Abidjan, chief port, de facto capital, and largest city of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). It lies along the Ébrié Lagoon, which is separated from the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic by the Vridi Plage sandbar. A village in 1898, it became a town in 1903. Abidjan was a rail terminus from 1904 but had to depend on the meagre facilities of Port-Bouët on the sandbar’s ocean shore. It succeeded Bingerville as capital of the French colony in 1934 and retained that position after independence in 1960. In 1983 Yamoussoukro, a town located about 170 miles (274 km) to the northwest, was officially named the new national capital. The transfer of government functions proceeded slowly, however, and Abidjan remained the de facto capital into the 21st century. Districts within the city include Plateau, Cocody (site of the National University of Côte d’Ivoire), Treichville, Adjame, Koumassi, and Marcory.