People and Society of Cote d'Ivoire

Nationality

Ivoirian(s)

Ethnic Groups

Akan 42.1%, Voltaiques or Gur 17.6%, Northern Mandes 16.5%, Krous 11%, Southern Mandes 10%, other 2.8% (includes 130,000 Lebanese and 14,000 French) (1998)

Population

34

Population in Major Urban Areas

ABIDJAN (seat of government) 4.288 million; YAMOUSSOUKRO (capital) 966,000

Abidjan has privately-run medical and dental facilities that are adequate, but do not fully meet U.S. standards. Good physician specialists can be found, although few speak English. While pharmacies are well-stocked with medications produced in Europe, newer drugs may not be available. If you plan a lengthy trip to Côte d’Ivoire, you should bring enough medication to last the entire stay, not just a prescription, in your carry-on luggage. Medical care outside of Abidjan is extremely limited. Malaria is a serious health problem in Côte d’Ivoire. All of the following antimalarial drugs are effective options for preventing malaria in Côte d'Ivoire: Atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, or mefloquine. Note: Chloroquine is NOT an effective antimalarial drug in Côte d'Ivoire and should not be taken to prevent malaria in this region. Remember to start malaria prophylaxis treatment prior to arriving in country. Bring enough medications with you for the duration of your stay since you might not readily find the medications locally. For more information on malaria, including protective measures, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) web site. Dengue, filariasis, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis (river blindness), and African trypanosomiasis (African sleeping sickness) are other diseases carried by insects that also occur in Côte d’Ivoire. Protecting yourself against insect bites will help to prevent these diseases. There are yearly cholera outbreaks. The risk of contracting acute watery diarrhea or cholera can be significantly reduced by drinking purified water, bleaching produce, and eating meat and seafood that are thoroughly cooked and hot. Tuberculosis is an increasingly serious health concern in Côte d’Ivoire. For further information, please consult the CDC's information on TB.

Major Infectious Diseases

very high

Literacy Definition

Age 15 and over can read and write

Learning

The normal school routine begins by a daily assembly where announcements are passed on to the children before they disperse to their various classrooms. The normal school day begins at 8:00 a.m. and goes on until 3:30 p.m. with a lunch break of about one hour. The official language of communication in school is French and the lessons take between 35 and 40 minutes. When it comes to mid morning break children freshening up and they have to share a few pit latrines in the compound. It is also time to catch up and play games. In most cases there are no balls and other playing facilities so children learn to improvise and play different games in their own groups. At lunch hour there are some schools, who offer hot lunches for the kids and where that is not available children will take water or simply play without eating lunch. In most areas in Cote d’Ivoire there is rampant poverty and there is no place where that is reflected better than the state of school buildings. In some cases the school could be a single building with one teacher that has to prepare all the children for most of the primary school. Most of the buildings are basically walls without roofs, doors or windows, which have been destroyed or looted during the civil war that has been going on in the country. Over crowding is the norm with the population in a single classroom sometimes as much as 100 children for a single teacher. There are some areas where they do not have trained teachers because they all have fled so any person with some form of formal education is allowed to teach. In a typical class, pupils sit at broken desks under a collapsing ceiling while the teacher copies the day’s lesson from the only tattered textbook. Primary school education is meant to be compulsory from the age of 6 to 11 but many children do not attend preprimary education. Classes are organized into three – two year cycles namely preparatory stages I and II (CP1 and CP2, or Cours préparatoires de première et deuxième année), elementary levels I and II (CE1 and CE2 or cours élémentaires de première et deuxième année), and intermediary levels I and II (CM1 and CM2 or cours moyens de première et deuxième année).

To School

The journey to the nearest school is also another walk since there is no school transport especially in rural villages. Since most schools may be far away the children do not waste time at home after coming from the water pump. The trek may be anything like 3 to 5 miles before they arrive in school ready for classes which begin at 8:00 a.m.

