Grand-Bassam Department, Administrative department in Sud-Comoé Region, Ivory Coast.
Grand-Bassam Department is an administrative unit in the Sud-Comoé region along the coast with an area of roughly 1000 square kilometers. It encompasses three administrative centers: Bongo, Bonoua, and Grand-Bassam, each serving as a local government hub.
The department was created in 1998 as an administrative unit through a division of a larger region. It underwent further restructuring in 2011 when Ivory Coast reorganized its administrative divisions at the national level.
The area is known for its active markets where local merchants sell fresh produce, textiles, and handmade goods sourced from coastal communities. Daily market activity reveals the trading connections between the three sub-prefectures.
Each of the three administrative centers has a government office where residents and visitors can handle documentation and official matters. It is helpful to identify which location serves the specific function you need, as responsibilities are distributed among the centers.
The city of Grand-Bassam served as the first European administrative seat of Ivory Coast before power was transferred to Abidjan. The colonial-era buildings in the city today still bear marks of that early chapter in the country's history.
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