Demographics of Côte d'Ivoire

Côte d'Ivoire has more than 60 ethnic groups, usually classified into five principal divisions: Akan (east and center, including Lagoon peoples of the southeast), Krou (southwest), Southern Mande (west), Northern Mande (northwest), Senoufo/Lobi (north center and northeast). The Baoules, in the the Akan division, probably comprise the largest single subgroup with 15%--20% of the population. They are based in the central region around Bouake and Yamoussoukro. The Betes in the Krou division, the Senoufos in the north, and the Malinkes in the northwest and the cities are the next largest groups, with 10%--15% of the national population. Most of the principal divisions have a significant presence in neighboring countries.

Of the more than 5 million non-Ivorian Africans living in Côte d'Ivoire, one-third to one-half are from Burkina Faso; the rest are from Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Benin, Senegal, Liberia, and Mauritania. The non-African expatriate community includes roughly 20,000 French and possibly 100,000 Lebanese. The number of elementary school-aged children attending classes increased from 22% in 1960 to 67% in 1995.

Population: 15,980,950
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2000 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 46.45% (male 3,726,388; female 3,696,462)
15-64 years: 51.36% (male 4,222,333; female 3,985,249)
65 years and over: 2.19% (male 175,606; female 174,912) (2000 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.58% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 40.78 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 16.57 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
note: after Liberia's civil war started in 1990, more than 350,000 refugees fled to Côte d'Ivoire; by the end of 1999 all Liberian refugees were assumed to have returned; the 2000 rate reflects labor in migration

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female
total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 95.06 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 45.15 years
male: 43.72 years
female: 46.63 years (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 5.8 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Ivorian(s)
adjective: Ivorian

Ethnic groups: Baoule 23%, Bete 18%, Senoufou 15%, Malinke 11%, Agni, Africans from other countries (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: Muslim 60%, Christian 22%, indigenous 18% (some of these are also numbered among the Christians and Muslims)

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

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 48.5%
male: 57%
female: 40%

See also : Côte d'Ivoire