Autonomous District of Bas-Sassandra

The Bas-Sassandra Autonomous District is located in the south-west of the country, on the border with Liberia to the west, between the Montagnes District to the north-west, the Sassandra-Marahoué District to the north, the Gôh-Djiboua District to the east and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The District capital is San-Pedro. It covers an area of 28,000 km² and has 8 departments, 31 sub-prefectures and 561 villages. The population is estimated at over 2.5 million, according to figures from the^5th General Population and Housing Census (RGPH 2021). The Bas-Sassandra Autonomous District comprises the regions of San-Pédro, Gbôklè and Nawa. It has beaches, characterised by sandy coves sheltered by rocky cliffs. The district is also home to the Taï National Park, the country’s largest nature reserve. It is one of the richest in the country, thanks in particular to the port of San-Pedro, which is the second largest in Côte d’Ivoire after Abidjan (and the largest cocoa terminal in the world).

San-Pedro is the capital of the Bas-Sassandra District. Its Lusophone-sounding name indicates that Portuguese sailors stopped here or traded. A small fishing village of 40 inhabitants until 1968, San Pedro became a town of more than 6,000 inhabitants a year after construction work began on the port. Three years later, with the influx of migrants from other regions and neighbouring countries, the town had a population of 25,000. Today, the capital of the San Pedro region is home to some 200,000 people and is the country’s second-largest economic centre thanks to its port.