GEOGRAPHY
Cote d'Ivoire is located on
the south side of the West African bulge. Its 550-kilometer (340-mi.)
coastline on the Gulf of Guinea has heavy surf and no natural
harbors. A series of coastal lagoons fringes the southeast. The
nation's capital was legally changed to Yamoussoukro in 1983,
although the seat of government remains in Abidjan.
Abidjan is the commercial
and population center of the country and also is the terminus
of the 1,150-kilometer (716-mi.) railway that connects Ouagadougou,
capital of Burkina Faso, with the Gulf of Guinea. Early 20th-century
attempts to dig a canal through the sandbar blocking the Ebrie
lagoon from the sea were unsuccessful, but in 1950 the Vridi Canal,
begun in 1936, was completed. The canal opened the Port of Abidjan
to deep-draft vessels, and traffic increased by 50% almost immediately.
A second deepwater port, San Pedro, was dedicated in 1972.
In the western half of the
country, dense forest extends to the sea; scrub savanna covers
a narrow strip stretching from Fresco to the Ghana frontier. A
lush tropical forest extends inland to a line about halfway between
Dimbokro and Bouake; significant cash crops-coffee, cocoa, tropical
woods, and bananas-are grown there. North of the forest lies an
inland savanna zone of sandy soils, where vegetation is sparse
and the landscape unbroken. Cotton is a key cash crop grown here.
Only the Guinea Highlands in the northwest, which rise 1,460 meters
(4,800 ft.) above sea level, break the monotony of the inland
plain.
The southern part of Cote
d'Ivoire falls into the tropical zone, with hot, humid weather
and heavy rains. Daily temperatures vary from a minimum of 22
C (72 F) to a maximum of 32 C (91 F), and the heaviest rains generally
fall between mid-April and mid-July, with a shorter rainy season
in October and November. As one moves north from the coast, the
weather gets drier and the climate grows more savanna-like. Temperature
differences become more extreme, with nighttime temperatures in
January dipping as low as 12 c (54 F) and daytime temperatures
in the summer rising to above 40 C (well into the hundreds).
Official Name: Republic
of Cote d'Ivoire
Area: 322,500 sq. km. (124,500 sq. mi.); slightly larger
than New Mexico.
Cities: Principal city-Abidjan (economic capital, de facto
political capital). Capital--Yamoussoukro (official). Other cities--Bouake,
Daloa, Gagnoa, Korhogo, Man, San Pedro.
Terrain: Forested, undulating, hilly in the west.
Climate: Tropical
