Population and Demographics

77% of the population are considered Ivorians, representing several different people and language groups. Since Cote d'Ivoire has established itself as one of the most successful West African nations, about 20% of the population consists of workers from neighbouring Liberia, Burkina Faso and Guinea. This fact has created steadily increasing tension in recent years, especially since most of these workers are Muslims while the native-born population is largely Christian (primarily Roman Catholic) and animist.

Côte d'Ivoire has more than 60 ethnic groups, usually classified into five principal divisions:

• Akan (east and centre, including Lagoon peoples of the southeast)
• Krou (southwest)
• Southern Mandé (west)
• Northern Mandé (northwest)
• Sénoufo/Lobi (north center and northeast)

The Baoulés, in the Akan division, probably comprise the largest single subgroup with 15%-20% of the population. They are based in the central region around Bouaké and Yamoussoukro. The Bétés in the Krou division, the Sénoufos in the north, and the Malinkés 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 neighbouring 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, Sénégal, Liberia, and Mauritania. The non-African expatriate community includes roughly 50,000 French (this number may be inaccurate due to the evacuation of roughly 8,000 Frenchmen in November 2004) and possibly 30,000 Lebanese.