Ivory Coast invested remarkably in its transport system. Transport Infrastructures are much more developed than they are other West African countries despite a crisis that restrained their maintenance and development. Since its independence in 1960, Ivory Coast put an emphasis on increasing and modernizing the transport network for human as well as for goods. Major infrastructures of diverse nature were built including railways, roads, waterways, and airports. In spite of the crisis, neighbor countries still strongly depend on the Ivorian transport network for importing, exporting, and transiting their immigrants to Ivory Coast.
African French is the generic name of the varieties of the French language spoken by an estimated 167 million people in Africa in 2023 or 51% of the French-speaking population of the world spread across 34 countries and territories. This includes those who speak French as a first or second language in these 34 African countries and territories, but it does not include French speakers living in other African countries. Africa is thus the continent with the most French speakers in the world, and African French speakers now form a large and integral part of the Francophonie.
The Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, nicknamed Le Félicia, is a multi-purpose stadium, which can host football, rugby union and athletics, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is the former national stadium of the Ivory Coast national football team. It is named after the first president of the country, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and is located in the commune of Le Plateau. The stadium has a capacity of 33,000. It also hosts matches of ASEC Abidjan. It has been the site of several deadly stampedes.
Throughout the Cold War, Ivory Coast's foreign policy was generally favorable toward the West. In particular, Félix Houphouët-Boigny kept relations with France that was among the closest between any African country and a former colonial power. The country became a member of the United Nations at independence in 1960 and participates in most of its specialized agencies. It is also an associate member of the European Union. In general, President Bédié initiated and maintained relations with many countries of the European Union and Asia. Ivory Coast maintains a wide variety of diplomatic contacts.
Stade de la Paix is a multi-use stadium in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 40,000 people. Along with Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, it was constructed for the 1984 African Nations Cup. It was one of the host stadiums for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, and is currently being renovated for the competition by Mota-Engil, with structures designed by Quadrante Group.
Radiodiffusion-Télévision ivoirienne (RTI) is the publicly owned radio and television authority of Côte d'Ivoire. It is financed through a combination of television and radio licences, advertisements, and taxes.
Abidjan is the largest city and the former capital of Côte d'Ivoire. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making 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. It is also the most populous Dioula-speaking and French-speaking city in Africa.
Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport, also known as Port Bouët Airport, is located 16 km south east of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is the largest airport in the country for air traffic. The airport is the main hub of the national airline Air Côte d'Ivoire. Named after the first president of Ivory Coast, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, this international airport is directly connected currently to airports in Europe and to many destinations within the rest of Africa and the Middle East. The airport is served by 21 airlines, covering more than 30 destinations.
Dominique Claudine Nouvian Ouattara is the current First Lady of Ivory Coast, married to President Alassane Ouattara.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
St Paul's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in the city of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The cathedral, which was designed by the Italian architect Aldo Spirito, serves as the mother church for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Abidjan.
Zacharie Séry Bailly, or Séry Bailly, was an Ivorian academic, politician and short-story writer, born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Chairperson of Harris Memel-Fotê-Jean Jaurès Fondation in Abidjan, he was also vice-chairman of the Academy of sciences, arts, and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora (ASCAD).
The Abidjan Metro is a 37.5-kilometre (23.3 mi) rapid transit network under construction serving the Ivorian economic capital of Abidjan. Construction of the network started in November 2017, with the beginning of passenger service originally expected in 2022–2023, but has since been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic to at least 2028. Initially planned to comprise a single line with 13 stations undertaken by Bouygues-Dongsan, a French-Korean consortium, the project has since then been expanded to a single north–south line with 20 stations, financed 100% by France and built solely by three French groups after the withdrawal of the South Korean partners from the consortium in October 2017.
Regina Yaou was a writer from Ivory Coast.
The Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët-Boigny (INP-HB) is a public polytechnic institute of higher education, research and production in Yamoussoukro in Côte d'Ivoire.
The Abidjan-Niger Railway is a 1,260-kilometre (780-mile) single-track metre gauge line in francophone West Africa that links Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The railway, like others on the continent, was constructed by the colonial power to encourage economic development in the region, although detractors would claim that it was to exploit the region solely for their own advantage.
The CCIA Building,, is a skyscraper located on Rue Jean-Paul II, in the Plateau community of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Built in 1982 and topping out at 94 metres (308 ft) tall, it is the fourth-tallest building in Abidjan. It is part of a group of buildings planned in the 1970s and intended for use as offices and headquarters for publicly traded companies. Its architecture differs from other buildings in the neighborhood, with two long faces almost exclusively covered in tinted windows that reflect colors in the sky.
Village Ivoire is a hospitality and entertainment district located on the banks of the Ébrié Lagoon, in the Cocody commune of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Its original building and centerpiece is Hôtel Ivoire, a luxury hotel. A prestige project for the young independent nation of Côte d'Ivoire, the district earned international notice for its lavish amenities, among them a now-closed artificial ice rink which was considered the first of its kind in the West African region. Shortly after its completion, a New York Times article called the Ivoire "sui generis, perhaps Africa's most dazzling hotel".
The University of Bondoukou (U-bkou) is an Ivorian public university located in the northeastern part of Côte d'Ivoire in the city of Bondoukou, specifically in the Gontougo Region.
