the most prosperous country in West Africa.

Being a large exporter of oil, cocoa and coffee, the economy of Cote d’Ivoire has always proven to be very strong. However, with recent political strife, many of the resources have been drained or taken captive to fend off the presidential change. Most recently, the World Bank provided $4.4 billion in debt relief to the struggling nation, hoping to support its new government and return the nation to its former economic strength; just decades earlier, Cote d’Ivoire was a huge financial supporter to several other West African nations. Its currency is the West African CFA Franc, which currently trades at $0.0019 US dollars. Only data from the last ten years was available, although sources suggest that the political strife beginning in 1999 lowered the strength of the CFA Franc, given Cote d’Ivoire’s effect on the region’s economy.
With stability returning to the nation in 2012, the first signs of GDP growth are estimated at an impressive 8%. The volatility of the nation’s GDP growth over the last five years has never reached above 4%. No unemployment data is available, but the total labor force amounts to almost 9 million people in a country of almost 22 million. Given that 42% of the nation below the poverty line in 2006, the government can only hope that the economic conditions improve with the new political stability. With a low inflation rate of 1.4% in 2012 and a growth in exports since 2011, it seems likely that the economic conditions for the country on geared for recovery.
Faced with a declining economy and civil war, the culture of the people of Cote d’Ivoire over the last decade has greatly declined. Additionally, large portions of the population are exposed to poor sanitation and infectious diseases, including AIDS. The current life expectancy is under 60 for both men and women. A little more than half of the population is urbanized and education among males