Customs and habits in Cote d'Ivoire

The photo location of the website is The Republic of Ivory Coast, referred to as Ivory Coast. At the request of the country's government, the Chinese translation was translated as Cote d'Ivoire. It is located in western Africa, bordering Ghana, Liberia, Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. The country covers an area of 322,000 square kilometers and has a population of 20.3 million (2013 statistics). The official language is French, and Dioula is more common locally. English is almost impossible, but it's a little better in the hotel. About 54% of the residents believe in primitive religions and 25% believe in Islam.

Cote d'Ivoire was one of the most prosperous tropical countries in West Africa during the Cold War. However, after 1985, due to political corruption, lack of reform, domestic unrest, and civil war between 2002 and 2011, the economy collapsed.

On October 28, 2015, the 70th United Nations General Assembly re-elected members of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Cote d'Ivoire was successfully elected for a term from 2016 to 2018. On June 2, 2017, the United Nations General Assembly elected Cote d'Ivoire as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for 2018 and 2019.

Some areas of the country are densely forested and herds of elephants. The Portugal first came here in 1447. Seeing the prosperous ivory trade along the coast, a colonist named Fernamis named "Ivory Coast." After independence, it was used as the official name of the country and the elephant was used as the national symbol. Because the country has become rich by developing agriculture, people call it a country that has created an "economic miracle". It is known as the "Economic Window of Africa". Independence was proclaimed on August 7, 1960.

Abidjan,

capital, is the financial and trade center of West Africa, the first port in West Africa, and the first container store in Africa was born here. It is also the seaport of landlocked countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso. and a distribution center for import and export goods. It not only has an international air station, but also the most important gateway to Cote d'Ivoire and an important port for landlocked countries Mali and Burkina Faso. It is not only known for its amazing development speed, but also for its beautiful buildings. Most of the city's modern high-rise buildings were built in the late 1970s, with novel structures and bold designs that are refreshing. The loan currency is the African Financial Community franc CFAF. On March 12, 1983, Côte d'Ivoire decided to move the capital to Yamoussoukro, but government agencies and diplomatic missions remained in Abidjan.

Coffee and cocoa are the two pillars of Cote d'Ivoire's agricultural economy and are mainly distributed in the forest zone south of the 8th north latitude. They are Cote d'Ivoire's most important export. Cote d'Ivoire is rich in resources and has experienced great economic development after independence. Its cocoa output ranks third in the world. Coffee and cocoa together account for 50- 55% of total exports. Palm oil exports rank first in Africa. Ranked second in cotton output. Timber production ranks first in Africa. The export volume of canned tuna ranks second in the world.

Since Cote d'Ivoire used to be a French colony, its current politics, economy and culture are deeply influenced by France. In West Africa, Cote d'Ivoire is a relatively wealthy and politically stable country. In the green fields of Brato in the central area of Abidjan, there are many high-rise buildings, which makes people forget that they are in Africa in an instant. Prices in Abidjan are very high, and imported goods are subject to high tariffs. There are supermarkets everywhere, and the supply of goods is quite abundant. Most people in Cote d'Ivoire use rice, corn, and sweet potatoes as their staple foods, and the non-staple foods include beef and mutton, chicken, duck, eggs, fish, tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes and other vegetables. In terms of taste, they generally prefer greasy and are accustomed to eating large pieces of beef and mutton, and do not like dishes such as meat slices, shredded pork, and diced pork. Their food intake generally is relatively large. Among the dishes they cook, they like to use coconut oil, palm oil, fragrant leaves, pointed peppers, etc. as seasonings. They generally avoid shrimp, chicken feathers and mushrooms. Friends who go to Cote d'Ivoire for business or tourism must pay attention. It is best not to eat or drink in open-air stalls, but to drink mineral water. Taking a taxi in Cote d'Ivoire requires negotiation in advance, and taxis cannot be trusted. In terms of business practices, in some West African countries the working hours are 7-14 a.m.; in others, 8-12 a.m. and 15-18 p.m. It usually takes 48 hours to obtain a visa for West African countries. It is necessary to reconfirm the flight reservation.

