Ivory Coast

Yamoussoukro is the official political capital of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), designated in 1983 by longtime president Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who moved the capital to his inland hometown. Abidjan remains the largest city and economic hub, and many government offices and embassies still operate there, but the title of capital belongs to Yamoussoukro. Designed as a planned capital with broad avenues and monumental projects, Yamoussoukro hosts the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, one of the world’s largest churches. Memory tip: Ivory Coast’s “capital root” is a Yam—Yamoussoukro—planted inland, while Abidjan anchors trade on the coast. Bouaké and San Pedro are important cities too, but neither is the capital.