Cote d'Ivoire holds the West African country's first presidential elections in years, with polling stations opened on schedule on Sunday morning.

A long queue was witnessed at 7:15 a.m. (0715 GMT) for voting at the polling station in the residential area of Youpougon in Abidjan, the economic capital of Cote d'Ivoire.

The electoral commission says 5.7 millions voters have been registered to cast their ballots at 20,073 polling stations at home and abroad on Sunday.

The vote is significant as it is widely expected to end the country's political crisis triggered by an attempted coup in 2002 and an ensuing war.

The country has yet to reunify after dividing with the loyalists controlling the south and the ex-rebel New Forces (FN) holding the north.

The long-awaited vote has been repeatedly postponed amid tensions and poor preparatory work since 2005, when President Laurent Gbagbo's tenure expired.

As many as 14 candidates are campaigning for the top post in the race, including Gbagbo.

The 65-year-old incumbent represents the ruling Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) to compete with the other contenders in the elections set to open at 7 a.m. (0700 GMT) and close at 5 p.m. (1700 GMT).

Gbagbo came to power in 2000, following a decision by the Supreme Court to reject the candidacies of his principal rivals Henri Konan Bedie and Alassane Ouattara to run in the election.

Ouattara, now the candidate of the Rally of Republicans (RDR), vowed to build a truly independent Cote d'Ivoire based on the foundations of "discipline, unity and hard work."

Bedie is also running as the candidate of the Democratic Party of Cote d'Ivoire.

The 76-year-old contender used to be the ambassador of the country to the United States and Canada, and served as the minister of economy and finance between 1966 and 1977.

Cote d'Ivoire became independent on Aug. 7 1960. The country was headed by Felix Houphout-Boigny ever since until 1993. It suffered two military coups and a civil war afterwards.

In March 2007, Gbagbo and FN leader Guillaume Soro signed a peace accord in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, under which Soro was named prime minister.

Cote d'Ivoire has an area of 322,462 sq. km and a population of 18.9 million. Yamoussoukro is the political capital of the country, which borders Liberia, Guinea, Mali,Burkina Faso, Ghana and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean.

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