Côte d’Ivoire celebrates its Independence Day on August 7. It honors Côte d’Ivoire’s independence from France in 1960. The Ivory Coast, commonly known as Côte d’Ivoire in French and formally the Republic of the Ivory Coast, is a country on West Africa’s southern coast.

Its political capital is Yamoussoukro, located in the country’s center, while its major city and economic center is Abidjan, situated on the coast. It is bounded to the northwest by Guinea, to the west by Liberia, to the northwest by Mali, to the northeast by Burkina Faso, to the east by Ghana, and to the south by the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean). There are 78 different languages spoken in Côte d’Ivoire, with French being the official language.