Subdivisions of Ivory Coast

Independent Ivory Coast was first divided into administrative subdivisions in 1961, when four departments were created.

However, the communes were not organised as a systematic administrative level covering all portions of the country until 1997, when they became the national third-level subdivisions.

In 2011, Ivory Coast instituted a reorganisation of its subdivisions with the goal of further decentralising the state.

[3] Immediately prior to the reorganisation, the country was divided into 19 first-level regions, 90 second-level departments, and more than 1300 third-level communes.

Some of the new districts had the same boundaries and names as some of the old regions, but overall the number of first-level subdivisions was decreased from 19 to 14.

In March 2012, the number of communes was drastically reduced to 197 on the grounds that in many cases, they were now an economically unfeasible level of government.

[7] The two autonomous districts of Abidjan and Yamoussoukro are not subdivided into regions, but they do contain departments, sub-prefectures, and communes.