Abidjan is the economic and former official capital of Ivory Coast, while the current capital is Yamoussoukro. As of 2011 it was the largest city in the nation and the third-largest French-speaking city in the world, after Paris and Kinshasa, but before Montreal. It has, according to the authorities of the country in 2006, 5,068,858 residents in the metropolitan area and 3,796,677 residents in the municipality. Only Lagos, the former capital of Nigeria, has a larger number of inhabitants in this region. Considered a cultural hub of West Africa, Abidjan is characterized by a high level of industrialization and urbanization. The city stands in Ébrié Lagoon, on several converging peninsulas and islands, connected by bridges. The city grew after the construction of a new wharf in 1931 and its designation as the capital of the then French colony in 1933. The completion of the Vridi Canal in 1951 enabled it to become an important sea port. In 1983, Yamoussoukro was designated as the nation's capital, but most government offices and foreign embassies are still in Abidjan. Abidjan lies on the south-east coast of the country in the Gulf of Guinea. The city lies on the Ébrié Lagoon. The business district Le Plateau is the centre of the city, along with Cocody', Deux Plateaux (the wealthiest neighborhood and a hubbub for diplomats), and the slum of Adjamé on the north shore of the lagoon. Treichville and Marcory lie to the south, Commune d' Attecoube by its extension to Locodjro and Abobo Doume and Yopougon to the west, and Gbagba and N'Gbotroya (Locodjro) called today Boulay Island in the middle of the lagoon. Further south lies Port Bouët, home to the airport and main seaport. Abidjan is located at 5°25′ North, 4°2′ West (5.41667, −4.03333). The city has a tropical monsoon climate with a long rainy season from May through July, a short rainy season (September–November) and two dry seasons, though rain is seen even during these dry seasons. Abidjan is generally humid throughout the year, with humidity generally at or higher than 80 percent. During the rainy season it can rain continuously for several consecutive days, or intensely for over an hour. The rainfall is abundant at about 2,000 mm per year.[5] The monthly rainfall varies between about 40 mm and 500 mm in January to June and the temperature is almost constant at around 27 °C (80.6 °F). Abidjan is composed of two parts (northern Abidjan and southern Abidjan) with ten communes. Abobo : the town consists mainly of public housing. It has long played the role of refuge for migrants with low financial means. This area has developed spontaneously around the station. Williamsville Adjamé : Although small in size, this commune is very important for the Ivorian economy, given the number of commercial activities taking place there. Unfortunately, Adjame experiences problems of sanitation. The village Ébrié existed before Abidjan developed. Its market is the realm of shops of all kinds and its bus station is the main crossing bus lines that feed the country and neighbouring countries. Yopougon : it is the most populated commune of Abidjan, lying partly in Northern Abidjan and partly across the lagoon in Southern Abidjan. It is home to industrial and residential areas. The research station ORSTOM, Pasteur Institute and a teaching hospital are established Plateau : the business centre with tall buildings looks very modern in Abidjan. Although the administrative capital of Ivory Coast has been officially transferred to Yamoussoukro in 1983, the institutions of the republic such as the Presidency and National Assembly are still in Plateau. It is the main administrative commercial and financial center of Ivory Coast. Attécoubé : Banco forest, classified as a national park, is located within this commune. A massive shopping complex, probably the largest in Abidjan, has been built there.[8] Cocody : famous for its residential districts (2-Trays, Riviera), Cocody University also has the same name (University of Cocody – public institution) and some private universities. Home Television (RTI) is located in Cocody. The President of the Republic resides in this commune. Cocody is also the embassy's district. Koumassi : This commune has an important industrial area. Marcory : This commune is mainly a residential area. Biétry and Zone 4 are residential areas where many foreigners live Port-Bouët : This commune includes both a refinery (Ivorian Company Refining CRS) and the Félix Houphouët-Boigny International Airport. There is also an established office of the IRD, the centre of Little Bassam.[9] His famous lighthouse sweeps the Gulf of Guinea on several nautical miles. Vridi : the beach area is busy every weekend, although the ocean is very aggressive the "bar" does a little to move away from the shore, a phenomenon widely along the Gulf of Guinea. From 1950, Vridi has become the main employment areas in Abidjan because of the increasing number of factories and warehouses Treichville : This commune is home to the Autonomous Port of Abidjan and many shops. The port area is also an industrial area. There is also the pool of State Treichville (PET), the palace of sports Treichville, the Palace of Culture, street 12, racetrack Abidjan... Île Boulay. The main towns which are near Abidjan are Jacqueville, Grand-Lahou and Dabou in the west, Sikensi, Tiassalé, Agboville, Adzopé and Aleppo in the north, and Grand-Bassam to the east. The towns of Songon, Bingerville and Anyama were incorporated in 2001 into the Department of Abidjan. According to oral tradition of the Ébrié as reported in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Côte d'Ivoire,[10] the name "Abidjan" results from a misunderstanding. Legend states that an old man carrying branches to repair the roof of his house met a European explorer who asked him the name of the nearest village. The old man did not speak the language of the explorer, and thought that he was being asked to justify his presence in that place. Terrified by this unexpected meeting, he fled shouting "min-chan m'bidjan", which means in the Ébrié language: "I just cut the leaves." The explorer, thinking that his question had been answered, recorded the name of the locale as Abidjan. A slightly different and less elaborate version of the legend: When the first colonists asked a native man the name of the place, the man misunderstood and replied "M'bi min djan": "I've just been cutting leaves". Abidjan was originally a small fishing village. In 1896, following a series of deadly yellow fever epidemics, the French colonists who first settled in Bassam decided to move to a safer place. They located in the current location of Abidjan in 1898, and in 1903 it received town status.