Yamoussoukro

Yamoussoukro is the capital city of Côte d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast). About 200,000 people live in this city. Yamoussoukro became the capital in 1983. Abidjan was the capital before that.

Yamoussoukro
Location within Côte d'Ivoire
Coordinates: 06°49′00″N 05°17′00″W
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

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.

Other websites

Media related to Yamoussoukro at Wikimedia Commons