Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) is West Africa's largest economy and one of its most linguistically diverse countries, home to around 70 indigenous languages from five major language families. Dioula (Jula), a Mande trade language virtually identical to Bambara of Mali, has functioned for centuries as the commercial lingua franca of the Sahel and forest-savanna corridor and today serves as the country's dominant informal tongue, especially in markets and inter-ethnic communication. The country's indigenous languages are grouped into four main clusters: Mande (Dioula, Mandinka), Gur / Voltaic (Senoufo, Lobi), Atlantic (none major), and Kwa (Baoulé, Bété, Dida, Agni). Baoulé, an Akan language related to Twi of Ghana, is the largest single ethnic-language community. French was imposed during the colonial era as French Ivory Coast (1893–1960) and remains the sole official language, used in all formal contexts. Abidjan, the economic capital, is home to Nouchi, an urban youth slang blending French, Dioula, and Baoulé — a vivid marker of the country's creolising street culture.
