Yamoussoukro became the legal capital of Ivory Coast in 1983, although the former capital Abidjan retains several political functions. Prior to 2011, what is now the district of Yamoussoukro was part ofLacs Region. The district was created in 2011[5] and is split into thedepartments ofAttiégouakro andYamoussoukro. In total, the district contains 169 settlements. Yamoussoukro is asub-prefecture in Yamoussoukro Department and is also acommune: since 2012, the city of Yamoussoukro has been the sole commune in the autonomous district of Yamoussoukro.
Stone tools found in the country from hundreds of thousands of years ago show that the area around Yamoussoukro has been occupied since ancient times. Due to thedesertification of theSahara, many moved south to avoid the harsh conditions.
Queen Yamoussou, the niece of Kouassi N'Go, ran the city ofN'Gokro in 1929 at the time ofFrench colonization. The village of N'Gokro was renamed Yamoussoukro, the suffixKro meaning town inBaoule.[6]
Diplomatic and commercial relations were then established, but in 1909, on the orders of the Chief of Djamlabo, the Akoué revolted against the administration. Bonzi station, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from Yamoussoukro on theBouaflé road, was set on fire, and the French administrator, Simon Maurice, was spared only by the intervention of Kouassi N'Go.[7]
As the situation got worse, Maurice, judging that Bonzi had become safe, decided to transfer the French military station to Yamoussoukro, where the French Administration built a pyramid to the memory of Kouassi N'Go, Chief of the Akoué, who was assassinated in 1910 by Akoué rebels, accusing him of being too close to the French.[8]
In 1919, the civil station of Yamoussoukro was removed.Félix Houphouët-Boigny became the leader of the village in 1939. A long period passed wherein Yamoussoukro, still a small agricultural town, remained in the shadows. This continued until after the Second World War, which saw the creation of theAfrican Agricultural Union, as well as the first conferences of its chief. However, it was only with independence that Yamoussoukro finally started to rise.[9]
In 1950, the village comprised 500 inhabitants.[10]
After 1964, the PresidentFélix Houphouët-Boigny made ambitious plans and started to build. One day in 1965, later called the Great Lesson of Yamoussoukro, he visited the plantations with the leaders of the county, inviting them to transpose to their own villages the efforts and agricultural achievements of the region. On 21 July 1977, Houphouët offered his plantations to the State.[citation needed]
In March 1983, President Houphouët-Boigny made Yamoussoukro the political and administrative capital ofIvory Coast, as the city was his birthplace.[11] This marked the fourth movement of the country's capital city in a century. Ivory Coast's previous capital cities wereGrand-Bassam (1893),Bingerville (1900), and Abidjan (1933). Most economic activity still takes place in Abidjan, and it is officially designated as the "economic capital" of the country.
Location of the autonomous district of Yamoussoukro
Beginning in 2001, the city was governed as part of theYamoussoukro Department and incorporated intoLacs Region. In 2011, the department was abolished and the autonomous district of Yamoussoukro was created and separated from the rest of Lacs, which became aseparate district.
Unlike mostdistricts of the country, the autonomous district of Yamoussoukro is not subdivided intoregions. The district, however, is divided into departments, sub-prefectures and a commune. The district consists of thedepartments ofAttiégouakro andYamoussoukro. The departments further divided into thesub-prefectures ofAttiégouakro,Kossou,Lolobo, and Yamoussoukro. There is onecommune, which is also named Yamoussoukro, and it shares the same borders as the district. In 2011, the position of Mayor of Yamoussoukro was replaced with a district governor appointed by the head of state.
Yamoussoukro features atropical wet and dry climate (Aw) under theKöppen-Geiger climate classification system.[17] The city features a lengthywet season covering the months of March through October, and a shorterdry season that covers the remaining four months. Like many other cities inWest Africa, Yamoussoukro is affected by theharmattan, which serves as a primary source of the city'sdry season. Despite the lengthy wet season, Yamoussoukro does not see the level of rainfall experienced in Abidjan. Yamoussoukro on average sees roughly 1,130 millimetres (44 in) of precipitation annually.
^Cyril K. Daddieh,Historical Dictionary of Cote d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast), Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 490
^Roman Adrian Cybriwsky,Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2013, p. 339
^J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ‘'Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'’, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 811-812
^Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin (2011).Religions of the world : a comprehensive encyclopedia of beliefs and practices. ABC-CLIO.ISBN9781780343716.OCLC764567612.
^Swacker, Bob; Deimling, Brian (2000). "A Nineteenth-Century Church for the New Millennium: The Legacy of Pius IX and John Paul II".The Massachusetts Review.41 (1):121–131.ISSN0025-4878.JSTOR25091638.
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