View source for Yamoussoukro

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{{Infobox settlement
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The '''District of Yamoussoukro''' ({{IPAc-en|icon|ˌ|j|ɑː|m|ə|ˈ|s|juː|k|r|oʊ}}) is the official [[Capital (political)|political capital]] and administrative capital city of [[Côte d'Ivoire]], while the economic capital of the country is [[Abidjan]].  As of 2010, it was estimated to have 242,744 inhabitants. and located {{convert|240|km|spell=us}} north-west of Abidjan, the administrative center on the coast, upon rolling hills and plains, the municipality covers {{convert|3500|sqkm|spell=us}} and is coterminous with the [[Departments of Côte d'Ivoire|department]] of the [[Yamoussoukro Department|same name]].  The department and municipality are split into four sub-prefectures: Attiégouakro, Didiévi, Tié-diékro and the Commune of Yamoussoukro. In total, the district contains 169 settlements.

In 1998, the city had about 155,803 inhabitants. It is the fourth most populous city in Côte d'Ivoire, after Abidjan, [[Bouaké]], and [[Daloa]].

The current governor of the district is [[N'Dri Koffi Apollinaire]].

==History==
===Colonial period===
Queen [[Yamousso]], the niece of [[Kouassi N'Go]], ran the village of ''N'Gokro'' in 1901 at the time of [[French colonization]]. The village then comprised 475 inhabitants, and was one of 129 [[Akoué]] villages.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

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, {{convert|7|km|mi}} from Yamoussoukro on the [[Bouaflé]] road, was set on fire, and the French administrator, [[Simon Maurice]], was spared only by the intervention of Kouassi N'Go. This respected former leader persuaded the Akoué not to wage a war which could only have turned into a disaster.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

As the situation returned to normal, [[Simon Maurice]], judging that Bonzi had become unsafe, 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. In homage to queen Yamousso, N'Gokro was renamed Yamoussoukro.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

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 [[World War II|Second World War]], which saw the creation of the [[African Agricultural Trade Union]], as well as the first conferences of its chief. However, it was only with independence that Yamoussoukro finally started to rise.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

===Since independence===
After 1964, the President [[Félix 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 July 21, 1977, Houphouët offered his plantations to the State.

In March 1983, President [[Félix Houphouët-Boigny]] made Yamoussoukro the political and administrative capital of [[Côte d'Ivoire]], as the city was his birthplace.  This marked the fourth movement of the country's capital city in a century.  Côte d'Ivoire's previous capital cities were [[Grand-Bassam]] (1893), [[Bingerville]] (1900), and [[Abidjan]] (1933).  The majority of economic activity still takes place in [[Abidjan]].

==Highlights==
[[Image:Yamoussoukro.jpg|thumb|Yamoussoukro bus station]]

Yamoussoukro is also the site of what is claimed to be the largest Christian place of worship on Earth: The [[Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro]], consecrated by [[Pope John Paul II]] on September 10, 1990.

Also noteworthy are the [[Kossou Dam]], the [[Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation]], the [[PDCI-RDA House]], the various schools of the [[Félix-Houphouët-Boigny Polytechnic Institute]], the international [[airport]] (with an average of six hundred passengers and 36 flights in 1995, it is one of two airports in Africa (with [[Gbadolite]]) that could accommodate the [[Concorde]]), the Town Hall, the Protestant Temple, the Mosque, and the [[Palace of Hosts]].

On November 6, 2004, [[Yamoussoukro Airport]] was attacked by French infantry after military aircraft from the airport bombed a [[UN]] [[peacekeeping|peacekeeper]] base as well as rebel targets, 9 French peacekeepers and one U.S. civilian were killed. Two Ivory Coast [[Sukhoi Su-25]] aircraft and several [[Mil Mi-24]] helicopters were destroyed, which was most of the country's air forces. Mobs and rebels  tried to attack the French forces after the airport raid.

On March 30, 2011, the city of Yamoussoukro fell to forces led by the democratically elected [[Alassane Ouattara]], who had been recognized internationally as the legitimate president of Côte d'Ivoire.<ref name="nossiter20110330">Nossiter, Adam (2011-03-30). Opposition Forces in Ivory Coast Make Major Gains. New York Times, 30 March 2011. "A version of this article appeared in print on March 31, 2011, on page A6 of the New York edition." Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/31/world/africa/31ivory.html.</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Côte d'Ivoire}}
{{commons category}}
* [http://yamoussoukro.org/en/index.htm District of Yamoussoukro]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/08/africa_ivory_coast%E2%80%99s_plush0_empty_capital/html/1.stm Yamossoukro photo gallery]
* [http://maps.msn.com/%28rlrdgimbatwbzf45gpukfr55%29/map.aspx?lats1=6.816667&lons1=-5.283333&alts1=14&regn1=2 MSN Map]

{{Departments of Côte d'Ivoire}}
{{List of African capitals}}

{{Communes of the Lacs Region}}

[[Category:Capitals in Africa]]
[[Category:Populated places in Lacs Region]]
[[Category:Yamoussoukro| ]]
[[Category:Communes of Côte d'Ivoire]]

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