Geography of Ivory Coast

{{Infobox country geography

| name = Ivory Coast

| map = 250px240px

| continent = Africa

| region = Sub-Sahara

| coordinates = 8°0'N, 500'W

| area ranking = 68th

| km area = 78699

| percent land = 4.89

| km coastline = 590

| borders = Total land borders:Liberia: Ghana: Guinea: Burkina Faso: Mali:

| highest point = Mont Nimba

| lowest point = Gulf of Guinea0 m/ft (sea level)

| longest river = Bandama River

| largest lake = Lake Kossou}}

thumb|Côte d'Ivoire map of Köppen climate classification.

thumb|left|Heavy rain in Abidjan (June)

thumb|Topography of Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) is a sub-Saharan nation in southern West Africa located at 8° N, 5° W. The country is approximately square in shape.

Area and borders

Area

Total:
Country rank in the world: 68th
Land:
Water:

Area comparatives

Australia comparative: approximately larger than Victoria
Canada comparative: approximately half the size of Manitoba
United Kingdom comparative: approximately larger than the United Kingdom
United States comparative: slightly larger than New Mexico
EU comparative: slightly larger than Poland

Land borders

Bordering countries:
Liberia to the southwest for
Guinea to the northwest for
Mali to the north-northwest for
Burkina Faso to the north-northeast for
Ghana to the east for
Total:

Coastline

on Gulf of Guinea

Maritime claims

Ivory Coast makes maritime claims of as an exclusive economic zone, of territorial sea, and a continental shelf.

Terrain and topography

Ivory Coast's terrain can generally be described as a large plateau rising gradually from sea level in the south to almost elevation in the north. The nation's natural resources have made it a comparatively prosperous nation in the African economy.

The southeastern region of Ivory Coast is marked by coastal inland lagoons that start at the Ghanaian border and stretch along the eastern half of the coast. The southern region, especially the southwest, is covered with dense tropical moist forest. The Eastern Guinean forests extend from the Sassandra River across the south-central and southeast portion of Ivory Coast and east into Ghana, while the Western Guinean lowland forests extend west from the Sassandra River into Liberia and southeastern Guinea. The mountains of Dix-Huit Montagnes region, in the west of the country near the border with Guinea and Liberia, are home to the Guinean montane forests.

The Guinean forest-savanna mosaic belt extends across the middle of the country from east to west, and is the transition zone between the coastal forests and the interior savannas. The forest-savanna mosaic interlaces forest, savanna and grassland habitats. Northern Ivory Coast is part of the West Sudanian Savanna ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. It is a zone of lateritic or sandy soils, with vegetation decreasing from south to north.

The terrain is mostly flat to undulating plain, with mountains in the northwest. The lowest elevation is at sea level on the coast. The highest elevation is Mount Nimba, at in the far west of the country along the border with Guinea and Liberia.

Rivers

The Cavalla River drains the western border area of the Ivory Coast and eastern Liberia. It forms the southern two-thirds of the border between Liberia and Ivory Coast.

The Sassandra River forms in the Guinea highlands and drains much of the western part of the Ivory Coast east of the Cavalla River.

The Bandama River is the longest river in the Ivory Coast, with a length of some , draining the east central part of the country. In 1973 the Kossou Dam was constructed at Kossou on the Bandama, creating Lake Kossou. The capital, Yamoussoukro, is located near the river south of the lake.

The Komoé River originates on the Sikasso Plateau of Burkina Faso, and briefly forms the border between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast before entering Ivory Coast. It drains the northeastern and easternmost portions of the country before emptying into the eastern end of the Ébrié Lagoon and ultimately the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. Its waters contribute to the Comoé National Park.

Climate

The climate of Ivory Coast is generally hot and humid. Most of the country has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen Aw), although the Upper Guinean forest region bordering Liberia has a tropical monsoon climate (Am). In the north, there are three seasons: warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), and hot and wet (June to October), whilst in the south there are two rainy seasons between April and July, and between October and November, a longer dry season from December to February, and a shorter dry season in August. Temperatures average between and range from .

