Human arrival in Ivory Coast has been dated to the Upper Paleolithic period, or at the minimum, the Neolithic period based on weapon and tool fragments, specifically polished shale axes and remnants of cooking and fishing. The earliest known inhabitants of Côte d'Ivoire left traces scattered throughout the territory. Historians believe these people were all either displaced or absorbed by the ancestors of the present inhabitants. Peoples who arrived before the 16th century include the Ehotilé (Aboisso), Kotrowou (Fresco), Zéhiri, Ega, and Diès (Divo).
Koudou Laurent Gbagbo is an Ivorian politician who was the President of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 until his arrest in April 2011. A historian, Gbagbo was imprisoned in the early 1970s and again in the early 1990s, and he lived in exile in France during much of the 1980s as a result of his union activism. Gbagbo founded the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in 1982 and ran unsuccessfully for president against Félix Houphouët-Boigny at the start of multi-party politics in 1990. He won a seat in the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire in 1990.
The Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally is a centre-right political party in Ivory Coast.
Félix Houphouët-Boigny, affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux, was an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he worked as a medical aide, union leader, and planter before being elected to the French Parliament. He served in several ministerial positions within the French government before leading Ivory Coast following independence in 1960. Throughout his life, he played a significant role in politics and the decolonisation of Africa.
Aimé Henri Konan Bédié was an Ivorian politician. He was President of Côte d'Ivoire from 1993 to 1999, and latterly President of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast – African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA). Prior to becoming president, he was a member and president of the National Assembly of Ivory Coast. He unsuccessfully sought another term as president in the 2020 presidential election.
The First Ivorian Civil War was a civil conflict in the Ivory Coast that began with a military rebellion on 19 September 2002 and ended with a peace agreement on 4 March 2007. The conflict pitted the government of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo against a domestic insurgency led by the New Forces of Ivory Coast. Following the war, a second civil war (2010-2011) would begin over the results of the 2010 Ivorian presidential election.
Alasane Dramane Ouattara is an Ivorian politician who has been President of Ivory Coast since 2010. An economist by profession, Ouattara worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Bank of West African States, and he was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from November 1990 to December 1993, appointed to that post by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Ouattara became the President of the Rally of the Republicans (RDR), an Ivorian political party, in 1999.
Students and Pupils Movement of Côte d'Ivoire, generally called M.E.E.C.I., was an organization of students and pupils in Côte d'Ivoire. M.E.E.C.I. was founded of the initiative of the regime of Félix Houphouët-Boigny. The founding congress was held at the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire office in Abidjan April 3–5, 1969. Tanoh Brou Antoine was elected president of the executive committee. Alphonse Djédjé Mady was elected president the standing council. Mambo Yapi was elected president of the accounting commissariat.
Ivory Coast is one of the most pro-United States nations in Africa and the world, with 85% viewing the U.S. favorably in 2002, and rising to a high of 88% in 2007.
In 2004, an armed conflict took place between French and Côte d'Ivoire forces. On 6 November 2004, two Ivorian Air force Su-25 attack fighters launched an air attack on French peacekeepers in the northern part of Côte d'Ivoire who were stationed there as part of Opération Licorne (Unicorn), the French military operation in support of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI). French military forces subsequently clashed with Ivorian troops and government-loyal mobs, almost destroying the entire Ivorian Air Force. Those incidents were followed by massive anti-French protests in Côte d'Ivoire.
The 1999 Ivorian coup d'état took place on 24 December 1999. It was the first coup d'état since the independence of Ivory Coast and led to the President Henri Konan Bédié being deposed.
Abidjan is the largest city and the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city proper in Africa, after Lagos, Cairo, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, and Johannesburg. A cultural crossroads of West Africa, Abidjan is characterised by a high level of industrialisation and urbanisation. It is also the most populous French-speaking city in Africa.
Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport, also known as Port Bouët Airport, is located 16 km south east of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is the largest airport in the country for air traffic. The airport is the main hub of the national airline Air Côte d'Ivoire. Named after the first president of Ivory Coast, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, this international airport is directly connected currently to airports in Europe and to many destinations within the rest of Africa and the Middle East. The airport is served by 17 airlines, covering more than 30 destinations.
Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (UFHB) is an institution of higher education located in the Cocody section of Abidjan and the largest in Côte d'Ivoire. With over 50,000 students, the UFHB has 13 faculties and several research centers providing diplomas from two-year undergraduate to professional academic, medical, legal, and specialist degrees. From 1964 to 1996, it remained the main campus of the national University of Abidjan system. It is state owned and operated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. In 2008, it had 53,700 students.
Innocent Kobena Anaky is an Ivorian politician and the President of the Movement of the Forces of the Future (MFA), an opposition party. He served in the government of Côte d'Ivoire as Minister of State for Transport from 2003 to 2006.
On December 4, 1958, Ivory Coast became a member state within the French Community. On August 7, 1960, Ivory Coast achieved its full independence from France, and Félix Houphouët-Boigny became the first president after the independence.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Kouadio Konan Bertin, known as KKB, is an Ivorian politician. He represented Port-Bouët in the National Assembly from 2011 to 2016.
This period in the history of Ivory Coast was affected by the end of the 33-year reign of Félix Houphouët-Boigny in 1993, as well as demographic change which had seen the Muslim population rise from 6% in 1922 to 38.6% in 1998, including a majority in the north of the country.
Gaston Ouassénan Koné was an Ivorian general, novelist, and politician of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI).
