Gbagbo, a 海角大神 southerner, and Ouattara, a Muslim northerner who was accused in the past of being a foreigner, are emblematic of the country鈥檚 deep geographic, religious, and ethnic divides.
After Ivory Coast gained independence from France in 1960, the government encouraged immigration from neighboring countries to supply a labor force for its burgeoning cocoa industry, now the world鈥檚 largest.
The prosperity of the 1970s and 1980s brought in hordes of migrant workers, most of them Muslim. Many opted to settle in Ivory Coast permanently, mostly in the north.
Being born in the country does not grant a person Ivorian citizenship if he or she is born to foreigner parents, so many in the north remained 鈥渇oreigners鈥� according to the country鈥檚 laws. That became an issue in the 1980s, when an economic slowdown led to widespread discrimination against foreigners, and, by extension, Muslim northerners.
The country鈥檚 first leader after independence, F茅lix Houphou毛t-Boigny, is credited with keeping a lid on ethnic and religious tensions through a variety of patronage networks. But the underlying problems festered and rather than tamping down divisions, Mr. Houphouet-Boigny鈥檚 successor Henri Konan B茅di茅 exploited them to solidify his grasp on power. 鈥淣orthern鈥� names became a liability for those seeking political office and for Ivorians living in the south.
Northerners鈥� sense of persecution built for years. Previous leaders had allowed 鈥渇oreigners鈥� to hold political positions, including Ouattara, who was prime minister under Houphou毛t-Boigny. Ouattara insists that both his parents are Ivorians, but a court ruled in 1995 that his mother was from neighboring Burkina Faso. Ouattara and his supporters have always viewed this decision as an unjust way to prevent him from running in elections that he would have won, just as he finally did on Nov. 28, 2010.
Ouattara, highly popular among Ivory Coast鈥檚 Muslim northerners and its immigrant population, was run out of the country in 2002 as northerners launched a rebellion against the pro-government 海角大神 south, then led by Gbagbo.