{{Weather box

|location = Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire

|metric first = yes

|single line = yes

|width = auto

|Jan record high C = 35.0

|Feb record high C = 35.7

|Mar record high C = 34.9

|Apr record high C = 35.0

|May record high C = 34.9

|Jun record high C = 36.2

|Jul record high C = 34.0

|Aug record high C = 32.0

|Sep record high C = 32.1

|Oct record high C = 32.8

|Nov record high C = 35.0

|Dec record high C = 33.7

|Jan high C = 30.5

|Feb high C = 31.0

|Mar high C = 31.1

|Apr high C = 31.2

|May high C = 30.4

|Jun high C = 28.7

|Jul high C = 27.4

|Aug high C = 26.9

|Sep high C = 27.6

|Oct high C = 29.2

|Nov high C = 30.5

|Dec high C = 30.3

|year high C = 29.6

|Jan mean C = 26.8

|Feb mean C = 27.7

|Mar mean C = 27.9

|Apr mean C = 27.7

|May mean C = 26.9

|Jun mean C = 25.8

|Jul mean C = 24.7

|Aug mean C = 24.5

|Sep mean C = 25.6

|Oct mean C = 26.8

|Nov mean C = 27.4

|Dec mean C = 27.0

|year mean C = 26.6

|Jan low C = 23.5

|Feb low C = 24.6

|Mar low C = 24.9

|Apr low C = 24.9

|May low C = 24.6

|Jun low C = 23.7

|Jul low C = 22.9

|Aug low C = 22.1

|Sep low C = 22.3

|Oct low C = 23.6

|Nov low C = 24.4

|Dec low C = 23.8

|year low C = 23.8

|Jan record low C = 14.7

|Feb record low C = 16.0

|Mar record low C = 19.0

|Apr record low C = 15.9

|May record low C = 18.5

|Jun record low C = 18.6

|Jul record low C = 17.1

|Aug record low C = 17.2

|Sep record low C = 15.2

|Oct record low C = 17.5

|Nov record low C = 19.5

|Dec record low C = 16.5

|rain colour = green

|Jan rain mm = 16.3

|Feb rain mm = 48.9

|Mar rain mm = 106.7

|Apr rain mm = 141.3

|May rain mm = 293.5

|Jun rain mm = 561.8

|Jul rain mm = 205.7

|Aug rain mm = 36.8

|Sep rain mm = 80.5

|Oct rain mm = 137.7

|Nov rain mm = 143.3

|Dec rain mm = 75.1

|unit rain days = 0.1 mm

|Jan rain days = 3

|Feb rain days = 4

|Mar rain days = 9

|Apr rain days = 11

|May rain days = 19

|Jun rain days = 22

|Jul rain days = 12

|Aug rain days = 8

|Sep rain days = 11

|Oct rain days = 14

|Nov rain days = 16

|Dec rain days = 9

|Jan humidity = 84

|Feb humidity = 86

|Mar humidity = 83

|Apr humidity = 82

|May humidity = 84

|Jun humidity = 86

|Jul humidity = 85

|Aug humidity = 86

|Sep humidity = 89

|Oct humidity = 87

|Nov humidity = 83

|Dec humidity = 83

|Jan sun = 183

|Feb sun = 212

|Mar sun = 226

|Apr sun = 210

|May sun = 192

|Jun sun = 117

|Jul sun = 115

|Aug sun = 121

|Sep sun = 141

|Oct sun = 202

|Nov sun = 225

|Dec sun = 208

| source 1 = Deutscher Wetterdienst<ref>

{{cite web

| url = http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_655780_kt.pdf

| title = Klimatafel von Abidjan / Elfenbeinküste

| publisher = Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure

| access-date = 8 November 2016}}

</ref>

| source 2 = Danish Meteorological Institute<ref>

{{cite web

| url = http://www.dmi.dk/dmi/tr01-17.pdf| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130116071752/http://www.dmi.dk/dmi/tr01-17.pdf

