# Odienné

Odienné (French pronunciation:) is a town in the northwestern part of Ivory Coast. It is the seat of both Denguélé District and Kabadougou Region. It is also a commune and the seat of and a sub-prefecture of Odienné Department.
The town of Odienné was founded by Malinké people under Vakaba Touré. Later, Samory Touré founded a support base in the town. Features of Odienné include a large mosque, nearby gold mines, and Vakaba Touré's tomb located in Odienné.
The town is served by Odienné Airport. The Stade Municipal is a multi-purpose stadium in the town. St. Augustine Cathedral serves as the cathedral and headquarters for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Odienné, of which Antoine Koné is the bishop.

## History

It is thought that the area surrounding Odienné was first settled by the Senufo people and the Mandinka people. The founding of the town is credited to Vakaba Touré [fr] (1800–1858), who also founded the Kabadougou Kingdom, of which Odienné was the capital. The French explorer René Caillié visited Odienné in 1827. In 1898, during the French occupation of Cote d'Ivoire, a military post was established south of Odienné. During the First Ivorian Civil War, Odienné was a stronghold for Forces Nouvelles de Côte d'Ivoire. Its remote location meant that the town was somewhat peaceful during the war compared to other Ivorian towns.

## Economy

Odienné relies on agriculture as its main industry. Fruits, cashews, yams, and cotton is grown in fields located in the Massif du Dienguélé valley. The town houses a rice-processing plant and manganese is also produced in the area.

## Sports

Stade Municipal is the primary stadium in Odienné, and is the home of AS Denguélé, the main football club, which currently plays in the Ligue 1 division.

## Climate

Climate data for Odienné (1961-1990 normals, extremes 1973-present) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 49.5 (121.1) | 41.8 (107.2) | 42.4 (108.3) | 47.0 (116.6) | 39.4 (102.9) | 38.8 (101.8) | 39.0 (102.2) | 43.0 (109.4) | 39.0 (102.2) | 42.0 (107.6) | 40.0 (104.0) | 41.0 (105.8) | 49.5 (121.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 33.4 (92.1) | 35.6 (96.1) | 35.3 (95.5) | 34.9 (94.8) | 33.2 (91.8) | 31.3 (88.3) | 29.8 (85.6) | 29.5 (85.1) | 30.2 (86.4) | 29.9 (85.8) | 32.6 (90.7) | 32.3 (90.1) | 32.3 (90.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 24.0 (75.2) | 27.1 (80.8) | 28.5 (83.3) | 28.4 (83.1) | 27.3 (81.1) | 25.8 (78.4) | 24.8 (76.6) | 24.5 (76.1) | 24.7 (76.5) | 25.3 (77.5) | 25.1 (77.2) | 23.3 (73.9) | 25.7 (78.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 14.7 (58.5) | 18.4 (65.1) | 21.3 (70.3) | 22.3 (72.1) | 21.9 (71.4) | 20.9 (69.6) | 20.5 (68.9) | 20.3 (68.5) | 20.4 (68.7) | 19.8 (67.6) | 18.2 (64.8) | 14.8 (58.6) | 19.5 (67.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 9.8 (49.6) | 10.7 (51.3) | 10.0 (50.0) | 12.0 (53.6) | 18.0 (64.4) | 15.0 (59.0) | 12.1 (53.8) | 17.5 (63.5) | 12.6 (54.7) | 10.5 (50.9) | 9.0 (48.2) | 8.0 (46.4) | 8.0 (46.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 5.1 (0.20) | 11.0 (0.43) | 27.4 (1.08) | 71.4 (2.81) | 111.0 (4.37) | 154.8 (6.09) | 252.0 (9.92) | 322.3 (12.69) | 234.8 (9.24) | 125.8 (4.95) | 24.9 (0.98) | 4.0 (0.16) | 1,344.5 (52.92) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 0.5 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 7.4 | 9.3 | 12.5 | 16.9 | 21.3 | 18.5 | 13.6 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 107.8 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 242.0 | 220.2 | 217.3 | 214.7 | 248.8 | 221.8 | 183.5 | 174.5 | 185.4 | 235.8 | 252.0 | 242.6 | 2,638.6 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 68 | 67 | 59 | 59 | 65 | 59 | 47 | 46 | 51 | 65 | 73 | 68 | 60 |
| Source 1: NOAA ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: WMO (precipitation 1981-2010) ||||||||||||||

## Villages

The 17 villages of the sub-prefecture of Odienné and their population in 2014 are:
* Logbanasso (235)
* Odienné (42 173)
* Baradjan (357)
* Bassékodougou (204)
* Gbanhanla (967)
* Gbèrèdougou (509)
* Massadougou (201)
* Kodougou (219)
* Kouroukro-Mafélé (835)
* Néguéla (406)
* Niamasso (392)
* Samesso (314)
* Sirana (1 250)
* Touroni (479)
* Odienné-Sienso (809)
* Samankoungolo (166)
* Ziéwasso (990)
In 2014, the total population of the sub-prefecture of Odienné was 50,506.