[12] Their movement was followed by the colonial government created in 1899, although nearby Bingerville became capital of the French colony from 1900 until 1934. The future Abidjan, situated on the edge of the lagoon n'doupé ("the lagoon in hot water, "future "Ébrié Lagoon"), offered more space and greater opportunities for trade expansion. The wharf in Petit Bassam (now Port-Bouet) south of the town, quickly overtook in importance the wharf of Grand-Bassam, hitherto the main economic access to the colony. In 1904, the rail terminus was located in the Port-Bouet area of Abidjan. From 1904, when Bingerville was not yet complete, Abidjan became the main economic hub of the colony of Ivory Coast and a prime channel for distributing products to the European hinterland, particularly through the Lebanese community which was increasingly important. Henri Terrasson de Fougères became governor of French Sudan in 1924, and remained the governor until his death in 1931. One of the main streets of Abidjan still bears his name. In 1931, Plateau and what became Treichville were connected approximately at the position of the bridge Houphouet Boigny by a floating bridge. That year, it was first addressed as the streets of Abidjan. It temporarily held the name in 1964, under the leadership of Mayor Konan Kanga, completed by the Americans in 1993. Abidjan became the third capital of Ivory Coast, after Grand-Bassam and Bingerville in 1934. Several villages in Tchaman were then deserted. It is particularly Adjame ("center" in Tchaman), located at the north of the Plateau, which is still the leader of the Tchaman community. South of the Plateau district (the current central district of the city of Abidjan), the village of Dugbeo was moved across the lagoon to Anoumabo, "the forest of fruit bats", which became the neighborhood of Treichville (now Commikro). This area was thus renamed in 1934 in honour of Marcel Treich-Laplénie (1860–1890), the first explorer of Ivory Coast and its first colonial administrator, considered its founder. Instead of Dugbeyo, is the current Treich Laplénie Avenue, the bus station and water lagoon buses in Plateau, and the Avenue Charles de Gaulle (commonly called Rue du Commerce). The city was laid out like the usual colonial towns as a grid plan. Le Plateau ("m'brato" in Tchaman) was inhabited by settlers. In the north, the city was inhabited by the colonized. The two zones were separated by the Gallieni Military Barracks, instead of the current courthouse. Near the port and along a petanque, originally named Boulevard de Marseille, facetious settlers who had "borrowed" a street sign of a famous street of Marseille renamed the street Canebière, a sand track. This is the legend behind the first Blohorn oil mills, in Cocody. A racetrack was built in the south of the city that never stops growing. Le Plateau in the 1940s, the hotel grew and became Bardon Park Hotel, the first air-conditioned hotel working in francophone Africa. In 1950, the Vridi Canal was completed which connected the lagoon to the sea. Soon Abidjan would become the financial center of West Africa. In 1958, the first bridge to connect Petit-Bassam Island with the mainland was completed. After independence in 1960, the old settler town became the administrative center and business headquarters of the Presidency. The axis south of Treichville, towards the international airport and the beaches, became the headquarters of European and middle-class Abidjan. There, in November 2004, focus was on the anti-French riots and looting. The Cocody district, famous for a gentleman embodied in film by Jean Marais, which should be a vast indigenous district according to the colonial urban pattern, became an upscale neighborhood including the presidential residence, the embassy of France, Hotel Ivoire (which for a long time, was the only African hotel to have a skating rink), and since 2006, the largest U.S. embassy in Africa. Large areas have grown popular among these clusters, extended by areas of poor housing and poverty fed by the rural exodus and sub-regional immigration. In 1983 the village of Yamoussoukro (literally the city of Queen Yamoussoukro) became the new political capital of Ivory Coast under the leadership of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny who was born in Yamoussoukro. Since 1999, Abidjan has been penalized by the political and economic Ivorian disaster. Since the 80s, despite undeniable improvements and because of the negligence of officials, corruption as well as general degradation of the city of Abidjan has been prevalent. In 2006, the mass poisoning of people by pollutants dumped in landfills are illustrations of an inevitable drama. (case of the Probo Koala). Formerly managed by the French "colonial administration", Abidjan became a municipality in 1956, and was divided into administrative areas by lagoons. Its first municipal council was elected on 18 November 1956, and the first mayor in the context of the Framework Law of 1956 was president Félix Houphouët-Boigny. A law of 1978 established twenty-seven municipalities full year in the country. After the application of this new organization, Dioulo Emmanuel was elected mayor of Abidjan on 30 November 1980. Since 2001, the city has been run as a department divided into ten municipalities (communes) and with three new sub-prefectures at Anyama, Bingerville and Songon. The post of Mayor of Abidjan was replaced by the District Governor, appointed by the head of state. The position has been occupied by Pierre Djedji Amondji since 2002. However, each of the ten municipalities of Abidjan has its own municipal council headed by a mayor. The last municipal elections were held in March 2001. The communes of Abobo, Adjamé, Attécoubé, Cocody, and Plateau are located north of the Ébrié Lagoon (hence the name "Abidjan North"). This is the continental part of Abidjan. The