Abidjan is the economic capital of Côte d'Ivoire and one of the most populous French-speaking cities in Africa. According to the 2014 census, Abidjan's population was 4.7 million, which is 20 percent of the overall population of the country, and this also makes it the sixth most populous city proper in Africa, after Lagos, Cairo, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, and Johannesburg. A cultural crossroads of West Africa, Abidjan is characterised by a high level of industrialisation and urbanisation.
Because Abidjan is also the largest city in the country and the centre of its economic activity, it has officially been designated as the "economic capital" of the country. The Abidjan Autonomous District, which encompasses the city and some of its suburbs, is one of the 14 districts of Ivory Coast. Abidjan lies on the south-east coast of the country, on the Gulf of Guinea. The city is located on the Ébrié Lagoon. The business district, Le Plateau, is the center of the city, along with Cocody, Deux Plateaux (the city's wealthiest neighborhood and a hub for diplomats), and Adjamé, a slum on the north shore of the lagoon. Treichville and Marcory lie to the south, Attecoube, Locodjro, Abobo Doume and Yopougon to the west, and Île Boulay is located in the middle of the lagoon. Further south lies Port Bouët, home to the airport and main seaport. Abidjan is located at 5°25' North, 4°2' West (5.41667, –4.03333).
Abidjan experiences a tropical wet and dry climate, according to the Köppen climate classification (Köppen climate classification: Aw). Abidjan has nonconsecutive rainy seasons (precipitation above 60 millimetres (2.4 in) with a long rainy season from March to July and a short rainy season from September to December, and three dry months (January, February and August). Precipitation is abundant during the summer months, except for August, due to activation of the Benguela Current, which reduces the precipitation total throughout the month. The Benguela Current also lowers the mean temperature during August, making it the coolest month of the year, averaging 24.5 °C (76.1 °F). Abidjan has two additional dry months (January and February). Abidjan is generally humid, with average relative humidity above 80% throughout the year.
Abidjan was originally a small Atchan fishing village. In 1896, following a series of deadly yellow fever epidemics, French colonists who had initially settled in Grand-Bassam decided to move to a safer place and in 1898 chose the current location of Abidjan. In 1903 it officially became a town. The settlers were followed by the colonial government, created in 1899. But then nearby Bingerville became the capital of the French colony, from 1900 until 1934.
The future Abidjan, situated on the edge of the lagoon n'doupé ("the lagoon in hot water"), offered more land and greater opportunities for trade expansion. The wharf in Petit Bassam (now Port-Bouet) south of town quickly overtook the wharf of Grand-Bassam in importance, and became the main point of economic access to the colony. In 1904, the rail terminus was located in the Port-Bouet area of Abidjan. Starting in 1904, when Bingerville was not yet complete, Abidjan became the main economic hub of the colony of Ivory Coast and a prime channel for distributing products to the European hinterland, particularly through the Lebanese community, which was increasing in importance.
Henri de Fougères became governor of French Sudan in 1924, and remained governor until his death in 1931. One of the main streets of Abidjan still bears his name.
In 1931, Plateau and what would become Treichville were connected by a floating bridge, more or less where the Houphouët-Boigny Bridge stands today. The year 1931 also saw addresses begin to be assigned to the streets of Abidjan for the first time. The addressing project was temporarily concluded in 1964, under the leadership of Mayor Konan Kanga, then badly redone American-style in 1993.
Abidjan became the third capital of Ivory Coast by a 1934 decree, following Grand-Bassam and Bingerville. Several villages in Tchaman were then deserted. The leader of the Tchaman community can still be found in Adjame ("center" or "meeting" in Tchaman), north of the Plateau.
South of the Plateau district (the current central district of the city of Abidjan), the village of Dugbeo was moved across the lagoon to Anoumabo, "the forest of fruit bats", which became the neighborhood of Treichville (now known as Commikro, city of clerks). Treichville was renamed in 1934, in honour of Marcel Treich-Laplénie (1860–1890), the first explorer of the Ivory Coast and its first colonial administrator, considered its founder. Instead of Dugbeyo, is the current Treich-Laplénie Avenue, the bus station and water lagoon buses in Plateau, and the Avenue Charles de Gaulle (commonly called Rue du Commerce).
