Yamoussoukro is the official capital and has been since 1983. Abidjan is where the government works: most ministries, the National Assembly and every embassy are there, and it holds thirty times as many people.
Côte d'Ivoire moved its capital on paper in 1983 and has been moving it in practice ever since, slowly.
| Yamoussoukro | Abidjan |
|---|---|
| The political and administrative capital in law | The economic capital, and the seat in practice |
| The Senate, since 2018 | The National Assembly and most ministries |
| The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace | Every foreign embassy |
| About 210,000 people at the 2014 census | About 6.3 million in the district at the 2021 census |
Yamoussoukro was the home village of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country's first president, who governed from 1960 until his death in 1993. He built it into a capital: eight-lane boulevards through farmland, a presidential palace, a grande école, and the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, consecrated in 1990 and one of the largest churches in the world. The National Assembly voted to make it the capital in March 1983.
The transfer of the state's institutions was never completed. Abidjan kept the ministries, the diplomatic corps, the port and the population, and Yamoussoukro's role was still being argued over decades later. The Senate, created by the 2016 constitution, was seated in Yamoussoukro in 2018, which moved one institution for the first time in thirty-five years.
The country asked in 1986 that its name not be translated. Côte d'Ivoire is the form used in every language, and it is what this site uses. "Ivory Coast" is still common in English.
Côte d'Ivoire's split looks like Bolivia's and the Netherlands': a title in one city and a government in another.
The places above come from GeoNames, reconciled against Wikidata. Last checked 21 September 2026. How we know · Suggest a correction