Cote d'Ivoire is also a multi-ethnic country. There are 69 ethnic groups in the country, divided into 4 major families: Aken ethnic group accounts for about 42%, Mandy ethnic group accounts for about 27%, Volta ethnic group accounts for about 16%, and Kru ethnic group accounts for about 15%. Each ethnic group has its own language, and Dioula (no writing) is spoken in most areas of the country. Most tribes have formed their own unique customs due to their mysterious worship of nature. For example, the Difi Festival of the Abidi people has interesting customs, and the festival activities generally last for 2 days.

Moreover, each ethnic group in Cote d'Ivoire also has its own unique marriage customs. The Ebrie people living on the southeastern coast of Cote d'Ivoire practice polygamy and habitually believe that polygamy is a sign of wealth. According to custom, the person who lives with her husband for the longest time is most favored by her husband, and her status and power also rank first among the group of wives, becoming the "first lady". If the husband remarries, her consent must be obtained.

The marriage of Ebriere children is generally decided by the father or uncle. If there are several daughters, the father has the right to marry the eldest daughter to his good friend. Once the girl's father or uncle agrees to the marriage, the young man can marry her. Wedding bookings are usually delivered in two installments. The first time was on the girl's birthday, and the young man personally delivered a pair of anklets and some potato chips to the girl's father; the second time was on the day when the wedding date was chosen, and the young man wanted to deliver a dowry to the girl's family.

The dowry is usually CFA francs and a few pieces of cloth to make a "pani" skirt. After the wedding, the young man and the girl became legal couple. At this time, if the girl does not agree to the marriage, the young man has the right to ask the girl's father for the return of the betrothal gift. When withdrawing gifts, only the dowry is generally returned, not the money. The Ebriere people prohibit intermarriage between close relatives, and prohibit underage and forced marriage. In general, men and women from different regions and tribes can marry, but marriage is prohibited if one party is Muslim or comes from a tribe that follows the patrilineal clan system.

In real life, there is no fixed pattern of marriage customs among the Ebriai people. After giving foot-colored gifts, especially after giving a full dowry, the young man can take the girl away and hold the wedding on a date. According to current custom, both parents and family members of the couple must attend the wedding ceremony. At the beginning of the wedding, the groom will announce in public that he will marry so-and-so as to be his wife and declare that he has already paid a full dowry. Then, the groom hosted a banquet for all the guests present at the wedding. At banquets, ginger wine is an indispensable auspicious drink.

After marriage, if one of the spouses is disloyal to the other, it will in principle lead to divorce. However, this is not entirely true in real life. In most cases, if the husband has an affair, he only needs to pay a sum of compensation to the deceived wife. However, if the wife is unfaithful to her husband, most of them end in divorce.

Customarily, regardless of the reason, the Ebriai people are generally not allowed to repudiate their wives. Divorce is allowed only under one of the following circumstances: first, between the couple, one spouse has misbehaved that is disloyal to the other, and amends and compensation are not enough to repair the broken relationship as a result; second, both spouses have agreed to no longer maintain the relationship, and the husband has agreed not to claim reimbursement from the woman for the dowry; third, the husband abuses his wife, which habitually mainly refers to the husband poisoning his wife. Under normal circumstances, neither spouse would be the first to file a divorce request. Because if the woman first requests for divorce, she must repay her ex-husband's dowry before remarrying; if the man first requests for divorce, the woman will no longer refund the dowry. After the divorce, all children are left to the father, but the mother has the right to visit the children regularly.

The pictures on the website are located on marriage. Contrary to the custom of other tribes that prohibit marriage with other tribes, the Dane people living in the western region of Cote d'Ivoire stipulates that men of their own tribe must choose women who are worshipped from different totem tribes as their spouses before marriage can be completed. After marriage, if his wife is found to have misbehaved, he is often punished with material compensation, and in some cases, this may lead to divorce. After the incident, it is entirely up to the husband to decide whether to punish or divorce.

If the husband is looking for an opportunity to abandon his unsatisfactory wife, and the wife's misbehavior is discovered by the husband at this time, and the misbehavior wife is sent back to her parents 'parents, and the parents' parents must also return the dowry. The lover of an unscrupulous wife will also be punished and pay the deceived husband the entire cost of supporting his wife. If a deceived husband does not hold his unfaithful wife accountable and still wants to keep her, her family does not need to return the dowry. However, the bad man who seduced his wife will send some clothes to the couple and some wine and chicken to the elderly who mediate the dispute to apologize.