Sassandra is a town in southern

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 is ...

. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of

Sassandra Department Sassandra Department is a department of Gbôklé Region in Bas-Sassandra District, Ivory Coast. In 2021, its population was 353,228 and its seat is the settlement of Sassandra. The sub-prefectures of the department are Dakpadou, Grihiri, Lob ...

. It is also a commune and the seat of Gbôklé Region in Bas-Sassandra District. Sassandra lies on the

Gulf of Guinea The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean from Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian (zero degrees latitude and longitude) is in the ...

at the mouth of the

Sassandra River The Sassandra River is a river of western Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Tienba River, which originates in the highlands of northwestern Côte d'Ivoire, and the Gouan River (also known as the Bafing Sud River ...

. The town was founded by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

as ''Santo André'' and was later run by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

, then the French as a

seaport A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

for

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including Beam (structure), beams and plank (wood), planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as fini ...

. The town declined in the 1960s after San Pédro's port was completed. Sassandra's main industry is now

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

. Sassandra is known for its

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

es and lighthouse, while the Gaoulou National Park lies nearby. It is served by Sassandra Airport. In 2021, the population of the sub-prefecture of Sassandra was 87,945.

Villages

The thirty eight villages of the sub-prefecture of Sassandra and their population in 2014 are:Citypopulation.de
Population of the localities in the sub-prefecture of Sassandra

Climate

Sassandra has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Aw'') with year-round very high humidity and extreme heat discomfort. Sassandra sees two rainy seasons: the main rains occur from April to July, with a second shorter and lighter rain period from October to December. There are two very distinct

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

s: a foggy, cloudy, slightly cooler dry season in August and September and a longer dry period dominated by the harmattan wind from the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

between mid-December and mid-March, resulting in clearer skies than during any other part of the year.

External links

*
Neyo project : Collaborative project on culture and language of Neyo people, from Sassandra (Côte d'Ivoire)
* {{Authority control Sub-prefectures of Gbôklé Communes of Gbôklé Regional capitals of Ivory Coast