republic; multiparty presidential regime established 1960 note: the government is currently operating under a power-sharing agreement mandated by international mediators
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
Independence date
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
Religions
Muslim 38.6%, Christian 32.8%, indigenous 11.9%, none 16.7% (2008 est) note: the majority of foreigners (migratory workers) are Muslim (70%) and Christian (20%)
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
Languages
French (official), 60 native dialects with Dioula the most widely spoken
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Ghana and Liberia
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Area
322,463 km sq
9,826,675 km sq
Coastline
515 km
19,924 km
Climate
tropical along coast, semiarid in far north; three seasons - warm and dry (November to March), hot and dry (March to May), hot and wet (June to October)
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