• Muslim37.0%
• indigenous30.0%
• Christian25.0%
• Other8.0%

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

• French

Crime Information

Crime continues to be a major public security concern in Côte d’Ivoire. Armed carjackings, robberies of businesses, and home invasions occur regularly, targeting residents, including expatriates, who are perceived as wealthy. U.S. citizens, either visiting or residing in Côte d’Ivoire, are strongly encouraged to remain alert and aware of their surroundings to prevent becoming a victim of crime. The general guidance for travel to Côte d’Ivoire is exercise the same prudence and caution that you would in any metropolitan area in the United States. Common sense steps include refraining from displaying jewelry and other valuables and carrying limited amounts of cash and only photocopies of key documents. In addition, home and car doors should be locked at all times. When moving about the city, stay in well-lit areas and walk confidently at a steady pace on the side of the street facing traffic close to the curb. Avoid crowds, mass transit, alleys, and sparsely populated areas. Take caution when walking past concealed areas such as doorways and bushes. Whenever possible, travel in pairs or small groups. If you go out at night and need transportation, orange taxis are metered, although no safer than any other taxis. There have been reports of muggings and robbery scams even in metered taxis. Always carry identification and be discreet about your transactions, especially on the street. Normal spending habits of Westerners may appear extravagant to Ivoirians. U.S. citizens have been economic targets. There have been few reported cases of sexual assault against foreigners, but there are no available statistics or other reliable reporting on this issue. Be particularly alert when visiting Abidjan’s Treichville, Marcory, Koumassi, Yopougon, and Abobo districts. Popular neighborhoods for nighttime entertainment, such as Zone 4, Treichville, and Plateau, often attract crime. When traveling outside of Abidjan, you should avoid traveling after dark and be aware that rogue police, security forces, and criminals often use vehicular checkpoints to extort money from drivers and passengers. If you must travel after dark, use extreme caution. U.S. citizens who are stopped by police/security forces are urged to be polite and cooperate. If you are ticketed, you should ask the officer for a receipt for any items confiscated by the police, such as a driver’s license or other identification. Drivers issued a ticket should note, however, that it is legal to pay the police officer money by the side of the road, but the amount paid should not exceed the amount printed on the ticket itself. The fees generally range from 500 CFA to 2,000 CFA (approximately one to four U.S. dollars). U.S. citizens detained by the police should ask that the U.S. Embassy be notified immediately at 225 2249-4000/4450. Contact information for local authorities includes: Abidjan Police Prefecture /Emergency Number: 225- 20-22-16-33/16-87 and 225- 20-21-00-70 Ministry of Interior and Security: 225-20-25-20-03 Credit card use in Côte d’Ivoire is limited, particularly outside Abidjan, and credit card fraud is an increasing problem. Business fraud is common and the perpetrators often target foreigners. Schemes previously associated with Nigeria are now prevalent in Côte d’Ivoire, and pose a risk of grave financial loss. Typically these scams begin with unsolicited communication (usually by e-mail) from strangers who promise quick financial gain, often by transferring large sums of money or valuables out of the country, but then require a series of "advance fees" to be paid, such as fees for legal documents or taxes. A common variation is the scammer’s claim to be a refugee or émigré of a prominent West African family, who needs assistance transferring large sums of cash. Another common scam involves alleged victims of a serious accident or injury in need of money for life-saving medical care. Still other variations appear to be legitimate business deals that require advance payments on contracts or large purchases of merchandise using fraudulent credit cards. Sometimes victims are convinced to provide bank account and credit card information, and authorize financial transactions that drain their accounts, causing them to incur large debts. The best way to avoid becoming a victim of advance-fee fraud is common sense, if a proposition looks too good to be true it probably is a scam, particularly if you have never met the correspondent. You should carefully check and research any unsolicited business proposal before committing funds, providing goods or services, or undertaking travel. A good clue to a scam is the phone number given to the victim; legitimate businesses and offices provide fixed line numbers, while scams typically use only cellular (cell) phones. In Côte d’Ivoire, most cell phone numbers start with 44, 45, 46, 48, 58, 60, 66, or 67. It is virtually impossible to recover money lost through these scams. For additional information, please consult the Department of State's brochure on international financial scams. Do not buy counterfeit and pirated goods, even if they are widely available. Not only are the bootlegs illegal in the United States, if you purchase them, you may also be breaking local law.

Criminal Penalties

While traveling in Côte d'Ivoire, you are subject to its laws even if you are a U.S. citizen. Foreign laws and legal systems can be vastly different than our own. It is illegal to take pictures of certain sensitive installations, including military sites, government buildings such as radio and television stations, the Presidency building, the airport, and the DeGaulle and Houphouet-Boigny bridges in Abidjan. In some places, driving under the influence could land you immediately in jail. These criminal penalties will vary from country to country. There are also some things that might be legal in the country you visit, but still illegal in the United States. For example, if you buy pirated goods you can be prosecuted under U.S. law. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime prosecutable in the United States. If you break local laws in Côte d'Ivoire, your U.S. citizenship will not help you avoid arrest or prosecution. Persons violating Ivoirian laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested, or imprisoned. Penalties for possessing, using, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Côte d'Ivoire are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, if you are arrested in Côte d'Ivoire, you may request that police, prison officials, and other authorities alert the U.S. embassy of your arrest. You may also ask that they forward communications to the U.S. embassy on your behalf.