What language is spoken in Ivory Coast?

French is official and spoken everywhere; Dioula is the trade language in markets. There are around seventy local languages plus Nouchi, the urban slang of Abidjan. English is limited to hotels.

What music is Ivory Coast known for?

Zouglou, which emerged in the student quarters of Abidjan around 1990, and coupé-décalé, which came out of the Paris diaspora in the early 2000s.

What is Ivory Coast famous for producing?

Cocoa above all, around forty per cent of world production. Also cashew, coffee, rubber, palm oil and cotton.

What religion is practised in Ivory Coast?

Roughly split between Islam in the north and Christianity in the south, with traditional beliefs woven through both.

ElfenbeinküsteTravel Guide

Request a quote

Home · Culture

Ivory Coast: the country, its peoples and its culture.

Q: How many ethnic groups are there in Ivory Coast?

Around sixty, grouped into four language families: Akan in the south-east and centre, Krou in the south-west, Mandé in the north and west, Gur in the north-east.

Around sixty ethnic groups, four distinct landscapes, the largest cocoa harvest in the world and a music scene that West Africa dances to. Understanding the country makes the difference between seeing places and understanding them. This page covers who lives where, what is spoken, what is played, and how the economy actually works.

Masked dancer

Sixty ethnic groups, four families

The often-quoted figure of sixty or more ethnic groups is a simplification of something more useful: four large language families. Akan in the south-east and centre, Krou in the south-west, Mandé in the north and west, Gur in the north-east. Knowing which region you are in tells you a great deal about the architecture, the food and the masks you will see.