Natural hazards: coast has heavy surf and no natural harbors; during the rainy season torrential flooding is possible
Environment - current issues: deforestation (most of the country's forests - once the largest in West Africa - have been cleared by the timber industry); water pollution from sewage and industrial and agricultural effluents
Environment - international agreements: party to : Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Desertification
@Cote d'Ivoire:People
Population: 14,986,218 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years : 47% (male 3,537,190; female 3,496,749) 15-64 years: 51% (male 3,927,687; female 3,700,468) 65 years and over: 2% (male 165,544; female 158,580) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.35% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 42.43 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 17.11 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.85 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.) note : since 1989, over 350,000 refugees have fled to Cote d'Ivoire to escape the civil war in Liberia