Côte d'Ivoire

A country of western Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. Divided into various isolated kingdoms at the time of European discovery in the 15th century, it was organized as a French colony in 1893, became a part of French West Africa in 1904, and declared its independence in 1960. Yamoussoukro is the capital and Abidjan is the largest city and de facto administrative center. Population: 18,000,000.