It was created from territory that was formerly part of Sud Department.
Using current boundaries as a reference, from 1969 to 1988 the department encompassed all of the Abidjan Autonomous District; all of Grands-Ponts Region; all of Agnéby-Tiassa Region, with the exception of Agboville Department; and Alépé Department in La Mé Region.
[4] In 1997, regions were introduced as new first-level subdivisions of Ivory Coast; as a result, all departments were converted into second-level subdivisions.
Abidjan Department was included as part of Lagunes Region.
In 2011, districts were introduced as new first-level subdivisions of Ivory Coast.