Festivals in the Ivory Coast are often a celebration of cultural traditions. With a good number of the population adhering to the Muslim faith, religious events related to Islamic beliefs are widely observed. Ivoirians also celebrate different kinds of historic holidays, many of which are characterized by festive parades and colorful performances.
The government of Ivory Coast takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Ivory Coast is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.
The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998, and was estimated to be 20,617,068 in 2009, and 23,919,000 in July 2014.Ivory Coast's first national census in 1975 counted 6.7 million inhabitants.