Vavoua Department is a department of

Haut-Sassandra Region Haut-Sassandra Region is one of the 31 regions of Ivory Coast and is one of two regions in Sassandra-Marahoué District. The region's seat is Daloa. The region's area is 15,190 km², and its population in the 2021 census was 1,739,697, making ...

Sassandra-Marahoué District Sassandra-Marahoué District (french: District du Sassandra-Marahoué) is one of fourteen administrative districts of Ivory Coast. The district is located in the central part of the country. The capital of the district is Daloa. Creation Sassan ...

, Ivory Coast. In 2021, its population was 477,154 and its seat is the settlement of Vavoua. The sub-prefectures of the department are Bazra-Nattis, Dananon, Dania, Kétro-Bassam, Séitifla, and Vavoua.

Economy

Local industries include cocoa, cotton growing, and logging.

History

Vavoua Department was created in 1988 as a first-level subdivision via a split-off from

Daloa Department Daloa Department is a department of Haut-Sassandra Region in Sassandra-Marahoué District, Ivory Coast. In 2021, its population was 705,378 and its seat is the settlement of Daloa. The sub-prefectures of the department are Bédiala, Daloa, Gadou ...

."Regions of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)"
statoids.com, accessed 16 February 2016. In 1997,

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

were introduced as new first-level subdivisions of Ivory Coast; as a result, all departments were converted into second-level subdivisions. Vavoua Department was included in

. In 2011, districts were introduced as new first-level subdivisions of Ivory Coast. At the same time, regions were reorganised and became second-level subdivisions and all departments were converted into third-level subdivisions. At this time, Vavoua Department remained part of the retained

in the new

Vavoua International School Vavoua International School (VIS) was a boarding school operated by WEC International located east of the town of Vavoua on the road to Zuénoula. It was closed in 2002 due to political unrest in Ivory Coast. History Founded in 1970, the school ...

, a Christian

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

boarding school run by

WEC International WEC International is an interdenominational mission agency of evangelical tradition which focuses on evangelism, discipleship and church planting, through music and the arts, serving addicts and vulnerable children, through Christian education, mi ...

, was situated in the department, adjacent to the small village of Bouitafla, until the

Second Ivorian Civil War The Second Ivorian Civil War broke out in March 2011 when the crisis in Ivory Coast escalated into full-scale military conflict between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Ivory Coast since 2000, and supporters of the internationa ...

forced its closing.

Notes

Departments of Haut-Sassandra 1988 establishments in Ivory Coast States and territories established in 1988 {{Sassandra-Marahoué-geo-stub