Ivory Coast has been split in two since a failed coup in 2002 developed into a full-scale rebellion against the government, which subsequently lost control of the north and west of the country. A peace deal in March 2007 finally paved the way towards reunification of the war-torn country.

• Hundreds of thousands still uprooted by violence
• World's largest cocoa producer
• Thousands of former child soldiers

Elections are scheduled for November 2008, but villagers still fear armed pro-government militias who they blame for murders, violence and stealing.

The health and educations systems were devastated by 2002 clashes. Few, if any, government-run health or education services remained in rebel-held areas after government doctors, nurses and teachers fled, and at least 1 million children missed out on school as a result.

Schools and hospitals have gradually reopened, but the infrastructure remains poor and many regions lack water and basic sanitation.

Total population (2007)	18.9 million U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2006)
U.N. peacekeepers	9,119 (U.N. Operation in Cote d'Ivoire, July 2008)
Estimated child soldiers	5,000 (U.N. Children's Fund, UNICEF, 2006)
Average life expectancy (2005)	47. 4 years (UNDP - Human Development Report 2007/2008)
HIV prevalence (2007)	3.9 percent (UNAIDS 2008)
Internally displaced	709,000 (U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, 2007)