Yamoussoukro

Yamoussoukro
Location within Côte d'Ivoire
Country	Côte d'Ivoire
Region	Lacs
Department	Yamoussoukro
Government
• Governor Augustin Abdoulaye Thiam Houphouët	Augustin Abdoulaye Thiam Houphouët
Area
• Total	3,500 km2 (1,350 sq mi)
Population (2005)
• Total	200,659
• Density	148.5/km2 (385/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC

Yamoussoukro is the official capital city of Côte d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast). There are about 200,000 people who live in this city. It is not the biggest city in Côte d'Ivoire. Abidjan is the biggest city in Côte d'Ivoire, and it is where most of the country's money comes from. Yamoussoukro only became the capital in 1983. The capital before that was Abidjan.

History of Yamoussoukro

Before the Second World War, Yamoussoukro was a small city. It was mainly made up of farms. In 1964, the president of Côte d'Ivoire decided to make Yamoussoukro the capital because it was where he grew up. In 1983, Yamoussoukro became the capital of Ivory Coast. In 1990, the Pope opened the biggest church in the world. It is called Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro. In 2004, Yamoussoukro's airport was attacked by France because airplanes from that airport had killed 9 people from France.

Important things in Yamoussoukro

Yamoussoukro is famous for the biggest church in the world, The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro. Also, it is very tall. Also, the Concorde, a very fast airplane can land in the city's airport. There is only one other place in Africa where such an airplane can land.

Capitals of Africa

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire · Abuja, Nigeria · Accra, Ghana · Addis Ababa, Ethiopia · Algiers, Algeria · Antananarivo, Madagascar · Asmara, Eritrea · Bamako, Mali · Bangui, Central African Republic · Banjul, Gambia · Bissau, Guinea-Bissau · Bloemfontein (One of 3), South Africa · Brazzaville, Congo Republic · Bujumbura, Burundi · Cairo, Egypt · Cape Town (One of 3), South Africa · Conakry, Guinea · Dakar, Senegal · Djibouti, Djibouti · Dodoma, Tanzania · Freetown, Sierra Leone · Gaborone, Botswana · Harare, Zimbabwe · Jamestown, Saint Helena · Kampala, Uganda · Khartoum, Sudan · Kigali, Rwanda · Kinshasa, Congo Democratic Republic · Libreville, Gabon · Lilongwe, Malawi · Lobamba, Swaziland · Lomé, Togo · Luanda, Angola · Lusaka, Zambia · Moroni, Comoros · Malabo, Equatorial Guinea · Maseru, Lesotho · Mamoudzou, Mayotte · Maputo, Mozambique · Mogadishu, Somalia · Mbabane, Swaziland · Monrovia, Liberia · Nouakchott, Mauritania · Niamey, Niger · N'Djamena, Chad · Nairobi, Kenya · Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso · Port Louis, Mauritius · Porto-Novo, Benin · Praia, Cape Verde · Pretoria (One of 3), South Africa · Rabat, Morocco · Saint-Denis, Réunion · São Tomé, São Tomé and Príncipe · Tripoli, Libya · Tunis, Tunisia · Victoria, Seychelles · Windhoek, Namibia · Yaoundé, Cameroon · Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire