Yamoussoukro Autonomous District
A special type of territorial authority, the Autonomous District of Yamoussoukro covers the territory of the current department of the same name over an area of 3,500 square kilometres. Yamoussoukro is the capital of the District. Yamoussoukro was created by former President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and was formerly an unknown village in Baule country. On 21 March 1983, it became the political and administrative capital of Côte d’Ivoire. As a result, this crossroads village has gradually become a veritable city, home to Africa’s largest Catholic shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.
The District of Yamoussoukro is bordered to the north by the department of Tiébisssou, to the south by the department of Oumé, to the east by the department of Dimbokro and to the west by the departments of Sinfra and Bouaflé, in the Marahoué region. In addition to the indigenous Akouè and Nanafouè populations, there is also a foreign population.
No one can forget the feeling of astonishment he felt when, in the centre of an almost deserted district with no vegetation, to the left of the tarmac road entering the city from Abidjan, he discovered the Hôtel Président and, a little further on, the enormous Maison du Parti, the Palais des Congrès. The precious materials, in particular the marble, of which they were made, and their impressive mass, were visible from the central avenue without anything – more modest houses or vegetation worthy of the name – to detract from their pomp. A few years later, surprise! The entire district, with its two precursor buildings, plus a golf club, disappeared in the middle of a forest that transformed everything. Little by little, some of the gaps were filled in the various districts bounded by arteries as wide as the grandiose Avenue Houphouët-Boigny, which cuts the city in two and passes between the bus stations, around which are grouped hotels more modest than the President’s, the market and the four lakes. At the end of this avenue is the immense estate of President Houphouët-Boigny, who had villas built there for his family and guests. To the left is the residential area, dominated by the Grande Mosquée, while the mass of the Notre-Dame de la Paix basilica stands out a little further north, on the edge of one of the lakes. To the right, an avenue leads to the Grandes Ecoles, the first of which was the sumptuous École Nationale Supérieure des Travaux Publics, with a capacity of 1,500 students. Established in Abidjan in 1963, it was transferred to Yamoussoukro on 10 October 1979.