Abidjan Travel Guide, Cote D'Ivoire

Although Abidjan lost the tag of capital city (though it is still considered to be the de facto capital by many nationals) for Cote d'Ivoire (also known as Ivory Coast) years ago, the city has maintained its importance for the country of Cote d'Ivoire. Abidjan happens to be the largest city in terms of population for Cote d'Ivoire as well as the central hub for all the banking and commercial activities for Cote d'Ivoire.

The population of Abidjan is was around 3800000 inhabitants as per the census of year 2006. As per this census the population of Abidjan's metropolitan area was around five million inhabitants. A huge chunk of this population for the city of Abidjan is migrants from other cities of Cote d'Ivoire and from some foreign countries. Most of these migrants wanted to utilize the growing economy of Abidjan and hence they flocked the city thus increasing its population by many folds.

The city of Abidjan is the gateway to Western Africa considering the fact that its port opens towards Western Africa. The city of Abidjan excels in coffee, food processing, cocoa, automobile, lumber, various chemicals, multiple textile industries, and various forms of soap. The huge oil refinery of Abidjan is also very famous on the national level as it fulfils huge percentage of oil needs of the nation.

Banking is another sector in which the city of Abidjan holds an upper hand. All the major international level banks have their offices in the city of Abidjan. Some of these famous banks are Citibank, General Company, Barclays, Chase. The Regional Values Exchange and The World Bank are also part of Abidjan itself. This has helped the city of Abidjan gain recognition on the international level.

There are multiple outlets where you can enjoy local cuisines but it is always suggested that you ask for prices before you start eating as the locals try their best to fool foreign tourists. Fish is the cheapest meal available in the city of Abidjan considering the fact that it is a port city. Bread is famous for breakfast and European type food is also available if you aren't able to gel with local cusines.