The districts of Ivory Coast (French: districts de Côte d’Ivoire) are the first-level administrative subdivisions of the country. The districts were created in 2011 in an effort to further decentralise the state.[1][2]
There are 14 autonomous districts. Except for the two autonomous districts around the cities of Yamoussoukro and Abidjan, the remaining 12 autonomous districts are further subdivided into 31 regions, which are further subdivided into 108 third-level subdivisions, the departments (French: départements). Departments are subdivided into 510 sub-prefectures (French: sous-préfectures). The lowest level of administrative organisation, which exist in limited numbers, is the commune. Although they are not divided into regions, the autonomous districts of Abidjan and Yamoussoukro do contain departments, sub-prefectures, and communes.
Governance and purpose
Each district is headed by a governor, who is appointed by the council of ministers (cabinet) of the national government.[3][4]
Districts have been given four primary responsibilities:[3]
to administer major development projects in the district;
to balance the application of state investments and programmes throughout the district in order to minimise regional disparities;
to promote the economic and cultural potentials of large groups; and
to combat regionalism.
List of districts
Districts of Ivory Coast
The following is the list of districts, district capitals and each district's regions
Prior to September 2011, Ivory Coast's first-level administrative subdivisions were 19 regions. In 2011, the regions were reorganized into the 14 districts (12 regular districts and 2 autonomous districts).[1][2] Then in 2021, all districts were made autonomous.[7] The following is a summary of how the districts were constructed from the former regions:
The largest city, Abidjan, and the political capital, Yamoussoukro, and their surrounding areas were split to form autonomous districts. Abidjan was formerly part of Lagunes Region and Yamoussoukro was formerly part of Lacs Region.
Of the 19 regions, the northern regions of Denguélé, Savanes, Vallée du Bandama, and Zanzan were re-designated as districts with no change in territory.
.png)
