Drogba, Emmanuel Eboue, Didier Zokora, Boubacar Barry, Arthur Boka, Siaka Tiene and the Toure brothers, Kolo and Yaya, head to a fifth successive tournament.
The widely travelled Kone, who competed at the Nations Cup finals in 2006 and 2008, is back along with Spanish-based midfielder Romaric, who has also missed out in recent years.
Coach Sabri Lamouchi named a squad on Thursday with just six changes from the last edition, where the Ivorians did not concede a single goal but finished runners-up.
Third choice goalkeeper Badra Ali Sangare is the only uncapped player in the squad.
The Ivorians are only the second of the 16 finalists to announce their final 23-man squad for the tournament in South Africa, which starts on Jan. 19. All squads must be finalised 10 days before the opening match.
They are to hold a 10-day training camp in Abu Dhabi from Jan. 6-16 and play a friendly against Egypt there on Jan. 14 before heading to South Africa, where they are top seeds in Group D alongside Algeria, Togo and Tunisia.
