Elfenbeinküste, Côte d ́Ivoire - Daten & Fakten

name: Yamoussoukro (legislative capital), Abidjan (administrative capital); note - although Yamoussoukro has been the official capital since 1983, Abidjan remains the administrative capital as well as the officially designated commercial capital; the US, like other countries, maintains its Embassy in Abidjan geographic coordinates: 6 49 N, 5 16 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) etymology: Yamoussoukro is named after Queen Yamoussou, who ruled in the village of N'Gokro in 1929 at the time of French colonization; the village was renamed Yamoussoukro, the suffix "-kro" meaning "town" in the native Baoule language; Abidjan's name supposedly comes from a misunderstanding; tradition states that an old man carrying branches met a European explorer who asked for the name of the nearest village; the man, not understanding and terrified by this unexpected encounter, fled  shouting "min-chan m’bidjan," which in the Ebrie language means: "I return from cutting leaves"; the explorer, thinking that his question had been answered, recorded the name of the locale as Abidjan; a different version has the first colonists asking native women the name of the place and getting a similar response

citizenship by birth: no citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Cote d'Ivoire dual citizenship recognized: no residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years

presidential republic

civil law system based on the French civil code; judicial review of legislation held in the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court

18 years of age; universal