> The Ivory Coast is so French in culture and temperament that it insists on officially being called “Côte d’Ivoire.”
What a weird comment. The French couldn't care less how foreigners call us, and we don't pretend we can choose the name of France in any other language than French. Most other languages have they own name for France.
I think he meant simply that they still have a strong cultural allegiance to France and thus prefer the French spelling of the name (despite having been independent for quite some time). Not that that preference (or insistence on it) is in itself representative of French culture.
What a weird comment. The French couldn't care less how foreigners call us, and we don't pretend we can choose the name of France in any other language than French. Most other languages have they own name for France.
So that's really not "very French in culture".