commune of Yopougon straddles the lagoon, with part lying north and part south of that body of water. The communes of Treichville, Koumassi, Marcory and Port-Bouet in Abidjan are south of the lagoon. Blokosso and Locodjro villages are included within the city and maintain cultural identity in urban areas. The University of Abidjan (1958), several technical colleges, and the National Library of Ivory Coast and National museum are in the city. Sights in Abidjan include St Paul's Cathedral, designed by Aldo Spirito, the Cocody Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art and the Parc du Banco rainforest reserve. Le Plateau is known for its skyscrapers, unusual in West Africa. Le Plateau is the business centre of Abidjan. With its gleaming skyscrapers, chic boutiques and outdoor cafes, le Plateau is a favourite place of business travellers. There are many different banks located in the le Plateau district. The majority of Ivorian government institutions are still located in Abidjan until the end of the transfer of the Ivorian capital Yamoussoukro: the President's office in Cocody, the parliament, the Constitutional Council, the Supreme Court (Court of Cassation, Council state and the court of accounts), the Chancellery of the National Order. However, the current president, Laurent Gbagbo, elected in 2000, decided to give effect to the project of making the political capital Yamoussoukro in Ivory Coast, despite the events since 2002. This recent decision is a consensus on the part of the country's political leaders. Government offices are located in Le Plateau in the administrative district of Abidjan, Boulevard Carde or Angoulvant Boulevard (near the Cathedral of St. Paul of Abidjan), or elsewhere in the great buildings of the town. Since 2004, when virtually all prisoners of Abidjan were released from prison, insecurity has increased significantly: increase in crimes and misdemeanors, increased drug seizures. Besides the presence of the police, gendarmerie, the impartial forces (UNOCI whose headquarters are in Attécoubé and a large base to Biétry), French soldiers based in Port-Bouet and the Ivorian army, were created in the 2000 by the CECOS and several private security firms. In 2007, Permanent Danger by Pierre Laba a film about the laxity of the police against the banditry in major African cities in the image of the Ivorian capital was out in cinema. Abidjan is divided into districts, each of which has a police station. The municipal police and national police are distinguished. The police's training center (National Police Academy) located in the town of Cocody, where all police are trained. They are recruited by competitive examination held by the police administration. The policy includes several sections, it is the BAE (Anti Riot Squad), whose base is located in the Yopougon north of the city, the CRS (Republican Security Company), whose main base is located in Williamsville (Adjame) also includes a secondary base called CRS2 which is located in zone 4 in the town of Marcory (central capital). The Force and CECOS (Command Center Security Operations) accompany the police. The main base of the gendarmerie is Agban (common Adjamé), another in Abobo and Kumasi, It also has training school "School de Gendarmerie" in Cocody and the city. Since 2000, Ivory Coast has experienced a sharp rise in drug trafficking. The drug dens occur mainly in informal settlements and there has been a recent spike in demand among the young unemployed and Ivorian vagrants. The Ivorian police are increasingly focused on the fight against trafficking and drug use in the district of Abidjan. A report by the Office of the UN says West Africa plays an increasingly important role in the transit of cocaine to Latin American and Europe. According to an investigation by the commission for the fight against drug trafficking UN, 46 percent of youth in West Africa is dependent on the drug. In May 2007, seven drug houses were dismantled and 191 people arrested including a military officer. Abidjan is home to Port-Bouet, one of the six French military bases that still exist in Africa (Dakar, Libreville, Bouar CAR, N'Djamena and Djibouti). Thousands of people live there, around the 43rd BIMA which is permanently parked in accordance with established defense agreements 24 April 1961 linking the two countries The presence of the French military base on the territory of Ivory Coast. Abidjan is the regional headquarters of major international institutions: UNICEF, UN Development Program, World Health Organization, World Food Program, UNOPS, UNFPA, International Labour Organization (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), etc. The great nations of the world all have representation in Abidjan, most of which serve sub-region The American Embassy is located in Ivory Coast while the African Development Bank (ADB) moved for a while to Tunisia, which is the largest financial institution in Africa. Abidjan is sister cities with: Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Tianjin, China France Marseille, France Flag of Brazil.svg São Paulo, Brazil États-Unis d'Amérique San Francisco, US France Alfortville, France (twinned with cocody) Flag of Ghana.svg Kumasi, Ghana (twinned with Treichville) Flag of France.svg Pontault-Combault, France (twinned with Anyama) Flag of France.svg Boulogne-Billancourt, France. In the 1980s, Jean-Bédel Bokassa took refuge in Abidjan after his ouster from power in the Central Africa Republic. The 1998 Census revealed Abidjan's population to be 2,877,923. Estimates for the population of the Abidjan metropolitan area as of 2005 vary between 4 and 5 million inhabitants. As Abidjan is inhabited by people from a wide array of different ethnicities, the French language is used as the language of communication in the metropolitan area, which is the third-largest French speaking metropolitan area in the world after Paris and Kinshasa.