IVORY COAST (COTE D’ IVOIRE) National Flag and Emblem Locator Map TEXT HIGHLIGHTS: Diaries updates, key events, briefly analysis and relating news articles in timeline Overview The Europeans came to the area to trade in Ivory and Slaves and estimated that local kingdoms were gave way to French inluence in the late eighteenth century. Côte d’Ivoire is the present name of formerly Ivory Coast, it was part of French colonial West Africa. It was a major area of agricultural development under French rule, attracting immigrant workers from throughout the French African Empire. It gained independence from France in 1960, retaining close ties with the former colonial power through a number of bilateral agreements including membership of the Franc Zone, a defence pact, and provision for a French military base in the country. Félix Houphouët-Boigny became the first President and ruled for 33 years until his death in 1993. His party, the PDCI, was the sole legal party until 1990 when multipartyism was introduced. During his time in office, Côte d’Ivoire was renowned as the most prosperous and most stable country in the West African region. It also hosted the largest French community in Francophone Africa. But his rule was shaken by economic recession in the 1980s, when prices of the main exports, cocoa and coffee, plunged. The first multi-party elections since independence were held in 1990, which Houphouët-Boigny easily won against veteran opposition leader Laurent Gbagbo. At his death in 1993, he was succeeded by Henri Konan Bédié, the speaker of the National Assembly. The careful ethnic and regional balance which Houphouët-Boigny had nurtured, together with his welcoming of immigrant workers, was soon compromised by the concept of 'Ivoirité' (Ivorian nationalism), which quickly acquired xenophobic connotations. This began a sequence of events which was to deprive the country of its long record of stability and prosperity. Cote D’ Ivoire’s rapid decline following a long period of ethnic and religious harmony has been one of the continent’s more tragic tales. Under Felix Houphouet-Boigny, the nation was a model of tranquility, which anchored the country’s rapid economic growth for three decades after independence. Achieved it's independence on 7th August, 1960, from France. Headship since independence; Head of State From 1960 to 1993, the country was led by Mr. Felix Houphouet-Boigny founder president, and the leader of the ruling Parti Démocratique de Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI). Mr. Felix Houphouet-Boigny, nicknamed "Le Vieux", was the founder president of Cote D'Ivoire and the leader of the Parti Démocratique de Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI), Ivory Coast's single party. Originally a village chief, he worked as a doctor, an administrator of a plantation, and a trade union leader, before being elected to the French Parliament and serving in a number of ministerial positions in the French government. From the 1940s until his death, he played a leading role in the decolonization of Africa and in his country's politics. Under President Houphouët-Boigny's politically moderate leadership, Côte D'Ivoire prospered economically. Maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbours, while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially to France. Côte D'Ivoire is a republic with a strong executive power invested in the President Yamoussoukro became its de-jure capital, Abidjan remains the commercial city and a main port. Since the end of Houphouët-Boigny's rule, Côte d'Ivoire has experienced one coup d’état, in 1999, and a Civil war, which broke out in 2002. A political agreement between the government and the rebels brought a return to peace. Côte d'Ivoire is a republic with a strong executive power invested in the President. Its de-jure capital is Yamoussoukro and the biggest city is the port city of Abidjan. Its de-jure capital is Yamoussoukro and the biggest city (commercial) is the port city of Abidjan. Foreign Policy Issues under President Houphouet-Boigny; Cote d’Ivoire plays a central role in mediating regional conflicts Côte d'Ivoire continues to maintain close relations with France. Since the end of Houphouët-Boigny's rule, Côte D'Ivoire has experienced one coup d’état, in 1999, and a civil war, which broke out in 2002. At later, a political agreement between the government and the rebels brought a return to peace. A Republic in west Africa on the gulf of Guinea. Cote D' Ivoire, is a French name for a country formerly known as “Ivory Coast” which means for "A Land of Ivories", the present name for a country mostly known as Ivory Coast previously, as it's meaning almost the same. Believed Chimpanzees in Cote d’Ivoire have been using stone tools to crack open