  | |
| Continent | Africa |
|---|---|
| Region | Sub-Sahara |
| Coordinates | 8°0'N, 500'W |
| Area | Ranked 68th |
| • Total | 78,699 km2 (30,386 sq mi) |
| • Land | 4.89% |
| • Water | 95.11% |
| Coastline | 590 km (370 mi) |
| Borders | Total land borders: 3,458 km (2,149 mi) Liberia: 778 km (483 mi) Ghana: 720 km (450 mi) Guinea: 816 km (507 mi) Burkina Faso: 545 km (339 mi) Mali: 599 km (372 mi) |
| Highest point | Mont Nimba 1,752 m (5,748 ft) |
| Lowest point | Gulf of Guinea 0 m/ft (sea level) |
| Longest river | Bandama River |
| Largest lake | Lake Kossou |
Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) is asub-Saharan nation in southernWest Africa located at 8° N, 5° W. The country is approximately square in shape.
Ivory Coast makes maritime claims of 200 nautical miles (370 km) as anexclusive economic zone, 12 nautical miles (22 km) of territorial sea, and a 200-nautical-mile (370 km)continental shelf.
Ivory Coast's terrain can generally be described as a large plateau rising gradually from sea level in the south to almost 500 m (1,600 ft) elevation in the north. The nation's natural resources have made it a comparatively prosperous nation in theAfrican economy. The southeastern region of Ivory Coast is marked by coastal inland lagoons that start at the Ghanaian border and stretch 300 km (190 mi) along the eastern half of the coast. The southern region, especially the southwest, is covered with dense tropical moist forest. TheEastern Guinean forests extend from theSassandra River across the south-central and southeast portion of Ivory Coast and east intoGhana, while theWestern Guinean lowland forests extend west from the Sassandra River intoLiberia and southeastern Guinea. The mountains ofDix-Huit Montagnes region, in the west of the country near the border with Guinea and Liberia, are home to theGuinean montane forests.
TheGuinean forest-savanna mosaic belt extends across the middle of the country from east to west, and is the transition zone between the coastal forests and the interiorsavannas. The forest-savanna mosaic interlaces forest, savanna and grassland habitats. Northern Ivory Coast is part of theWest Sudanian Savanna ecoregion of thetropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublandsbiome. It is a zone oflateritic or sandy soils, with vegetation decreasing from south to north.
The terrain is mostly flat to undulating plain, with mountains in the northwest. The lowest elevation is at sea level on the coast. The highest elevation isMount Nimba, at 1,752 metres (5,748 ft) in the far west of the country along the border with Guinea and Liberia.
The Cavalla River drains the western border area of the Ivory Coast and eastern Liberia. It forms the southern two-thirds of the border between Liberia and Ivory Coast.
TheSassandra River forms in the Guinea highlands and drains much of the western part of the Ivory Coast east of the Cavalla River.
TheBandama River is the longest river in the Ivory Coast, with a length of some 800 km (500 mi), draining the east central part of the country. In 1973 theKossou Dam was constructed atKossou on the Bandama, creatingLake Kossou. The capital,Yamoussoukro, is located near the river south of the lake.
TheKomoé River originates on theSikasso Plateau ofBurkina Faso,[1] and briefly forms the border between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast before entering Ivory Coast. It drains the northeastern and easternmost portions of the country before emptying into the eastern end of theÉbrié Lagoon and ultimately theGulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. Its waters contribute to theComoé National Park.[2]
Theclimate of Ivory Coast is generally hot and humid. Most of the country has atropical savanna climate (KöppenAw), although the Upper Guinean forest region bordering Liberia has atropical monsoon climate (Am). In the north, there are three seasons: warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), and hot and wet (June to October), whilst in the south there are two rainy seasons between April and July, and between October and November, a longer dry season from December to February, and a shorter dry season in August. Temperatures average between 25 and 32 °C (77.0 and 89.6 °F) and range from 10 to 40 °C (50 to 104 °F).