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 16 January 2013

| title = STATIONSNUMMER 65578

| publisher = Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate

| access-date = 8 November 2016}}

</ref>

}}

{{Weather box

|metric first=yes

|single line=yes

|location=Yamoussoukro

|width = auto

|Jan high C=31.5

|Feb high C=33.5

|Mar high C=33.5

|Apr high C=32.9

|May high C=31.7

|Jun high C=30.1

|Jul high C=28.6

|Aug high C=28.5

|Sep high C=29.3

|Oct high C=30.1

|Nov high C=30.7

|Dec high C=30.1

|Jan mean C=25.2

|Feb mean C=27.3

|Mar mean C=27.6

|Apr mean C=27.3

|May mean C=26.5

|Jun mean C=25.6

|Jul mean C=24.5

|Aug mean C=24.5

|Sep mean C=24.8

|Oct mean C=25.2

|Nov mean C=25.5

|Dec mean C=24.5

|Jan low C=18.9

|Feb low C=21.2

|Mar low C=21.8

|Apr low C=21.8

|May low C=21.3

|Jun low C=21.1

|Jul low C=20.4

|Aug low C=20.6

|Sep low C=20.4

|Oct low C=20.4

|Nov low C=20.3

|Dec low C=19

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm=13

|Feb precipitation mm=42

|Mar precipitation mm=108

|Apr precipitation mm=126

|May precipitation mm=155

|Jun precipitation mm=165

|Jul precipitation mm=88

|Aug precipitation mm=83

|Sep precipitation mm=170

|Oct precipitation mm=125

|Nov precipitation mm=36

|Dec precipitation mm=15

|source 1 = Climate-Data.org, altitude: 236m}}

Cropland

Nine percent of the country is arable land. Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer of cocoa, a major national cash crop. Other chief crops include coffee, bananas, and oil palms, which produce palm oil and kernels. Mineral resources include petroleum, natural gas, diamonds, manganese, iron, cobalt, bauxite, copper, gold, nickel, tantalum, silica sand, clay, palm oil. Hydropower is also generated.

Forests

thumb|Banco forest

Ivory Coast has a large timber industry due to its large forest coverage. The nation's hardwood exports match those of Brazil. In recent years there has been much concern about the rapid rate of deforestation. Rainforests are being destroyed at a rate sometimes cited as the highest in the world. The only forest left completely untouched in Ivory Coast is Taï National Park (Parc National de Taï), a area in the country's far southwest that is home to over 150 endemic species and many other endangered species such as the Pygmy hippopotamus and 11 species of monkeys.

Tree cover extent and loss

Global Forest Watch publishes annual estimates of tree cover loss and 2000 tree cover extent derived from time-series analysis of Landsat satellite imagery in the Global Forest Change dataset.<ref name="GFWCIVdashboard">{{cite web

|title=Côte d'Ivoire Deforestation Rates & Statistics

|website=Global Forest Watch

|url=https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/CIV/

}}</ref><ref name="HansenEtAl2013">{{cite journal

|last1=Hansen

|first1=Matthew C.

|last2=Potapov

|first2=Peter V.

|last3=Moore

|first3=Rebecca

|last4=Hancher

|first4=Matt

|last5=Turubanova

|first5=Svetlana A.

|last6=Tyukavina

|first6=Alexandra

|display-authors=3

|title=High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change

|journal=Science

|volume=342

|issue=6160

|year=2013

|pages=850-853

|doi=10.1126/science.1244693

}}</ref><ref name="GFWTCLossAbout">{{cite web

|title=Tree cover loss

|website=Global Forest Watch Open Data Portal

|url=https://data.globalforestwatch.org/documents/gfw::tree-cover-loss/about

}}</ref><ref name="GFWTCCover2000About">{{cite web

|title=Tree cover (2000)

|website=Global Forest Watch Open Data Portal

|url=https://data.globalforestwatch.org/documents/gfw::tree-cover-2000/about

}}</ref> In this framework, tree cover refers to vegetation taller than 5 m (including natural forests and tree plantations), and tree cover loss is defined as the complete removal of tree cover canopy for a given year, regardless of cause.<ref name="GFRTreeCoverLoss2023">{{cite web

|title=How much forest was lost in 2023?

|website=Global Forest Review

|url=https://gfr.wri.org/global-tree-cover-loss-data-2023

}}</ref>

For Ivory Coast, country statistics report cumulative tree cover loss of from 2001 to 2024 (about 26.8% of its 2000 tree cover area). For tree cover density greater than 30%, country statistics report a 2000 tree cover extent of . The charts and table below display this data. In simple terms, the annual loss number is the area where tree cover disappeared in that year, and the extent number shows what remains of the 2000 tree cover baseline after subtracting cumulative loss. Forest regrowth is not included in the dataset.

{{ChartDirect

|type=bar

|align=center

|width=100%

|x=2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023,2024

|xType=integer

|y1=1226.94,1445.65,862.99,480.54,653.36,977.76,908.76,1275.83,1088.86,925.19,1247.37,961.38,1758.24,3469.01,1524.53,2211.25,3573.08,3246.80,2422.02,2485.49,1832.73,1724.79,1902.98,1651.20

|y1Title=Annual tree cover loss (km²)

|caption=Annual tree cover loss in Ivory Coast, 2001–2024.

