colony · West Africa

French Ivory Coast

1893 CE – 1958 CE · capital Bingerville

The French colony on the Gulf of Guinea that became the leading coffee and cocoa producer of French West Africa and independent Ivory Coast in 1960.

Origins

France signed treaties at Grand-Bassam and Assinie in 1843, and merchants such as Arthur Verdier kept a French presence. In 1887-1889 the explorer Louis-Gustave Binger secured treaties in the interior, and in 1893 the Ivory Coast became a colony with Binger as governor. The capital moved from Grand-Bassam to Bingerville in 1900 and to Abidjan in 1934.

Rule and society

Conquest of the forest peoples was slow and violent, culminating in Governor Gabriel Angoulvant's campaigns of 1908-1915. The colony, part of French West Africa, exported timber, coffee and cocoa, grown on European plantations and increasingly by African farmers using migrant labour from French Upper Volta. Forced labour favoured European planters until the African Agricultural Union of Felix Houphouet-Boigny, founded in 1944, campaigned against it; it was abolished in 1946.

Decline and legacy

Houphouet-Boigny, who also served as a minister in Paris, led the territory to autonomy within the French Community in 1958 and to independence on 7 August 1960. He remained president until his death in 1993, and Abidjan grew into a major West African metropolis.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). French Ivory Coast. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/french-ivory-coast
MLA
“French Ivory Coast.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/french-ivory-coast. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “French Ivory Coast.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/french-ivory-coast.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘French Ivory Coast’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/french-ivory-coast (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