nuts for more than 100 years. The Europeans came to the area to trade in Ivory and Slaves and estimated that local kingdoms were gave way to French inluence in the late eighteenth century. Côte d'Ivoire became independent on 7 August 1960. From 1960 to 1993, the country was led by Felix Houphouet-Boigny. It maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbours, while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially to France. Mr. Houphouët-Boigny was commonly known as the "Sage of Africa" or the "Grand Old Man of Africa". Mr. Houphouët-Boigny moved the country's capital from Abidjan to his hometown of Yamoussoukro and built the world's largest church there, the "Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Peace of Yamoussoukro", at a cost of US$300 million. At the time of his death on 7th December 1993 he was the longest-serving leader in Africa's history and the third longest-serving leader in the world. In order to make the transfer of power appear constitutional, in accordance with the Article 11 of the Cote D' Ivoire constitution, which empowered the president of the national assembly to complete the term of the republic's president, if the president died or was incapacitated while in office, in this regard, President Houphouet-Boigny was succeeded by the house speaker Mr. Henri Konan Bedie, on the 7th December, 1993. The Army led by General Robert Guei overthrew the Interim president on the 25th of December, 1999, a coup the first ever in Cote D' Ivoire history. The coup leader General Robert Guei, blatantly rigged, election held in late 2000 that announced he won it, but a public uprising and foreign pressure forced him to step aside and brought Mr. Laurant Gbagbo, who spent all the 1980s in exile in France, has served as history lecturer until recently in Paris University onto power, the military once agan launched a failed-coup attempt that brought the assassination of General Robert Guei, on the 17th of September, 2002, as a result of internal contradictions within the political system that Cote D' Ivoire had been operating for the past fourty years, it began to fracture politically into North & South, a civil war insued, an armed rebellion split the world's largest Cocoa producer country b/n the North, held by the rebel Forces Nouvelles (FAFN), which supported former premier Alassane Ouattara, who's accused of a foreigner born that together with the Burkinabe president Blaise Compaore, he was responsible for the 2002 rebellion, and the government controlled the South part in the hands of the Gbagbo led government split the country in half in 2002 and polls are seen as a vital step to end the political crises, until a power-sharing agreement was signed between rivals in 2007, to hold free elections on March, 2010 which that extended again for October, 2010. Since then, Cote D' Ivoire has had two governments, administrations, armies, and "national" leaders. Internal Conflict Civil War When: 1999 – 2007 Who: North vs South Why: Rebels from the north were against the southern dominated government and the high number of foreigners in Cote d’Ivoire added to tensions. The rebel Forces Nouvelle (FAFN) under Mr. Guillaume Soro has joined the Unity government under the incumbent president Laurant Gbagbo in 2007, but the peace process has been dogged by delays. Elections have been postponed in Cote D' Ivoire at least six times in the last five years since the president's mandate expired. Mr. Laurent Gbagbo has been in power since 2000 and had already overstayed his mandate by five years when the long delayed presidential election was finally held in November, 2010. Politics In March 2007 Gbagbo and former New Force rebel leader Guillaume Soro signed onto the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, which saw Mr Soro joining the Gbagbo government as Prime Minister. The two leaders sought to reunite the country by dismantling the zone of confidence that separated the North from the South, and also agreed to integrate rebel forces into the country’s armed forces and to hold elections. Polls are yet to be held. Issues that led to the civil war are yet to be resolved and French and UN peacekeepers, known as the Impartial Forces, patrol the buffer zone. The UN Security Council has extended an arms and diamond embargo imposed in 2004 on the country for another year until October 31, 2010. The UN has imposed travel restrictions targeting Ivorian political figures and a freeze on their foreign assets. The vote was intended to help reunify the country, which was divided by the 2002 to 2003 civil war into a rebel controlled North and a loyalist South. For such reason, and of strategic importance, it was inevitable that this electoral contest would decide the long-term future of the country.