}}

{{ChartDirect

|type=line

|align=center

|width=100%

|x=2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018,2019,2020,2021,2022,2023,2024

|xType=integer

|y1=147442.54,145996.89,145133.90,144653.36,144000.00,143022.24,142113.48,140837.65,139748.79,138823.60,137576.23,136614.85,134856.61,131387.60,129863.07,127651.82,124078.74,120831.94,118409.92,115924.43,114091.70,112366.91,110463.93,108812.73

|y1Title=Extent minus cumulative loss (km²)

|caption=Tree cover extent in 2000 minus cumulative tree cover loss in Ivory Coast, 2001–2024 (loss-only residual; does not account for gain).

}}

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align:right;"

|+ Annual tree cover extent and loss

! Year

! Tree cover extent (km2)

! Annual tree cover loss (km2)

| 2001 || 147,442.54 || 1,226.94

| 2002 || 145,996.89 || 1,445.65

| 2003 || 145,133.90 || 862.99

| 2004 || 144,653.36 || 480.54

| 2005 || 144,000.00 || 653.36

| 2006 || 143,022.24 || 977.76

| 2007 || 142,113.48 || 908.76

| 2008 || 140,837.65 || 1,275.83

| 2009 || 139,748.79 || 1,088.86

| 2010 || 138,823.60 || 925.19

| 2011 || 137,576.23 || 1,247.37

| 2012 || 136,614.85 || 961.38

| 2013 || 134,856.61 || 1,758.24

| 2014 || 131,387.60 || 3,469.01

| 2015 || 129,863.07 || 1,524.53

| 2016 || 127,651.82 || 2,211.25

| 2017 || 124,078.74 || 3,573.08

| 2018 || 120,831.94 || 3,246.80

| 2019 || 118,409.92 || 2,422.02

| 2020 || 115,924.43 || 2,485.49

| 2021 || 114,091.70 || 1,832.73

| 2022 || 112,366.91 || 1,724.79

| 2023 || 110,463.93 || 1,902.98

| 2024 || 108,812.73 || 1,651.20

REDD+ reference levels and monitoring

Under the UNFCCC REDD+ framework, Ivory Coast has submitted national reference levels for results-based payments. On the UNFCCC REDD+ Web Platform, the country’s 2017 and 2024 submission packages are both listed as having assessed reference levels; a national strategy is listed as “not reported”, safeguards information as reported, and a national forest monitoring system as “not reported”.

The first assessed submission, technically assessed in 2018, covered the REDD+ activities “reducing emissions from deforestation” and “enhancement of forest carbon stocks” at national scale. Using a historical reference period of 2000–2015, the modified forest reference emission level (FREL) was reported as a time-varying benchmark, declining from about 41.2 million to 20.6 million t CO2 eq between the start and end of the reference period. The technical assessment reported that it included above-ground biomass (AGB) and below-ground biomass (BGB), deadwood and litter for deforestation, and above-ground biomass and below-ground biomass for enhancement of forest carbon stocks, with CO2 only.

An updated national FREL and forest reference level (FRL) was submitted in 2024 and assessed in 2025. It expanded coverage to reducing emissions from deforestation, reducing emissions from forest degradation, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, using a 2015–2020 reference period. The assessed values were 32,363,393 t CO2 eq per year for the FREL and −350,986 t CO2 eq per year for the FRL. The technical assessment states that the updated benchmark included AGB, BGB, deadwood, litter and soil organic carbon overall, although soil organic carbon was not included for forest degradation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks included only AGB; it also included CO2, CH4 and N2O, with non-CO2 gases counted only for deforestation.

Natural hazards

[[File:Woman with watering can, Dent de Man.jpg|thumb|

A woman carries water from the Dou River, mountain Dent de Man]]

Natural hazards include the heavy surf and the lack of natural harbors on the coast; during the rainy season torrential flooding is a danger.

Extreme points

Extreme points are the geographic points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location in the country.

Northernmost point — the point at which the border with Mali enters the Bagoé River, Savanes District
Southernmost point — Boubré, Bas-Sassandra District
Easternmost point — unnamed location on the border with Ghana south-west of the town of Tambi, Zanzan District
Westernmost point — unnamed location on the border with Liberia in the Nuon River west of Klobli, Montagnes District

Notes

References

This article uses information published in the World Almanac and Book of Facts (2006) as a reference.