Côte d'Ivoire

Ancestors of most of the present population of Côte d'Ivoire seem to have moved into the area relatively late (18th to 19th century), mostly from the northeast and east. The Kru, however, came from the west across the Cavally River. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and began trading in slaves and ivory. Strong tribal kingdoms flourished in the northeastern and eastern parts of the country. Europeans did not penetrate inland until the 1830s, when the French signed treaties with coastal rulers. As part of the French expansion in West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire was made a colony in 1893. The French were bitterly resisted, however, and frequent revolts occurred. In 1904 Côte d'Ivoire became a constituent territory of the Federation of French West Africa. Faced with dissidence, the French resorted increasingly to direct rule, undermining traditional rulers. In 1919 the northern part of the colony was detached to form part of the new colony of Upper Volta, which was dissolved in 1932, only to be reconstituted in 1948. In 1944 Félix Houphouët-Boigny, a Baule chief, farmer, and doctor, founded a union of African farmers. From this organization emerged the first major African political party, the interterritorial African Democratic Rally and its constituent section, the Côte d'Ivoire Democratic party, both led by Houphouët-Boigny. The party was opposed by the French administration, and the tension flared into violence in 1949. In 1950 Houphouët-Boigny reversed his policy and began to cooperate with the French. On December 4, 1958, Côte d'Ivoire was proclaimed a republic within the French Community. After national elections in 1959, Houphouët-Boigny became premier and was elected president in November 1960, following the achievement of full independence on August 7 of that year. Côte d'Ivoire enjoyed political stability and great economic growth during the 1960s and 1970s, despite occasional challenges to the generally conservative, business-oriented outlook of Houphouët-Boigny by students and members of the armed forces. An alleged conspiracy by army officers to stage a coup was thwarted in 1973; an attempt on the president's life was made in 1980; and student unrest in early 1982 caused a temporary closing of the University of Abidjan. During the late 1980s the aging president sponsored grandiose building projects, especially in Yamoussoukro, while the national economy slumped. In October 1990 Houphouët-Boigny won his seventh five-year term as president, in Côte d'Ivoire's first multiparty election. He died in office in 1993 and was replaced as president by the head of the National Assembly, Henri Konan Bedie. Bedie was reelected in October 1995 elections that were boycotted by opposition parties protesting restrictions Bedie had placed on opposition candidates. In December legislative elections Bedie's Democratic Party won over 80 percent of the seats in the National Assembly despite the end of the opposition's boycott.