Daloa

Daloa
City, sub-prefecture, and commune
Daloa Location in Ivory Coast
Coordinates: 6°53′N 6°27′W / 6.883°N 6.450°WCoordinates: 6°53′N 6°27′W / 6.883°N 6.450°W[1]
Country	Ivory Coast
District	Sassandra-Marahoué
Region	Haut-Sassandra
Department	Daloa
Area
• Metro	5,305 km^2 (2,048 sq mi)
Elevation	299 m (981 ft)
Population (2014)[2]
• City, sub-prefecture, and commune	319,427
• Metro	591,633
• Metro density	110/km^2 (290/sq mi)
Time zone	GMT (UTC+0)

Daloa is a city in western Ivory Coast. It is the seat of both the Sassandra-Marahoué District and the Haut-Sassandra Region. It is also the seat of and a sub-prefecture of Daloa Department. Daloa is also a commune. In the 2014 census, the city had a population of 319,427,^[2] making it the third-largest city in the country. It lies to the west of Yamoussoukro, the capital of Ivory Coast. Daloa is an important trading centre, particularly for cocoa. The city is served by Daloa Airport and is home to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Daloa, with its cathedral at Cathédrale du Christ-Roi.

People from Daloa include

• the musician Ernesto Djédjé
• the acamedic, politician and short-story writer, Séry Bailly.
• the historian and diplomat Pierre Kipré.

History

Civil War

Division of territory following the First Ivorian Civil War

The town was repeatedly contested during the First Ivorian Civil War, which lasted from 2002 to 2004. Following the takeover of the town by the government on 16 October 2002, fifty civilians from the north were allegedly killed by government troops. Amnesty International described the killings as a "massacre", saying people in military uniform had killed people suspected of supporting the rebel Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire. The killings were allegedly based on their Muslim names or that the victims were nationals of Mali, Burkino Faso or Guinea. Côte d'Ivoire authorities ordered an inquiry but stated government forces had not been responsible.^[3] However, no charges were brought and the Ougadougou Peace Agreement in March 2007 between President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel leader Guillaume Soro incorporated a general amnesty for crimes committed in this time, except for crimes against humanity, war crimes and economic crimes.^[4]

In February 2012, the International Criminal Court decided to investigate this incident.^[5]

Twin towns

Daloa is twinned with:

• Pau, France, since 1984
• Campinas, Brazil, since 1982

References

1. "Ivory Coast Cities Longitude & Latitude". sphereinfo.com. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
2. "Côte d'Ivoire". geohive.com. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
3. Daloa massacres recall the spectre of Youpougon, Amnesty International, 28 October 2002, accessed 24 February 2012
4. Ouagadougou Political Agreement, United Nations, 13 March 2007, accessed 24 February 2012
5. Ivory Coast rivals Soro and Gbagbo welcome ICC move, BBC, 24 February 2012