lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mont Nimba 1,752 m

Natural resources: petroleum, diamonds, manganese, iron ore,
cobalt, bauxite, copper

Land use:
arable land: 9%
permanent crops: 4%
meadows and pastures: 9%
forest and woodland: 26%
other: 52%

Irrigated land: 620 sq km (1989 est.)

Environment:
current issues: deforestation (most of the country's forests - once
the largest in West Africa - have been cleared by the timber
industry); water pollution from sewage and industrial and
agricultural effluents
natural hazards: coast has heavy surf and no natural harbors; during
the rainy season torrential flooding is possible
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine
Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83; signed, but not ratified - Desertification

People
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Population: 14,762,445 (July 1996 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 48% (male 3,552,270; female 3,462,462)
15-64 years: 50% (male 3,828,538; female 3,599,920)
65 years and over: 2% (male 164,358; female 154,897) (July 1996 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.92% (1996 est.)

Birth rate: 42.48 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Death rate: 15.7 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)

Net migration rate: 2.43 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
note: since 1989, over 350,000 refugees have fled to Cote d'Ivoire
to escape the civil war in Liberia

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.06 male(s)/female
all ages: 1.04 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 82.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 46.73 years
male: 46.23 years
female: 47.25 years (1996 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.15 children born/woman (1996 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Ivorian(s)
adjective: Ivorian

Ethnic divisions: Baoule 23%, Bete 18%, Senoufou 15%, Malinke 11%,
Agni, foreign Africans (mostly Burkinabe and Malians, about 3
million), non-Africans 130,000 to 330,000 (French 30,000 and
Lebanese 100,000 to 300,000)

Religions: indigenous 25%, Muslim 60%, Christian 12%

Languages: French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the
most widely spoken

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and writ