IVORY COAST (Cote d'Ivoire), a French West African colony, bounded south by the Gulf of Guinea, west by Liberia and French Guinea, north by the colony of French Sudan, east by the Gold Coast. Its area is 18o,800 square miles, the population is about 3,860,000 (2,85o Europeans). The most densely popu lated regions are the Baoule and the lagoons. It absorbed part of the former colony of Upper Volta in 1933.
The coast-line extends from 7° 3o' to 3° 7' W. and has a length of 38o m. It forms an arc of a circle of which the convexity turns slightly to the north ; neither bay nor promontory breaks the regularity of its outline. The shore is low, bordered in its eastern half with lagoons, and difficult of access on account of the submarine bar of sand which stretches along nearly the whole of the coast, and also because of the heavy surf caused by the great Atlantic billows. The principal lagoons, going west to east, are those of Grand Lahou, Grand Bassam or Ebrie and Assini. The coast plains extend inland about 4o m. Beyond the ground rises in steep slopes to a general level of over i,000 ft., the plateau being traversed in several directions by hills rising 2,000 ft. and over, and cut by valleys with a general south-eastern trend. In the north-east, in the district of Kong (q.v.), the country becomes mountainous, Mt. Kommono attaining a height of 4,757 ft. In the north-west, by the Liberian frontier, the mountains in the Gon region rise over 6,000 ft. Starting from the Liberian frontier, the chief rivers are the Cavalla (or Kavalli), the San Pedro, the Sassandra (24o m. long), the Bandama (225 m.), formed by the White and the Red Bandama, the Komoe (36o m.). All these streams are interrupted by rapids as they descend from the highlands to the plain and are unnavi gable by steamers save for a few miles from their mouths. The rivers named all drain to the Gulf of Guinea; the rivers in the extreme north of the colony belong to the Niger system. The climate is in general very hot and unhealthy, the rainfall being very heavy. In some parts of the plateau healthier conditions prevail. The fauna and flora are similar to those of the Gold Coast and Liberia. Primeval forest extends from the coast plains to about 8° N., covering nearly 112,000 sq. kilometres.
The coast districts are inhabited by Negro tribes allied on the one hand to the Kru (q.v.) and on the other to the people of Ashanti (q.v.). The Assinis are of Ashanti origin, and chiefly of the Ochin and Agni tribes. The Mandes, Malinkes, Diulas, Mandingans, inhabit the north; they form nearly a quarter of the population. Inland live the Sienuf (Senoufos), a very primitive people. The Baule, 340,000, who occupy the central part of the colony, are of Agni-Ashanti origin. The bulk of the inhabitants are fetish worshippers; only several Mande groups are Muslim. In general the coast tribes are peace ful. The traders are chiefly Fanti, Sierra Leonians, Senegalese and Mandingos.
The chief towns on the coast are Grand and Little Bassam, Jackville and Assini in the east and Grand Lahou, Sas sandra and Tabu in the west. Grand and Little Bassam are built on the strip of sand which separates the Grand Bassam or Ebrie lagoon from the sea. This lagoon forms a commodious harbour, once the bar has been crossed. Grand Bassam is situated at the point where the lagoon and the river Komoe enter the sea and there is a minimum depth of 12 ft. of water over the bar. The town (pop. 4,415, including about ioo Europeans) is the seat of the customs administration and of the judicial department, and is the largest centre for the trade of the colony. A wharf equipped with cranes extends beyond the surf line. Little Bassam, renamed by the French Port Bouet, possesses an advantage over the other ports on the coast, as at this point there is no bar. Abijean (Abidjan) (17,718 inhabitants), on the north side of the lagoon opposite Port Bouet, is the starting-point of a railway, and in 1934 became the capital of the colony. On the northern shore of the Bassam lagoon, and 19 m. from Grand Bassam, is the former capital Adjame, renamed Bingerville in honour of Captain L. G. Binger. The town (75o inhabitants) is built on a hill and is fairly healthy.
In the interior are several towns, though none of any size numerically. The best known are Koroko, Kong and Bona, entre pots for the trade of the middle Niger, and Bontuku, on the caravan route to Sokoto and the meeting-place of the merchants from Kong and Timbuktu, engaged in the kola-nut trade with Ashanti and the Gold Coast. Bontuku is peopled largely by Wongara and Hausa, and most of the inhabitants, who number some 3,000, are Muslim.
The natives cultivate maize, plan tains, bananas, pineapples, limes, pepper, cotton, etc., and live on the products of their gardens, with occasional help from fish ing and hunting. They also weave cloth, make pottery and smelt iron. Europeans introduced the cultivation of coffee, which gives good results, and of cocoa, which grows well between the oil palms. The export of coffee reaches 187 tons, that of cocoa 9,80o tons, that of cotton Boo tons. The forests are rich in palm-tree products and mahogany, which constitute the chief articles of export. The exploitation of the forests began in 1905, with 13,00o tons; to-day it reaches 119,000 tons, of which 96,000 tons are of cabinet-woods, ii,000 tons of palm-kernels and 8,000 tons of palm-oil have been exported.
