Ivory Coast has two governments, one clinging to power while the international community insists that it must go, the other barricaded inside a hotel protected by barbed wire and the blue helmets of a UN peacekeeping force. Laurent Gbagbo's term in office expired five years ago, and the long-delayed election appeared to have ousted him from power. He has refused to leave. His opponent, Alassane Ouattara, has the support of world leaders, but not of Ivory Coast's military. And so the election stalemate continues, international sanctions slow the economy, and post-election violence has claimed the lives of over 200 people. Collected here are photographs of the campaign, the vote, post-election violence, and daily life in Ivory Coast, a West African nation of 21 million. -- Lane Turner (39 photos total)
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Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo looks up during his swearing-in ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Abidjan, Ivory Coast December 4, 2010. Gbagbo was sworn in for a new term even though the United Nations and world leaders maintain his opponent won the disputed election, which was the West African nation's first since a civil war. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 13
United Nations peacekeepers guard the Golf Hotel, headquarters of internationally recognised leader Alassane Ouattara. Defiant Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo's most notorious lieutenant on December 29 urged the strongman's diehard supporters to launch an unarmed assault on Ouattara's UN-defended base. (SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images) 14
Christian women attend a prayer for peace December 27, 2010 at Republic Square in Abidjan, as Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo warned in an interview that a French-US "plot" to refuse to recognise him as Ivory Coast's legitimate leader was pushing the country towards civil war. Several international leaders, including UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, have warned that Gbagbo's stubbornness could plunge Ivory Coast back into civil war. A West African bloc has meanwhile threatened military action against him. (SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images) 15
Covered in clay, a supporter of Ivory Coast's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo carries her child during a rally in Abidjan December 29, 2010. The European Union will tighten sanctions against Gbagbo, expanding a list of his supporters to be targeted after a disputed election. (REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon) 18
Men load soft drinks, water, and bed linen into a UN helicopter ferrying supplies and visitors to the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory Coast January 4, 2011. Alassane Ouattara is attempting to govern from the hotel where he and his staff are barricaded behind sandbags and giant coils of razor wire. Getting supplies to the Golf Hotel has become increasingly difficult, and the UN started running daily flights that land on the lawn with vegetables and powdered milk. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 20
A young animal seller rides a horse at Abidjan's largest animal market, in Port Bouet on the outskirts of Abidjan, Ivory Coast January 7, 2011. Vendors say the country's crisis has stemmed the flow of sheep, goats, and cattle from Ivory Coast's northern neighbors and increased transport costs. Residents complain that they are struggling to cope with higher prices for essentials such as meat, cooking oil, and public transit. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 27
People look for valuable material in a trash dump that has not been emptied in two weeks in the Plateau Dokui neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast January 10, 2011. Due to the ongoing political crisis many government services have not been tended to, leaving large piles of trash around the city spilling onto streets and blocking roads. (Jane Hahn for the New York Times) 28
A rebel fighter holds a knife as he stands watch for security forces on a street in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast January 11, 2011. Security forces loyal to Ivory Coast's incumbent leader fired volleys of gunshots, leaving at least four people dead after they cordoned off a large section of a neighborhood known to be his rival's stronghold. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 29
Young supporters of Laurent Gbagbo advance toward an arriving United Nations convoy, unseen, in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast January 11, 2011. UN peacekeepers retreated from a neighborhood where security forces loyal to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo had opened fire, turning around at least nine vehicles after dozens of angry young men barred the route. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 31
Local residents look on as the body of a man killed by gunfire lies covered in a side street of the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast January 11, 2011. Security forces loyal to Ivory Coast's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to cede power, fired volleys of gunshots leaving at least four people dead after they cordoned off a large section of a neighborhood known to be his rival's stronghold. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 32
People hurry across a normally busy street, now devoid of cars, as gunshots ring out several blocks away in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast January 12, 2011. Security forces loyal to the sitting president who is refusing to cede power descended on an opposition stronghold and opened fire for the second time in as many days, only hours after opposition supporters had taken to the streets in protest. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 33
Local residents look into the cab of a burnt truck in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast January 13, 2011. Daily life was resuming in the opposition stronghold neighborhood, which had seen deadly clashes between security forces and residents in the past two days. The head of the army warned that his troops reserve the right to retaliate, raising concerns about more violence amid Ivory Coast's political crisis. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 35
A woman buys food in Abidjan January 13, 2011 on the main road of the Abobo neighborhood, a district largely loyal to strongman Laurent Gbagbo's rival for the presidency, Alassane Ouattara. Parts of Abidjan were under a curfew imposed by Gbagbo in districts loyal to his rival for the presidency, where at least 11 people have died in recent unrest. (SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images) 36
People walk past makeshift street barricades, which the residents use to block off roads at night in order to slow down security forces, in the opposition stronghold PK18 area of Abobo in Abidjan, Ivory Coast January 14, 2011. U.N. officials have said they were being prevented from protecting civilians and from reaching neighborhoods where Laurent Gbagbo's army is accused of carrying out grave abuses. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) 37
Workers carry bags of cocoa beans January 18, 2011 at the Port of Abidjan where 80% of Ivory Coast's exports transit. EU-registered ships have been barred from dealing with Ivory Coast's main cocoa ports in line with sanctions over the nation's controversial November presidential poll, an EU diplomat said. The European Union slapped sanctions on outcast incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo and 84 of his associates, as well as 11 economic entities in the world's top cocoa producer. (ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images) 38
People walk by closed stores January 18, 2011 in the pro-Ouattara popular district of Adjame's great market in Abidjan as supporters of internationally recognized Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara called for a general strike against the Gbagbo camp. Laurent Gbagbo gave new assurances that he is open to talks with his rival for the Ivory Coast presidency, while regional leaders mulled military intervention to break the deadlock. (SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images) 39
Supporters of incumbent Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo attend a rally at Champroux stadium in Abidjan January 23, 2011. Gbagbo will find ways to sidestep economic sanctions aimed at removing him from power, his government said after West African leaders moved to sever his funds from the regional central bank. (REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon)
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