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Ivory Coast
Index
Côte d'Ivoire's ties to France had grown stronger since
independence in 1960. Although the number of French
advisers
continued to shrink, between 1960 and 1980 the total
French
population in Côte d'Ivoire nearly doubled, from about
30,000 to
close to 60,000, forming the largest French expatriate
community.
By 1988, as Côte d'Ivoire's economy continued to contract,
about
half of the French either returned to France or moved
elsewhere in
Africa. In the mid-1980s, four out of five resident French
had
lived in Côte d'Ivoire for more than five years. French
citizens
filled technical and advisory positions in the government,
albeit
in diminishing numbers, but were also evident throughout
the
private sector. Until 1985 Côte d'Ivoire also had the
highest
number of teaching and nonteaching French
coopérants (see Glossary) in
Africa, the highest number of students in
French
universities, the highest number of French multinationals
in all of
Africa, the largest percentage of French imports and
exports in
Africa, the highest number of nonroutine French diplomatic
visitors
of all African countries, and, with Senegal, was the
recipient of
the largest French aid package in Africa. Côte d'Ivoire
also hosted
the highest average number of visits by the French head of
state
per year.
On a formal level, a series of agreements and treaties
have
ensured the continuation and extension of French influence
in
diplomatic, military, legal, commercial, monetary,
political, and
cultural affairs, although most of these agreements were
modified
over the years to accommodate the sensitivities and
growing
political sophistication of Ivoirians. Perhaps most
significant for
the future were joint defense treaties and the permanent
basing of
the French marine battalion at Port Bouët. Although it had
never
interceded in Ivoirian politics, the battalion's presence
provided
an implicit warning against political or military action
that might
create instability and jeopardize French interests. The
colonial
heritage and contemporary realities suggested that France
would
remain Côte d'Ivoire's principal commercial partner,
albeit in
increasing competition with other states.
Data as of November 1988
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