[citation needed] A specific colloquial Abidjan French has even appeared, with a pronunciation and some colloquial words distinct from standard French. The area of Abidjan is recognized as one of only two areas in Africa where French (colloquial Abidjan French) is truly a native tongue, the other one being Libreville, Gabon. The figures as of 2006 estimate the Abidjanaise population at 3,796,677. In 2006, the metropolitan area of Abidjan had 5,060,858 inhabitants. This population increase can be attributed to the displacement caused by the war (since September 2002). This city has many inhabitants who come to live downtown because they seek employment and safer lodgings. By 1950, Abidjan had just exceeded a population of 50,000 (at the end of 1948). Reaching a population of a million by the end of 1975, the city grew at a rate of 10 to 12% per year: a doubling every 6 or 7 years. However, this growth underwent a sharp decline due to the crises of the 1980s and 1990s. In the last 20 years of the 20th century, the growth rate dropped to 3–6%. Growth by birth rate was supplemented by migration, with the influx being substantial and the outflow only partly compensating the arrivals. Positive migration, prior to the census of 1988, contributed a growth of about 80,000 with 50,000 people from within Ivory Coast, and about 30,000 from abroad per year. From within Ivory Coast, the migration pattern was dominated by Akan (South-east, 48%), then Mandé (North-west, 24%) and Krou (South-west, 20%). From abroad, the migration was Burkinabes (30%), Malians (22%), Ghanaians (19%), Nigerien (11%), and Guineans (9%). Of the Non-African migration, Lebanese migration exceeded that of Europeans, with the French being largest of these. All in all, non-African migration represents hardly 3% of the total population of Abidjan, which is still the highest in the area. The last population census in the country took place in 1998. It presented 2,877,948 inhabitants for the city. The figures for 2006 estimated the population of Abidjan to 3,796,677 inhabitants, while the larger metropolitan area of Abidjan had 5,060,858 inhabitants. This population increase is mainly due to war-displaced since the events of September 2002. The town hosts many people in search of both jobs and a more secure It planned to hold a new census in 2008. The traditional language of the city was Ebrié. Since independence, the official language in Abidjan and throughout Ivory Coast is French. While the official language is a formal variety similar to that of France, the most common form of French spoken in Abidjan is a colloquial dialect known as français de Treichville or français de Moussa and differs from standard French in pronunciation and in some of its vocabulary. Another form of spoken French in Abidjan is Nouchi, a highly informal variety used as adolescent slang. The historical lingua franca, still spoken and understood by most of the trading population of Abidjan, is Dioula. Finally, the city hosts many Ivorians from all over the country and so all the vernacular languages of the country, about sixty, are spoken, such as Attié, Baoulé, Bété, and Wobé. Abidjan is surrounded by more than thirty villages where Baoulé and Ebrié are still commonly spoken. In Ivory Coast, the enrollment rate is 74% and access to secondary education is limited by an entrance assessment at the 6th stage after which one-third of students are allowed to continue their studies. 24% of the student population resides in Abidjan, out of 20% of the population. Abidjan is the location of the main educational institutions in the Ivory Coast. These include the Lycée Classique d'Abidjan, the Lycée Sainte-Marie de Cocody Lycée Boy Bingerville Mami Adjoua the Lyceum, the Blaise Pascal Abidjan school is a French school - meaning a school who has signed an agreement with the ADFE. The city has a care package complete.[citation needed] Besides, many traditional medicine establishments sell old drugs in the street.There are numerous health centers and pharmacies, many pharmacopoeias. The city has more than fifty clinics, and over sixty specialist (veterinary, dermatology, dental, optometry, motherhood, psychology, pediatrics, etc.) Modern districts like Plateau or Cocody have developed like those in Europe with the construction of large office towers, apartment buildings between the 1970s and the mid-1980. Traditional neighborhoods like Treichville or Marcory maintained the system of "concessions" where housing is adjacent to the plant and the system of "court" group of which several houses, within the normal organization and multi centuries-old villages Africans. The district of Cocody is also home to many single-storey wooden villas, surrounded by vast gardens where there is lush vegetation fed by heavy rains that water the city. Recently, it became "fashionable" for wealthier inhabitants to construct villas in imitation of Greek temples in this district. In addition, many houses were built on stilts on the edge of the Ébrié Lagoon. The town hall, a fine example of modernist architecture, was designed by architect Henry Chomette. The urban network is disrupted as Abidjan has seen its population double every seven years since 1945. Rural people attracted by the opportunities of the future of the city form the bulk of inward migration. Abidjan represents 45 percent of city dwellers in Ivory Coast and 20 percent of the overall population. However, if a significant rise was observed for half a century, its growth would not have been more than 4.5 percent per year (compared to 10 percent from 1960 to 1990) and we find more than one third of Rural involved in the growth of the city (two thirds from 1960 to 1990). Despite this decline, the city is still the most populated in comparison to the second largest city in the country, Bouaké (1,500,000 inhabitants) or the political capital, Yamoussoukro (100,000 inhabitants). Despite the case of the Probo Koala-2006,[35] sanitary conditions which affect Africa could be solved in Abidjan. Indeed, a contract was signed between China and Ivory Coast: a Chinese company handling urban waste and industrial plans to treat all waste district this transformation also create daily cleaning. The project is funded 60 percent by China and 40 percent by Ivory Coast. A gigantic waste treatment center is built at Attengué. 