History of Ivory Coast Independence Day

Before the colonial age, most European contact with this part of West Africa was for trade in elephant ivory, which is how the region got its name. In 1843, the French first established a protectorate over a few kingdoms in the region. With the so-called 'Scramble for Africa' at the end of the nineteenth century, Ivory Coast became a French colony in 1908, though local resistance to the European invaders was not quashed until 1915.

In 1946 with the establishment of the Fourth French Republic, Ivory Coast became an overseas territory of France with its own parliament and representation in the French national assembly. In 1958, Ivory Coast became a self-governing autonomous republic within the French Community.

On July 11th 1960 France agreed to Ivory Coast becoming fully independent. Ivory Coast gained its full independence on August 7th 1960, with Félix Houphouët-Boigny becoming Ivory Coast's first president.

President Houphouet-Boigny stayed in power for 33 years until his death in 1993, protecting Ivory Coast from the turbulence of regime change that marked out the years after independence for the other ex-French states. 

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