The city was laid out like most colonial towns, on a grid plan. Le Plateau ("m'brato" in Tchaman) were inhabited by settlers. In the north, the city was inhabited by the colonized. The two zones were separated by the Gallieni Military Barracks, where now there is the current courthouse.
Near the port, originally named Boulevard de Marseille, settlers became defensive and stole a street sign of a famous street of Marseille renamed the street Canebière, a sand track. This is the legend behind the first Blohorn oil mills, in Cocody and a racetrack was built in the south of the city.
In Le Plateau in the 1940s, the Bardon Park Hotel was built, the first air-conditioned hotel working in francophone Africa.
Abidjan's lagoon became connected to the sea once the 15m-deep Vridi canal was completed in 1950. Soon Abidjan became the financial center of West Africa. In 1958, the first bridge to connect Petit-Bassam Island with the mainland was completed.
When Côte d’Ivoire became independent in 1960, Abidjan became the new country's administrative and economic center. The axis south of Treichville, towards the international airport and the beaches, became the heart of European and middle-class Abidjan. The city saw considerable population growth in the decades following independence, expanding from 180,000 inhabitants in 1960 to 1,269,000 in 1978. Abidjan's skyline dates back to the economic prosperity of this period.
New districts such as the upmarket Cocody were founded during this period; built to a large extent in a colonial style, Cocody has since become home to Côte d’Ivoire's wealthy classes as well as expatriates and foreign diplomats. The district is home to the embassy of France, Hotel Ivoire (which for a long time, was the only African hotel to have a skating rink), and, since 2009, the largest U.S. embassy in West Africa.
Construction on St. Paul's Cathedral, designed by Italian architect Aldo Spirito, began with the 1980 groundbreaking by Pope John Paul II and was completed in 1985. From the 1980s, Abidjan's fortunes declined as a result of negligence on the part of officials as well as corruption and general degradation. In 1983, the village of Yamoussoukro became the new political capital of Ivory Coast under the leadership of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who was born in Yamoussoukro.
From 2002 to 2007 and especially from 2010 to 2011, Abidjan suffered from the consequences of the First and Second Ivorian Civil Wars. In November 2004, armed conflict broke out between French forces and Ivorian forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo after the Ivorian Air Force attacked French peacekeepers in northern Côte d’Ivoire. After France destroyed Côte d’Ivoire's air capabilities in retaliation, pro-Gbagbo groups staged riots and looting in Abidjan and targeted French homes, schools, and businesses. French peacekeepers moved into the city to calm the situation. Other crises during the first civil war period include the case of the Probo Koala in 2006, in which disposed products caused thousands of residents to seek medical attention. Côte d’Ivoire's civil conflicts seriously impacted the security situation in Abidjan. Amidst the anti-French riots in November 2004, 4,000 prisoners in Abidjan escaped from the country's largest prison.
Abidjan was one of the main theaters of the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis and the site of major demonstrations against incumbent president Gbagbo, including one on International Women's Day in 2011 that saw several demonstrators killed by Gbagbo's forces. The end of the crisis came with Gbagbo's capture in Abidjan in April 2011, following a major offensive by forces loyal to election winner Alassane Ouattara with support from France and the UN.
The Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny was founded in 1964.
In Côte d'Ivoire, the enrollment rate is 74% and access to secondary education is limited by an entrance assessment at the 6th stage after which one-third of students are allowed to continue their studies. 24% of the student population resides in Abidjan, which comprises 20% of the total population. Abidjan is the location of the main educational institutions in the Côte d'Ivoire. These include the Lycée Classique d'Abidjan, the Lycée Sainte-Marie de Cocody, Lycée garçon de Bingerville, Mami Adjoua the Lyceum, the Blaise Pascal Abidjan school is a French school – a school who has signed an agreement with the ADFE. Recently the Lycée International Jean-Mermoz re-opened which was initially called College International Jean-Mermoz, founded by Pierre Padovani. The Institution suffered from a devastating war and was forced to close.