| Climate data for Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 35.0 (95.0) | 35.7 (96.3) | 34.9 (94.8) | 35.0 (95.0) | 34.9 (94.8) | 36.2 (97.2) | 34.0 (93.2) | 32.0 (89.6) | 32.1 (89.8) | 32.8 (91.0) | 35.0 (95.0) | 33.7 (92.7) | 36.2 (97.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.5 (86.9) | 31.0 (87.8) | 31.1 (88.0) | 31.2 (88.2) | 30.4 (86.7) | 28.7 (83.7) | 27.4 (81.3) | 26.9 (80.4) | 27.6 (81.7) | 29.2 (84.6) | 30.5 (86.9) | 30.3 (86.5) | 29.6 (85.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.8 (80.2) | 27.7 (81.9) | 27.9 (82.2) | 27.7 (81.9) | 26.9 (80.4) | 25.8 (78.4) | 24.7 (76.5) | 24.5 (76.1) | 25.6 (78.1) | 26.8 (80.2) | 27.4 (81.3) | 27.0 (80.6) | 26.6 (79.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 23.5 (74.3) | 24.6 (76.3) | 24.9 (76.8) | 24.9 (76.8) | 24.6 (76.3) | 23.7 (74.7) | 22.9 (73.2) | 22.1 (71.8) | 22.3 (72.1) | 23.6 (74.5) | 24.4 (75.9) | 23.8 (74.8) | 23.8 (74.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 14.7 (58.5) | 16.0 (60.8) | 19.0 (66.2) | 15.9 (60.6) | 18.5 (65.3) | 18.6 (65.5) | 17.1 (62.8) | 17.2 (63.0) | 15.2 (59.4) | 17.5 (63.5) | 19.5 (67.1) | 16.5 (61.7) | 14.7 (58.5) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 16.3 (0.64) | 48.9 (1.93) | 106.7 (4.20) | 141.3 (5.56) | 293.5 (11.56) | 561.8 (22.12) | 205.7 (8.10) | 36.8 (1.45) | 80.5 (3.17) | 137.7 (5.42) | 143.3 (5.64) | 75.1 (2.96) | 1,847.6 (72.75) |
| Average rainy days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 3 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 19 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 9 | 138 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 84 | 86 | 83 | 82 | 84 | 86 | 85 | 86 | 89 | 87 | 83 | 83 | 85 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 183 | 212 | 226 | 210 | 192 | 117 | 115 | 121 | 141 | 202 | 225 | 208 | 2,152 |
| Source 1:Deutscher Wetterdienst[3] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:Danish Meteorological Institute[4] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Yamoussoukro | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 31.5 (88.7) | 33.5 (92.3) | 33.5 (92.3) | 32.9 (91.2) | 31.7 (89.1) | 30.1 (86.2) | 28.6 (83.5) | 28.5 (83.3) | 29.3 (84.7) | 30.1 (86.2) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.1 (86.2) | 30.9 (87.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 25.2 (77.4) | 27.3 (81.1) | 27.6 (81.7) | 27.3 (81.1) | 26.5 (79.7) | 25.6 (78.1) | 24.5 (76.1) | 24.5 (76.1) | 24.8 (76.6) | 25.2 (77.4) | 25.5 (77.9) | 24.5 (76.1) | 25.7 (78.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.9 (66.0) | 21.2 (70.2) | 21.8 (71.2) | 21.8 (71.2) | 21.3 (70.3) | 21.1 (70.0) | 20.4 (68.7) | 20.6 (69.1) | 20.4 (68.7) | 20.4 (68.7) | 20.3 (68.5) | 19 (66) | 20.6 (69.1) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 13 (0.5) | 42 (1.7) | 108 (4.3) | 126 (5.0) | 155 (6.1) | 165 (6.5) | 88 (3.5) | 83 (3.3) | 170 (6.7) | 125 (4.9) | 36 (1.4) | 15 (0.6) | 1,126 (44.5) |
| Source:Climate-Data.org, altitude: 236m[5] | |||||||||||||
Ivory Coast has a largetimber industry due to its large forest coverage. The nation'shardwood exports match those ofBrazil. In recent years there has been much concern about the rapid rate ofdeforestation.Rainforests are being destroyed at a rate sometimes cited as the highest in the world. The only forest left completely untouched in Ivory Coast isTaï National Park (Parc National de Taï), a 3,600 km2 (1,390 sq mi) area in the country's far southwest that is home to over 150endemic species and many otherendangered species such as thePygmy hippopotamus and 11 species ofmonkeys.
Nine percent of the country isarable land. Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer of cocoa, a major nationalcash crop. Other chief crops includecoffee,bananas, andoil palms, which producepalm oil and kernels.Mineral resources includepetroleum,natural gas,diamonds,manganese,iron,cobalt,bauxite,copper,gold,nickel,tantalum,silica sand,clay,palm oil.Hydropower is also generated.
Natural hazards include the heavy surf and the lack ofnatural harbors on the coast; during the rainy season torrential flooding is a danger.
Extreme points are the geographic points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location in the country.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromThe World Factbook (2025 ed.).CIA. (Archived 2015 edition.)[6]