15,000 permanent jobs and 5,000 seasonal jobs will be created through this project. The last building program of roads in Abidjan, led to the consolidation of certain roads in the capital in 1994. Since May 2007, the company Ageroute (Road Management Agency) is undertaking major operations in Abidjan and Anyama. These works relating to roads badly damaged, suffering from lack of maintenance, and heavy rain events, gutters, roads not tarred· . The District and BNETD plan to rehabilitate and construct 400 to 500 kilometers, providing them with a quality 15 to 20 years of life. Improvements include the rehabilitation of roads in Abidjan and Anyama, construction of drains, the tarring of gravel roads and sanitation of the city by the construction of sewers. These rehabilitations affect all municipalities in Abidjan: In Cocody, at a cost of 3 billion CFA francs, was taken to the reconstruction of the Corniche, one of the busiest routes in the municipality. Reconstruction has been extended by the dam of the limit, located at the crossroads of life, to filter all runoff from their waste before they throw themselves into the lagoon. At Yopougon, the rehabilitation nerve Sand continues with the construction of a culvert 200 feet long designed to slow the streaking wastewater, the main cause of degradation pathways. In Abobo extent of degradation of the road requires a significant investment in manufacturing and installation of gutters to ensure proper sanitation. The rehabilitation of roads and highways continues. The principal stock exchange of the country, the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM), is located in the city.[citation needed] Air Ivoire has its head office in Abidjan. Prior to its dissolution, Air Afrique was headquartered in Abidjan. Major industries include food processing, lumber, automobile manufacturing, and the manufacture of textiles, chemicals, and soap. There is also a large oil refinery. The region of the lagoons is the most industrialized region of the country. Its industries are mainly Construction and Maintenance with the presence of major international groups: the furnace SETAO, Colas, Bouygues, Jean Lefebvre, and Swiss Holcim. There are textile industries with the packaging of the grown cotton in the north either for export or for on-site processing of cloth, canvas, batik clothing and miscellaneous. The textile sector is very dynamic, representing 15.6percent of net investment, 13 percent of turnover and 24percent of the value added of Ivorian industry. There are several oil wells off the coast offshore operations (Ivory Coast is an oil producing country, even if it is not self-sufficient in this area), which leads to the presence chemical industry with refineries pétrole, et un port pour hydrocarbures., and a port for oil. It also works on stones and precious metals for exportation· . The city also has a large wood processing activity mainly at the port by river from the forests of central Canada. It is exported either as natural as mahogany which was already sold two centuries ago by the English Victorian or in a semi-industrialized: peeled wood, plywood, chipboard. In the food industry mainly include: the production of oil palm, processing of bergamot and Seville oranges, processing of rubber from plantations in the west, the manufacture of beverages from pineapples, oranges and mangoes, and especially the roasting of coffee, robust type, came from the plantations of the West whose country is the third largest producer, behind Colombia and Brazil as well as packaging and processing of cocoa, including Ivory Coast's, the world's leading producer to Ghana and Indonesia. (37% of cocoa and 10% of coffee products undergo at least one first local processing). Abidjan is also the first African tuna port, and three plants condition tuna primarily for the European market. This activity generates about 3,000 salaried jobs, and is an important source of foreign exchange. As in all countries of the Third World developing countries, much of the city's economy lies in what economists describe as informal economy with its many "odd jobs". The development of tertiary industry, with the establishment of international commercial banks and the increasing number of service companies of all types, appears to be the trend of recent years. Abidjan is the main financial center of French West Africa. The seat of the common purse of West Africa (BRVM) is located in Abidjan. BRVM is mainly dominated by Ivorian firms. The thermal power plant Azito, built in 1997 in partnership with EDF, located on the Yopougon on the edge of the lagoon and facing Ébrié Island Boulay, alone provides 300 MW. Two other power plants, built in 1984 and 1985, are installed in Vridi. Several utilities are installed in Abidjan: SOPIE which is a corporation State, ICE and SOPREL, subsidiaries of the French group SAUR (Côté d'Ivoire produces all the electricity it consumes, and exports to neighboring countries, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Mali and Burkina Faso through the interconnection. The production, which increases steadily, and gas storage are provided by two state companies: PETROCI and GESTOCI. A small industry of renewable energy production has also developed. The city has a powerful fixed telephony network of 450,000 lines (in 2004) managed by Côte d'Ivoire Telecom. Broadband Internet connections, leased lines and ADSL are powered by various providers: Aviso Ivory Coast Telecoms. Africa is Line, Globe Access, Afnet, and as the news portal www.abidjan24.net. Abidjan is home to all the representatives of international financial institutions: World Bank, International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank, BOAD, etc. Banking Commission of WAEMU regional stock exchange securities subsidiaries of major international banks: BNP Paribas, General bank, Crédit Lyonnais, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays, etc. Sixteen national banks (SGBCI, BICI, etc.) maintaining a network of 170 branches, seven financial institutions and more than thirty insurance companies make a financial competitive Abidjan that animates the entire West Africa. Trains on the line to Ouagadougou run from several stations in the city, the most important being in Treichville. Ferries link Treichville, Abobo-Doumé and Le Plateau. Felix Houphouet Boigny International Airport serves the city. SOTRA (Abidjan Transport Company) ensure regular urban transportation in Abidjan via bus, taxi and luggage Line Express. Sotra has announced the start of work for the use of light rail to Abidjan. The project has three phases at a cost of 