Cote d'Ivoire's Postcolonial Cultural and Political Changes

Côte d'Ivoire is a country in Western Africa, bordering Ghana in the east, Burkina Faso and Mali in the north, Guinea and Liberia in the west, and the Gulf of Guinea in the south. It has a population of 23,295,302 and covers an area of 322,463 sq. km. The official language is French, although a large number of native dialects are also spoken. (CIA, 11 February 2016). The World Culture Encyclopedia (WCE) explains the origin of the country's name: "In the fifteenth century, French and Portuguese merchants in search of ivory named the region the Ivory Coast for its abundance of the natural resource. The country changed its name to Côte d'Ivoire in 1985; its official name is the République de Côte d'Ivoire - a reflection of French control of the country from 1843 until independence." (WCE, 2015) With regard to the economic and social situation in Côte d'Ivoire, an April 2015 report of the Independent Expert on capacity-building and technical cooperation with Côte d'Ivoire in the field of human rights explains: "A thriving economy can provide fertile ground for human rights to flourish."