"Abidjan - Ivory Coast" a Abidjan Travel Page by Kurtdhis

Abidjan is an attractive, largely modern city with parks and broad boulevards. It is the site of the National University of C?te d'Ivoire and several libraries and museums. Banco National Park, a forested area, is north of the city.

Abidjan was a small village in 1904 when it became the terminus of the Abidjan-Niger Railway, which extends north into Burkina Faso. In 1934 it succeeded Bingerville as the capital of the French colony of C?te d'Ivoire, a position it retained after the colony gained independence in 1960. Although Yamoussoukro was named the administrative capital in 1983, Abidjan remains the centre of the nation's cultural and commercial life.

Abidjan is by far the country's most important city. Abidjan is a modern city by even Western standards. Today, the Ivory Coast is among the world?s leading producers of both cocoa and coffee, although the wealth created by these products years ago, has declined along with the prices of these exports.