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| Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, Yamoussoukro |
TODAY is Independence Day in the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) marking its independence from France which took place on August 7, 1960.
1. Ivory Coast is the world’s leading producer of cocoa beans, supplying 33 per cent of the total. 2. The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in The Ivory Coast capital of Yamoussoukro is the largest church building in the world covering 323,000 sq ft. 3. Ivory Coast has only ever won one Olympic medal: a silver in the men’s 400 metres in 1984. 4. Queen Abla Pokou is the legendary founder of the Ivory Coast and is said to have led the Baoulé people there from Ghana in the mid-18th century. 5. She is said to have sacrificed her own child to river spirits to lead them across the Comoé River. 6. Ivory Coast footballer Didier Drogba scores 13 million hits on Google. President Alassane Ouattara has 613,000. 7. The trade in ivory which gave the country its name had almost died out by the 18th century. 8. Côte d’Ivoire (which is the country’s preferred name for itself) is an anagram of “erotic video”. 9. The Ivory Coast national football team is nicknamed “Les Eléphants” (the elephants). 10. They have twice won the Africa Cup of Nations, in 1995 and 2015, both times beating Ghana on penalties in the final.
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