Abidjan Ivory Coast

Population: 6,321,017

Demographics: Akans 48%, Burkinabé (30%), Malians (22%), Ghanaians (19%), Nigeriens (11%), Guineans (9%). Among non-Africans, the Lebanese outnumber Europeans , and the French outnumber all other Europeans combined.

History: According to Ébrié oral tradition reported in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Côte d’Ivoire, the name of Abidjan, ” Abijean” at the time, was born from a misunderstanding . Legend has it that an old man returning from his field, his arms loaded with branches probably intended for repairing the roof of his hut , met on his way a European explorer in distress who asked him the name of the nearest village. The old man, not speaking the white man’s language , thought he understood that the latter was asking what he was doing in these places. Terrorized by this unexpected encounter, he fled shouting: “min tchan m’bidjan” , which in the drunken language means: “I have just come back from cutting leaves”. The white man thought he had the answer to his question and kept Abidjan. In 1896 , following a series of deadly yellow fever epidemics , the French settlers who were settled in Bassam decided to leave for a more salubrious place in Abidjan Santé (“a village away from Adjamé”). Their move was followed by that of the colonial government which established in 1899 , at this location, under the leadership of the engineer Houdaille whose primary mission was to study the route for an Ocean- Niger railway , the Bingerville trading post. , capital of the French colony from 1900 to 1934 named after the first official governor of the colony , Louis-Gustave Binger. In 1931 , Le Plateau and what would become Treichville were connected approximately to the place of the Félix-Houphouët-Boigny bridge by a floating bridge. That year, the first addressing of the streets of Abidjan was put in place. It will be (provisionally) final in 1964 , under the leadership of Mayor Konan Kanga, then (poorly) completed in the American style in 1993. In the 1940s and 50s , like Cairo , Tangier or Istanbul , Abidjan participated in the popular imagination of nests of spies and gentlemen-rogues in troubled waters. In 1951 , the colonial authorities decided to build the Vidri canal so that ships with deep drafts could dock at the quays of Treichville and developed one of the rare deep-water African ports there. Ecological consequence of this development: the hot water of the n’doupé lagoon will experience a drop in temperature. Abidjan, then called the “Pearl of the Lagoons”, entered a prosperous period which lasted until the 1980s. Since the 1980s , despite undeniable improvements, we have witnessed, due to the negligence of responsible officials and corruption , a general degradation of the city of Abidjan and a worsening of its pollution . In 2006 , the massive poisoning of populations by polluting products dumped in public landfills is an illustration of this and an inevitable tragedy.

Elevation: 18 m

Climate: Hot and humid subequatorial climate. Average annual temperature in Abidjan is 26 C (78 F), the average for July is 28 C (82 F), the average for January is 24 C (75 F).

Attractions: Banco National Park, The Plateau, Treichville, Mosque Salam Du Plateau, Musee De Civilisation De Cote D’Ivoire

Airports: Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport ABJ