Daloa is a city in western

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 the seat of both the Sassandra-Marahoué District and the Haut-Sassandra Region. It is also the seat of and 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 Daloa Department. Daloa is also a commune. In the 2014 census, the city had a population of 245,360, 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.

History

Civil War

The town was repeatedly contested during the

First Ivorian Civil War The First Ivorian Civil War was a Civil war, civil conflict in the Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) that began with a Armed Forces of the Republic of Ivory Coast, military rebellion on 19 September 2002 and ended with a peace agreement on 4 March 20 ...

, 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 Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

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 Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

. The killings were allegedly based on their Muslim names or that the victims were nationals 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 ...

, Burkino Faso or

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 ...

. Côte d'Ivoire authorities ordered an inquiry but stated government forces had not been responsible. However, no charges were brought and the Ouagadougou 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. In February 2012, the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

decided to investigate this incident.

Language

The

Bété language Bété may refer to: *Bété people of Côte d'Ivoire *Bété language or languages spoken by them *Bété alphabet *Bété (fruit), a small citrus fruit grown in southern Nigeria. Closely related to the lime. {{disambig ...

, a Niger-Congo language belonging to the Kru branch, is spoken in Daloa.

Villages

The thirty four villages of the sub-prefecture of Daloa and their population in 2014 are:

Fauna

At least 30

amphibia Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, but excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic ...

n species are found in Daloa and its surroundings. The following

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order (biology), order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough ski ...

species have been recorded in Daloa.Kouamé NG, Ofori-Boateng C, Adum GB, Gourène G, Rödel MO (2015) The anuran fauna of a West African urban area. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 9: 1-14. ;

Arthroleptidae The Arthroleptidae are a family (biology), family of frogs found in sub-Saharan Africa. This group includes African treefrogs in the genus ''Leptopelis'' along with the terrestrial breeding squeakers ''Arthroleptis'', and several genera restrict ...

*'' Arthroleptis'' spp. ('' Arthroleptis poecilonotus''

complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

) *'' Leptopelis spiritusnoctis'' *'' Leptopelis viridis'' (very common near human settlements) ;

Bufonidae {{Cat main, Toad This category Category, plural categories, may refer to: General uses *Classification, the general act of allocating things to classes/categories Philosophy * Category of being * ''Categories'' (Aristotle) * Category (Kant) * C ...

*'' Amietophrynus maculatus'' *'' Amietophrynus regularis'' (very common near human settlements) ;'' Dicroglossidae'' *'' Hoplobatrachus occipitalis'' (commonly sold in markets for human consumption) ; Hemisotidae *'' Hemisus marmoratus'' ;

Hyperoliidae The Hyperoliidae, or sedge frogs and bush frogs, are a large family of small to medium-sized, brightly colored frogs which contain more than 250 species in 19 genera. Seventeen genera are native to sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the monotypic g ...

*'' Afrixalus dorsalis'' *'' Hyperolius concolor concolor'' (very common near human settlements) *'' Hyperolius fusciventris fusciventris'' *'' Hyperolius guttulatus'' *''

Hyperolius nitidulus ''Hyperolius nitidulus'' is a species of frog from the family Hyperoliidae. It is found on the West African savannas between Guinea and Mali in the west and Nigeria and Cameroon in the east. Common name plain reed frog has been coined for it. D ...

'' *'' Hyperolius picturatus'' *'' Hyperolius'' sp. *'' Kassina schioetzi'' *'' Kassina senegalensis'' ;

Microhylidae The Microhylidae, commonly known as narrow-mouthed frogs, are a geographically widespread family (biology), family of frogs. The 683 species are in 57 genera and 11 subfamilies. Evolution A molecular phylogenetic study by van der Meijden, et al. ...

*''

Phrynomantis microps ''Phrynomantis microps'' is an African frog with many interesting adaptations to the savannah. These frogs are also called the Accra snake-necked frog. They are found across Western and Central Africa. One of its distinguishing features is the pe ...

'' ; Phrynobatrachidae *'' Phrynobatrachus calcaratus'' *'' Phrynobatrachus francisci'' *'' Phrynobatrachus gutturosus'' *'' Phrynobatrachus latifrons'' ;

Pipidae The Pipidae are a family (biology), family of primitive, tongueless frogs. There are 41 species in the family, found in tropical South America (genus ''Pipa'') and sub-Saharan Africa (the three other genera). Description Pipid frogs are highly ...

*'' Xenopus muelleri'' ;

Ptychadenidae Ptychadenidae is a family of frogs commonly known as the grassland frogs. These frogs occur in Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central A ...

*'' Ptychadena bibroni'' *''

Ptychadena mascareniensis The Mascarene grass frog (''Ptychadena mascareniensis''), or Mascarene ridged frog, is a species of frog in the family Ptychadenidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and Mauritius. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical ...

'' *'' Ptychadena oxyrhynchus'' *'' Ptychadena tournieri'' *'' Ptychadena pumilio'' *'' Ptychadena tellinii'' ; Ranidae *'' Amnirana albolabris'' *'' Amnirana galamensis''

People

People from Daloa include: *the musician Ernesto Djédjé *the academic, politician and short-story writer, Séry Bailly *the historian and diplomat Pierre Kipré *the Celtic footballer Vakoun Issouf Bayo

Twin towns

Daloa is twinned with: * Pau,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, since 1984 *

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in São Paulo (state), São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's popul ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, since 1982

References

{{Authority control Sub-prefectures of Haut-Sassandra District capitals of Ivory Coast Communes of Haut-Sassandra Regional capitals of Ivory Coast