ABSTRACT

According to the Library of Congress Country Study, the first recorded history of Cote d Ivoire is found in the chronicles of North African traders who from early Roman times conducted a caravan trade across the Sahara in salt, slaves, gold, etc. Cote d Ivoire lies on the West African coast on the Gulf of Guinea. The republic achieved independence from France on August 7, 1960, and the national capital since 1983 is Yamoussoukro, although Abidjan remains the administrative center. The colonies of French Sudan and Cote d Ivoire were included in the federation of French West Africa when it was constituted on June 16, 1895. A French decree of October 17, 1899, transferred a number of administrative units from French Sudan to other members of French West Africa, including Bquna, Kong, and Odienne to Cote d Ivoire. During the war, the Ivory Coast Belt Transverse Mercator was used such that the ellipsoid of reference was the Hayford 1909.