Home > Military of Côte d'Ivoire

Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary Gendarmerie, Republican Guard (includes Presidential Guard), Sapeur-Pompier (Military Fire Group)

1 Figures

Military manpower

• military age: 18 years of age
• availability: males age 15-49: 3,743,353 (2000 est.)
• fit for military service: males age 15-49: 1,952,882 (2000 est.)
• reaching military age annually: males: 182,936 (2000 est.)

Military expenditures

• dollar figure: $94 million (FY96)
• percent of GDP: 1% (FY96)

2 Military regions

• The army has the majority of its forces in the First Military Region concentrated in and around Abidjan, its principal units there being a rapid intervention battalion (airborne), an infantry battalion, an armored battalion, and an air defense artillery battalion.
• The Second Military Region is located in Daloa and is assigned one infantry battalion.
• The Third Military Region is headquartered in Bouaké and is home to an artillery, an infantry, and an engineer battalion.
• The Fourth Military Region maintains only a Territorial Defense Company headquartered in Korhogo.
• The fifth region is the Western Operational Zone, a temporary command created to respond to the security threat caused by the civil war in neighboring Liberia.

3 Gendarmerie

The gendarmerie is roughly equivalent in size to the army. It is a national police force which is responsible for territorial security, especially in ruralRural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. Such areas are distinct from more intensively settled urban and suburban areas, and also from unsettled lands such as outback or wilderness. People live in villages areas. In times of national crisis the gendarmerie could be used to reinforce the army. The gendarmerie is commanded by a colonel-major and is comprised of four Legions, each corresponding to one of the four numbered military regions, minus the temporary military operational zone on the western border.

4 Navy

Côte d'Ivoire has a brown-water navy whose mission is coastUnited States postal stamp. A coast is that part of an island or continent that borders an ocean, gulf, sea, or large lake. In geology and geography, the coast extends inland from the shoreline. The terms coast and coastal refer to the condition of beingal surveillance and security for the nation's 340-mile coastline. It has two fast-attack craft, two patrol crafts, and one light transport ship. It also has numerous smaller vessels used primarily for traffic, immigrationImmigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. An immigrant is usually someone who intends to reside permanently, and not a casual visitor or traveler. Immigration means "in-migration" into a coun, and contraband control within the lagoonSee lagoon (disambiguation) for other possible meanings. A lagoon is a body of comparatively shallow salt water separated from the deeper sea by a shallow or exposed sandbank), coral reef, or similar feature. Thus, the enclosed body of water behind a barr system.