MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Ivory Coast
Index
Figure 5. Population by Age and Sex, 1988
Source: Based on information from World Bank, March 17, 1988.
Urbanization was rapid after 1950, as the urban
population grew
by an average of 11.5 percent per year until 1965 and
about 8
percent per year from 1966 to 1988. As a result, Côte
d'Ivoire had
a high urban-rural population ratio compared with the rest
of subSaharan Africa. Roughly one-half of the 1987 population
lived in
urban areas, defined as localities of more than 10,000
inhabitants
and those of more than 4,000 inhabitants where more than
half of
all households depended on nonagricultural incomes. In
1988 about
20 percent of the total population lived in the capital
city of
Abidjan.
Foreigners--mostly West Africans--made up from 27
percent to 50
percent of the population and were more highly urbanized
than
indigenous groups. Foreign migrants have sought jobs in
Ivoirian
industry, commerce, and plantation agriculture since the
beginning
of the twentieth century, especially after World War II.
Most have
found work in urban areas, but in 1980 the number of
Ivoirians who
migrated from rural to urban areas was almost equaled by
the 75,000
migrant farm workers from neighboring states.
Because of moderately high fertility, falling mortality
rates,
and labor immigration, the Ivoirian population was fairly
young by
world standards
(see
fig. 5). About 45 percent of the 1987
population was under the age of fifteen, and the
dependency
ratio--the number of elderly and young dependents in
relation to
100 working-age adults--was 92 nationwide. There were 110
males per
100 females, reflecting the largely male immigrant work
force.
Data as of November 1988
|
|