125 billion CFA francs for a long loop of 32 km. It is very difficult to imagine the streets of the city without cabs. There are two kinds: the taxi-meter, color orange, which can travel throughout the city, and woro-woro, yellow and green or blue or orange depending on the commune, which are limited to a neighborhood. They are often used in taxi mode. Port Bouet Airport has a large capacity that allows it to accommodate all existing large aircraft. Abidjan is located an hour's flight from all the capitals of the sub-region. Abidjan is served by major airlines in the direction of the great capitals of the world. Headquarters of the former multinational African Air company, Abidjan knows a traffic of nearly 900,000 passengers (1995 figure). The District has several paved streets and boulevards linking the towns between them and the District across the country. Abidjan has a network of urban bypasses. River transport is already consistent with the fishing smacks and the many boat-buses connecting the various neighborhoods of the city thrives plan lagoon. Abidjan is also the bridgehead of the country's only highway linking the city to the administrative and political capital, Yamoussoukro. Abidjan has the biggest port in the sub-region (West Africa), which is also the second biggest in Africa; the biggest being in Lagos. It is a container transshipment port and was opened in 1951 in the presence of the Minister of Overseas and Colonies at the time, François Mitterrand. Thanks to the 15m deep Vridi Canal, boats with large draughts can dock in the deep-water port. The Ivory Coast is in the Franc Zone (where the currency is CFA francs), as part of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Abidjan is the economic centre of both the Ivory Coast and of the whole region, including Burkina Faso and Mali; this is mainly because of its deep-water port. The road network in Abidjan (5,600 km asphalted in 1995, compared to 1,000kmm in 1970), which covers the whole region, effectively increases its port activity as 50% of the business from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger pass through it. Abidjan receives the bulk of the country's industrial activity; its port alone receiving 60% of ivory park industry. Abidjan has ambitions of oil-production—off-shore production and especially refining and distribution. In 1995 the port received 12 million tonnes of traffic, of which 5.5 million tonnes were petroleum products. Exports include coffee, cocoa, timber, bananas, pineapples, and manganese. The two halves of the city, Northern Abidjan and Southern Abidjan, are joined by the Houphouët-Boigny and Charles de Gaulle bridges. These two bridges are located between Treichville and Le Plateau. The Général-de-Gaulle Bridge extends over the immense Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Boulevard which leads to the airport. Unfortunately, their capacity is markedly insufficient, especially during rush hour times or on the occasion of police and military roadblocks, when there is immense traffic congestion. This assessment prompted the government to consider a construction project for a third possible bridge which would be located between Cocody and Marcory. However, due to political upheavals which the country has been experiencing since December 1999, these plans have been suspended, and according to the Minister for Infrastructure of the government under Guillaume Soro, they should have been taken up again in 2008. Yet the project had already been started: people had been relocated and buildings had been destroyed in Marcory, opposite the Mille Maquis (the famous restaurant la Bâche bleue was moved). The city is the foothold for the region's only railway: the Abidjan-Ouagadougou line, with stations in Treichville, Abobo and Adjamé. This line only has two trains, the Gazelle and the Bélier, and links the two capitals in about 40 hours. The most recent project in Abidjan is one for an electric train which is promised by the Ivory Society of Railroads (SICF). The development of infrastructural projects has been envisaged, including a suburban train system in Abidjan which is estimated to cost almost 100 billion CFA francs. This suburban train system would link the North-West to the East and North of the city. The project extends over 25 km of railway tracks which as of 2011 were used by the operator Sitarail, a subsidiary company of the Bolloré group. The infrastructural works (tracks, electrification, and civil engineers) have been estimated at 40 billion CFA francs, financed by the State of Ivory Coast and backers (World Bank and the French Development Agency). In addition, a BOT concession contract would be given to a private operator, over 20–30 years, to operate the network. This operator will be in charge of the acquisition of railway materials, workshop renovation and the implementation of an organisational system. The concession contract has been estimated at around 60 billion CFA francs. Abidjan is a unique city in Africa. Its nicknames, such as "Manhattan of the tropics", "Small Manhattan" or "Pearl of the lagoons", explain the city's unpredictable and triumphant image. With its accommodation facilities – such as the Golf Hôtel – and sporting facilities, its lively night life, transport and communication lines as well as its impressiveness, it is the perfect city for business tourism. Abidjan also has beaches around the lagoon, with palm and coconut trees, in the Vridi area, which are very popular at weekends with the picturesque sight of the pineapple and coconut sellers. Nevertheless, the "ban phenomenon",[clarification needed] which affects practically the whole of the Gulf of Guinea's coast, means that in this area swimming is not usually allowed. Generally, in the Ivory Coast, tourism has never really been developed as an economic industry; the country does not appear among common holiday destinations. Converted in 1926, this park has 3,000 hectares and ancient "sacred wood" lies at the entrance to the city, in the Attécoubé community, which has been conserved as a relic of the first forest which surrounded the lagoon in the past. A tarmaced road goes straight to the lake at the heart of the park and trails go throughout it. The park is inhabited and there are coffee and cocoa plantations. At