Bouna (also spelled Buna) is a town in north-eastern

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre i ...

. It is a

sub-prefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefectures. ...

of and the seat of

Bouna Department Bouna Department is a department of Bounkani Region in Zanzan District, Ivory Coast. In 2021, its population was 178,081 and its seat is the settlement of Bouna. The sub-prefectures of the department are Bouko, Bouna, Ondéfidouo, and Youn ...

. It is also the seat of

Bounkani Region Bounkani Region is one of the 31 regions of Ivory Coast. Since its establishment in 2011, it has been one of two regions in Zanzan District. The seat of the region is Bouna and the region's population in the 2021 census was 427,037. Bounkani is ...

Zanzan District Zanzan District (french: District du Zanzan) is one of fourteen administrative districts of Ivory Coast. The district is located in the northeast of the country. The capital of the district is Bondoukou. Creation Zanzan District was created in ...

and a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

. Near Bouna is the

Comoé National Park The Comoé National Park is a Biosphere Reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Zanzan and Savanes Districts of north-eastern Ivory Coast. It is the largest protected area in West Africa, with an area of 11,500 km2, and ranges from the ...

and the

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

ian border. The main town of the

Lobi people The Lobi belong to an ethnic group that originated in what is today Ghana. Starting around 1770, many Lobi peoples migrated into southern Burkina Faso and later into Côte d'Ivoire. The group consists of little over a 1,000,000 people. They make up ...

, Bouna is known for the

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

of the

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

-style

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...

compounds in surrounding villages. Bouna is historically a Koulango village. Bouna was formerly the centre of a "highly centralized kingdom based on military districts administered by princes" who exploited the local gold deposits; the kingdom was created in the late-17th century by Bounkani, an immigrant from the Dagomba people. Like Kong, it became a major center of Islamic learning. In fact the ''imam'' of Bighu resettled here after the collapse of that city. The town is served by its own dirt-runway airport. This bush landing strip mainly serves the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

. Bouna was one of the main strongholds of the Nouvelle Forces, the rebel army of the 2002 attempted coup d'état. The general population of Bouna suffered greatly in the early days of the rebellion. Things are gradually returning to normal in the area. However, there is much to be done to get the region fully functional in the areas of education and health. In 2021, the population of the sub-prefecture of Bouna was 94,883.

Villages

The one hundred and twenty four villages of the sub-prefecture of Bouna and their population in 2014 are:Citypopulation.de
Population of the localities in the sub-prefecture of Bouna

Notes

Sub-prefectures of Bounkani Communes of Bounkani Regional capitals of Ivory Coast {{Zanzan-geo-stub