Boundiali is a town in northern
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
. It is a
sub-prefecture of and the seat of
Boundiali Department. It is also the seat of
Bagoué Region in
Savanes District and a
commune.
Its population, the ''Boundialikas'', is composed mainly of ethnic groups shared across the borders of
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
,
Guinea
Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...
, and
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
, as well as some
Fulas. Boundiali is a centre for
Senoufo people and is known for
crafts
A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...
. The inhabitants are chiefly
farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...
s and
stockbreeders as well as
tradesmen or
civil servants.
Economy
The economy of the town of Boundiali is largely based on the
cotton
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
industry, introduced by the
French during the colonial period, and primarily intended for export.
Corn,
groundnut,
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae.
Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
,
manioc,
banana,
mangoes,
yam, and
rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
are also cultivated, mainly for local consumption.
The town has a hospital, a modern college and two factories for cotton processing, its principal industry, to the point of being called "white gold".
Politics
Boundiali's mayor is
Zémogo Fofana, former member of the
RDR, and a former government minister. He has created his own party with
Jean-Jacques Bechio, another former minister and Director of the RDR.
Geography
The town is surrounded by two "mountains" that are part of the Guinean mountain range that culminates at
Mount Nimba.
The area is
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
region, with
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
to
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...
vegetation. The climate is very hot and dry (
Sudanese climate). In December and January,
Harmattan
The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into th ...
, a powerful wind, blows in from the Sahara, lowering the temperature considerably.
Culture
The neighbouring villages, are home to artisans who manufacture statues of human or animal figures as well as wood-carved doors and sénoufo chairs.
The ceremonies of the area are celebrated with the popular use of
Djembe,
Kora and
Balaphon.
Onchocerciasis
Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a disease caused by infection with the parasitic worm ''Onchocerca volvulus''. Symptoms include severe itching, bumps under the skin, and blindness. It is the second-most common cause of blindne ...
devastated the riverside villages of the area, but was effectively eradicated in 1980, thanks chiefly to Canadian co-operation.
Places of interest
*
Hippopotamuses in the River
Bagoué.
*The neighbouring forests are home to
panthers which are sometimes killed by villagers, although hunting is prohibited in the territory.
*Niofoin, the typical Sénoufo village, is located towards Korhogo. It is here that
Jean-Jacques Annaud made his first film, ''
La Victoire'', 1975 (with
Jean Carmet).
*North of the city, towards
Tingréla, the villages of
Kouto,
Gbon and
Kolia are located, which are populated by weavers and blacksmiths.
*The village of
Tiémé, in direction of
Odienné, sheltered
René Caillié at the time of his voyage from
Conakry
Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973.
The current population of C ...
to
Timbuktoo, where he was cured of
scurvy by the attentive care of the villagers.
*Fula camps in the savanna outside the city.
People linked to the town
*
Muriel Diallo, author of children's stories was born here in 1967.
[Murial Diallo]
, Art.uwa.edu, Retrieved 23 February 2016
*Writer
Ahmadou Kourouma was born in Boundiali.
Neighbouring cities
*
Korhogo to the east.
*
Odienné to the west.
*
Tingréla to the north.
*
Séguéla to the south.
In 2021, the population of the sub-prefecture of Boundiali was 92,792.
Villages
The 18 villages of the sub-prefecture of Boundiali and their population in 2014 are:
Citypopulation.de
Population of localities in the sub-prefecture of Boundiali
Notes
References
*''Les charrues de la Bagoue - Gestion paysanne d'une opération cotonnière en Côte d'ivoire'', by Jacqueline Peltre-Wurtz, published in 1999 (Editor: IRD)
*''Histoire des Fohobele de Cote d'ivoire - Une Population Sénoufo inconnue'', by Tiona Ferdinand Ouattara, published in 1999 in Editions Karthala.
*''Le volcanisme du sillon de Boundiali, phénomène principal du proterozoique inférieur de cette région N.NW de la Cote d'Ivoire'', thesis by the Université Blaise Pascal de Clermont-Ferrand.
*''Étude Pédologique De La Région De Boundiali-Korhogo - Méthodologie et typologie détaillée, morphologie et caractères analytiques'', by Alain-Gérard Beaudou, published by Editions de l'ORSTOM.
*''Les Sénoufos (Y compris les Miniankas)'', by B. Holas, published in 1957 by Presses Universitaires de France.
External links
A school in Boundiali
{{Authority control
Sub-prefectures of Bagoué
Communes of Bagoué
Regional capitals of Ivory Coast