the edge of the park, a small river serves as a wash-house where the fanicos, laundry men, work after collecting the laundry from the whole of the city. It is one of the ‘small jobs’ which exist in Abidjan. Overall, the night life in Abidjan is considered to be one of the liveliest in the whole of Africa. The district has an abundance of night-clubs, maquis, out-door areas and go-go bars. These entertainment platforms provide a musical ‘pipeline’ encompassing mainly DJs, Coupé Décalé and Zouglou, and, in lesser amounts, other local and international varieties. Formerly containing only local traditional varieties, Congolese music and Western music, Abidjan's night life has experienced a positive cultural disruption in its music since the start of the 2000s, with the arrival of Coupé Décalé. Indeed, this musical genre was introduced in 2002 by Douk Saga and JetSet, with the help of Sagacité, created a phenomenon which has not stopped spreading and reaching out to the hot nights in the capitals of the sub-region. It has given a cultural identity, globally identifiable, to entertainment ‘Made in Côte d'Ivoire’. The very popular Zouglou additionally benefits "Wôyô" spaces; furnished and dedicated so that the most famous, the Internat at Fitini's and the Lycee at Vieux Gazeur's, attract ‘zouglouphiles’ the whole weekend. Treichville, with its many maquis, discothèques and jazz clubs, used to be the liveliest area in the city, but since the end of the 90s Youpougon, Marcory and Cocody have taken over this role. The Treichville mosque, the Cocody mosque, the Plateau Mosque, and Saint-Paul's Cathedral in Abidjan, created by the architect Aldo Spirito and inaugurated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, make up the city's main religious buildings. The cathedral is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Abidjan. The National Library of Ivory Coast In Cocody: The Goethe Institute. The Municipal Museum. The American Culture Centre (CCA) The Ki Yi M'Bock Village (in the Riviera). Cocody Museum of Contemporary Art. Point d'Orgue, private music education centre In Plateau: The French Cultural Centre (CCF) The Ivory Coast Museum of Civilisations The National Museum: presents a collection of Ivory Coast art (statues, masks, jewellery, tools, carved doors, tom-toms and musical instruments from every region in the country). It is free entry, but there is the possibility of a voluntary donation when you leave. In Treichville: The Sports Palace The Cultural Palace. The Abidjan artisanal centre (CAVA). Each year film festivals are organised in Abidjan: The Clap-Ivoire Festival, the Spanish Film Festival, the Ivory Coast National Film Festial (FESNACI) – the first of which was organised in 2007, the short film festival (FIMA), which has been organised since 1998 by Hanni Tchelley, the Abidjan Israeli Film Festival; the fourth one took place in 2006 in the Goethe Institute. Several films depict or are devoted to the city: Le Sixième doigt, a film by Henri Duparc. Bronx-Barbès by Eliane Delatour released in 2000. Caramel a film by Henri Duparc with Adrienne Koutouan, Fortuné Akakpo. Rue Princesse a film by Henri Duparc with Félicité Wouassi, Akissi Delta, Gérard Essomba released in 1993. Danger Permanent a film by Pierre Laba with Michel Bohiri, Michel Gohou, Adrienne Koutouan, Jimmy Danger. Un homme pour deux sœurs a film by Marie-Louise Asseu released in 2007, with Bétika, Jimmy Danger, Michel Gohou Le gentleman de Cocody a film by Christian-Jaque released in 1964, with Jean Marais, Philippe Clay, Robert Dalban, Jacques Morel, Gil Delamare, Maria Grazia Buccela, Nancy Holloway and Liselotte Pulver. Le virus, a film by Bleu Brigitte released in December 2007, with Fortuné Akakpo, Fanta Coulibaly, Tatianna de M'C Ensira. Abidjan is a turntable for West African music, and a major producer of musical art in Africa. The city attracts the majority of musicians from the Ivory Coast mainly because of its many discothèques, which allow artists to make their debut and express themselves, record companies and national media. Here are a few examples of the most popular artists to have made their debut in Abidjan: Alpha Blondy, Aïcha Koné, the group Magic System, Meiway, and Tiken Jah Fakoly, as well as Gadji Celi, Chantal Taiba, Nayanka Bell, DJ Arafat. In the 1980s Myriam Makeba came to the city, when she was not allowed back to her own country, South Africa, as did the Congolese diva Tshala Muana, apostle of the Soukous style of dance. Since the 1990s Abidjan has had a significant variety of musical styles being exported throughout Africa and the West. These are namely Zoblazo, Mapouka, Zouglou and, since 2002, the Coupé Décalé; the popularity and great variety of these dances make the city a kind of African dance and musical trend capital. Congo-Kinchasa used to be known by this title; with Rumba, Soukous and then Ndombolo. Abidjan is also considered to be the reggae capital of Africa. Each year, the city organises the following music festivals: Faya Flow Les Top d'or. Concerto Festival. Le Tiercé Gagnant The RTI Music Awards. Dj Mix Atalakou, organised by RTI Music TV International Jazz Festival ofAbidjan (FIJA) International Festival of Black Music (FIMNA).[83] Organised every two years, alternating with the International Jazz Festival. Most mass media in the Ivory Coast can be found in Abidjan. The National Council for Audio-visual Communication (CNCA) is the regulating authority of audio-visual material in the Ivory Coast. Radiodiffusion Television Ivoirienne (RTI) is the radio and television broadcasting authority for the Ivory Coast; it is financed by licence fees, publicity and grants. RTI has four television channels and two radio stations: La Première (non-specialised), TV2, RTI Music TV, RTI Sport TV, Radio Côte d'Ivoire, and Fréquence 2 (non-specialised radio). Radio Jam is a private radio station in the Ivory Coast, and is the station the most listened to by young people. With regards to private channels, Tam-Tam TV will be the first International Ivory Coast television channel with headquarters in Abidjan, with other studios in the United States, Italy, France, Asia, the Middle East. There are also several Ivory Coast TV channels or radio stations available on the Internet: Africahit, Music TV, Abidjan.net