Ferkessédougou

Ferkessédougou (often shortened to Ferké) is a city in northern Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Ferkessédougou Department. It is also the seat of Tchologo Region in Savanes District and a commune. Ferkessédougou is the second-most populous city in northern Ivory Coast, after Korhogo.

Regional center

Ferkessédougou is an important centre of local development as the nearest large town on the north–south road to the main border posts for crossing into Burkina Faso and Mali. A major transport crossroads, it is home to a regional market, schools, and a hospital.

Local economy

The economy of the Ferkessédougou area is overwhelmingly agricultural, with larger scale commercial farming based on huge cotton and sugarcane plantations. The city is a centre for the processing of these commodities, in particular for cattle feed, as it is a centre for stockyards of herds of zebu cattle, driven from the north, and bound for markets further south. A burgeoning tourist industry is based upon Ferkessédougou's proximity to the large Comoé National Park (to the east) and Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve (to the west).

Population and culture

thumb|right|Map of [[Senufo languages groups: see especially the Senari subgroup.]]

The dominant ethnic group in the area are the Sénoufo (primarily of Nyarafolo and Kpalaga/Palaka dialect speakers). Sociocultural organization is based on the "Poro", an educational system through which every male adolescent graduates to adulthood. In the 2021 census, the population of the sub-prefecture of Ferkessédougou was 160,267. The name is a contraction of Ferkessés - dougou ("Village" in Bambara).

At the end of the 19th century, the area fell under the control of first Samory Touré's Wassoulou Empire and the French colonial empire. Placed under the Côte d'Ivoire Colony of French West Africa in 1895, the completed section of the planned Abidjan-Niger Railway was constructed north and ended during the colonial period at Ferkessédougou town, lending it increased regional importance. The French introduced large-scale cotton production, which remains an important pillar of the local economy.

In the late 1970s, Ferkessédougou was designated by the government as one of their regional development hubs for industry processing agricultural goods. A 50,000 ton capacity sugar processing plant was built in this period. It is 1037 ft-316 m in elevation.

</div>

Transport

Ferkessédougou is served by Ferkessédougou Airport and a station on the national railway system.

Villages

The 41 villages of the sub-prefecture of Ferkessédougou and their population in 2014 are.

References

Robert J. Mundt. Historical Dictionary of the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire). Scarecrow Press/ Metuchen. NJ - London (1987)