In 1927 the trade of the Ivory Coast reached 428,772,00o francs (imports 193,305,000, exports
In the imports the share of France is 104 millions; then come Great Britain (37) and the United States (16) ; in the exports the share of France is 131 millions, then come Germany (30) and Great Britain (23).
The railway from Abidjean serves the east central part of the colony and passes through Bouake and Katiola and reaches Tarife (488 kilometres) ; it will be prolonged to Bobo Dioulasso. The line is of metre gauge. The cutting of two canals, whereby communication is effected by lagoon be tween Assini and Grand Lahou via Bassam, followed the con struction of the railway.
Besides the wharf of Grand Bassam, another wharf is being built at Port Bouet, a bridge over the Ebrie lagoon will link it to Abidjean and to the railway. But the Ivory Coast needs a safe deep-water harbour, built either at the mouth of the Comoe or at that of the Sassandra. Grand and Little Bassam are in regular communication by steamer with Bordeaux, Marseilles, Liverpool, Antwerp and Hamburg. Grand Bassam is connected with Europe by submarine cable via Dakar. Telegraph lines con nect the coast with all the principal stations in the interior, with the Gold Coast and with the other French colonies in West Africa.
The colony is under the general superin tendence of the government general of French West Africa. At the head of the local administration is a lieutenant-governor, who is assisted by a council on which nominated unofficial members have seats. To a large extent the native forms of government are maintained under European administrators responsible for the preservation of order, the colony for this purpose being divided into a number of "circles," each with its local govern ment. The colony has a separate budget and is self-supporting. Revenue is derived chiefly from customs receipts and a capitation, tax instituted in 1901 and levied on all persons over ten years old.
See La Cote d'Ivoire (published by the general government of West Africa, 2906) ; Gaston Joseph, La Cote d'Ivoire (1917).
The Ivory Coast is stated to have been visited by Dieppe mer chants in the 14th century, and was made known by the Portuguese discoveries towards the end of the 15th century. It was thereafter frequented by traders for ivory, slaves, and other commodities. There was a French settlement at Assini, 1700-04, and a French factory was maintained at Grand Bassam from 1700 to 1707. In the early part of the 19th century several French traders had established themselves along the coast. In 1830 Admiral (then Commandant) Bouet-Willaumez (1808-71) began a series of sur veys and expeditions which yielded valuable results. In 1842 he obtained from the native chiefs cessions of territory at Assini and Grand Bassam to France, and the towns named were occupied in 1843. From that time French influence gradually extended along the coast except during a period of temporary withdrawal (1872– 83). Between 1887 and 1889 Captain Louis Gustave Binger trav ersed the whole region between the coast and the Niger, visited Bontuku and the Kong country, and signed protectorate treaties with the chiefs. In 1892 Captain Binger made further explorations in the interior of the Ivory Coast, and in 1893 he was appointed the first governor of the colony on its erection into an administra tion distinct from that of Senegal. Among other famous explorers who helped to make known the hinterland was Colonel (then Captain) Marchand. The boundary of the colony on the west was settled by Franco-Liberian agreements of 1892 and subse quent dates ; that on the east by the Anglo-French agreements of 1893 and 1898. The northern boundary was fixed in 1899 on the division of the middle Niger territories among the other French West African colonies. The systematic development of the colony, the opening up of the hinterland, and the exploitation of its eco nomic resources date from the appointment of Captain Binger as governor, a post he held for over three years. Since 1902 the colony has been an autonomous unit, under a lieutenant-governor, of the French West African governorship general. A noteworthy stage in the opening up of the country was the building of a rail way from the coast. This line had reached Buake (193 m.) in 1913 and after the World War was continued northward towards the Niger.
In the older books of travel are often found the alternative names for this region, Tooth Coast (Cote des Dents) or Kwa Kwa Coast, and, less frequently, the Coast of the Five and Six Stripes (alluding to a kind of cotton fabric in favour with the natives).
See F. J. Clozel, Dix ans a la Cote d'Ivoire (1906) ; R. Villamur and Richaud, Notre colonie de la Cote d'Ivoire (1903). These two volumes deal with the history, geography, zoology, and economic condition of the Ivory Coast. Michellet and Clement, La Cote d'Ivoire, de scribe the administrative and land systems, etc. ; another volume also called La Cote d'Ivoire (1908) is an official monograph on the colony. For ethnology see F. J. Clozel and R. Villamur, Coutumes indigenes de la Cote d'Ivoire (1902) ; R. Villamur and Delafosse, Les Coutumes Agni. Of books of travel see L. G. Binger, Du Niger au Golfe de Guinee par Kong (1892) ; Captain d'011one, Mission Hostains-d'011one 1898-1900 (19oi) ; R. Antonetti, "La Cote d'Ivoire" in La Geographie (1922).