TV, Bengueshow, etc. At the time of the single-party, a political situation which ruled over the country for 30 years like most other West African countries after independence, only one daily newspaper was distributed throughout the country: Fraternité Matin, from the parliamentary group PDCI-RDA, which was founded by the first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny. The advent of multiple parties in the Ivory Coast in 1999 can be seen in the proliferation of newspapers and diverse publications, of which the majority is published in Abidjan. The President, the Prime Minister, the government and ministers have an official website. The web portal Abidjan.net, which is domiciled in California in the U.S., broadcasts information about the city and the country all over the world. In the "global village" organisation, Abidjan has an Internet node and the number of internet-cafés there is increasing at an exponential rate, like the number of Internet users, which was estimated in 2007 to be 400,000. The web portal Abidjan24.net, which is domiciled in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, broadcasts information about the city and the country all over the world. There is only one public state-owned channel (RTI), which is also in charge of radio. Channel 2 (TV2): in progress. Private channels and international radio: undeveloped, non-existent. Local radio stations: localised regional nature stations, not accessible out of the country. Several fashion events are organised in the city each year: "Les Féeries" (The Fairies),[90] the ceremonies for Miss Côte d'Ivoire, Miss Abidjan District, Miss Christmas (from 6–11 years) and Miss Awoulaba (very prestigious). Moreover, the Yéhé Fashion Show[91] takes place every year, a celebration of African fashion, and the International Festival of Lingerie and Beauty of Abidjan (FILBA). Abidjan is also the headquarters for Ivory Coast's clothes designers, renowned for being the best in Africa; including Gilles Touré (designer for Miss Côte d'Ivoire) or even Pathéo. Ivory Coast national sport (basketball, athletics, rugby, handball, volleyball, etc.), especially football, is very popular in Abidjan. Abidjan is home to ASEC Mimosas, one of the country's leading football clubs. Each year a 7-a-side football tournament is organised: the Festival of Maracana d'Abidjan (FESTMA) which takes place in Yopougon.[94] Following the undeniable success of the "Football Academy" created by Jean-Marc Guillou (Académie Sol Béni), from which several old members have rejoined professional European clubs, several football training centres for young footballers have developed in recent years: the Cyril Domoraud Centre, Labo foot in Yopougon, the Centre ivoirien de formation de football d'Abidjan (CIFFA), l'Étoile Scientifique Football Abidjan (ESFA), etc.[95] Events : The main football event organised in Abidjan was the 1984 African Cup of Nations and one of the finals of the 1983 African Youth Cup of Nations. In 1964 the Jeux d'Abidjan took place in Abidjan, as did the final of the African Cup Winners' Cup in 1975, 1980, 1983 and 1990, then another in 1992 under the name of CAF Confederations Cup. The Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny was the host of the very first African Super Cup in 1992, and the second in 1998. The finals of the 1966, 1986, 1995 and 1998 CAF Champions League also took place in Abidjan. The economic capital also attracted other football events such as the Assumption Tournament (the first one taking place in 2007 in the Stade Robert Champroux), the West African Club Championship (UFOA Cup), and international gala matches. Ivory Coast Basketball Federation Clubs : Abidjan Basket Club, Club sportif Abidjanais, ASEC Mimosas (basket-ball), Phénix Basket Club de Cocody and Génération Basket-ball Club (GBC) which is a new club of young volunteers who want to become basketball players. Ivory Coast Rugby Federation Clubs : Abidjan University Club, Treichville Biafra Olympic Abidjan is the centre of Ivorian rugby, and most of the Ivory Coast national rugby union team have come from here. Although the origins of Ivorian rugby go back to the 1960s and earlier, real growth came about when the paid French official Jean-François Turon managed to get the game adopted by Abidjan University at the turn of the 1980s, but it is François Dali who is seen as the father of Ivorian rugby, and his son was the national captain during the 1990s. Cycling Ivory Coast Cycling Federation Clubs : ASFA Moossou, Club cycliste d'Azagui, AS Cavel de Koumassi, Cycliste club de l'océan, and the Club cycliste de Yopougon Tennis Ivory Coast Tennis qui a organisé, which organised the first International Tennis tournament CEDEAO in 2007 Clubs : Seamen's Club, SGBCI Tennis Club, Tennis Club Hotel Ivoire, Sporting Club 2 Plateaux, Palm Club Abidjan Tennis, and the Lycée technique Abidjan Tennis Club Judo Ivory Coast Federation of Judo and Related Disciplines which organised the 15th Abidjan Tournament in 2007'. Athletics Ivory Coast Athletics Federation. Clubs : Club d'Attécoubé and Club de Yopougon Boxing Club : SOA Boxing Club d'Abidjan Golf Ivory Coast Golf Federation Club: Ivoire Golf Club. Stadiums : Stade INJS, Stade Municipal d'Abidjan, Stade Municipal de Man FC, Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Parc des Sports de Treichville, Stade Robert Champroux, Stade du Port autonome d'Abidjan. Other facilities: Omnisport Palace in Treichville Olympic Complex: with 80,000 to 100,000 seats[103] is being planned, thanks to the Ivory Coast managers’ desire to provide the "Elephants" with a better national stadium. The complex will have, in addition to areas for all different Olympic disciplines (football, athletics, swimming, etc.), restaurants, shops, auditoriums, conference rooms, a hotel for the "sidelined" sportspeople, and training areas. Since the sudden increase in Ivory Coast football, the Ivory Coast State believes that the national team deserves a better stadium. Indeed, there is a problem with the "Félicia": it is impossible to increase its size due to its location in Le Plateau. The project for the new complex was suspended as of 2011 because of a lack of investors and the political situation which the country has been experiencing since December 1999.