Bouna is a town in the homonymous prefecture, capital of the Bounkani region, in the Zanzan district in the northeast of Côte d'Ivoire, near the border with Ghana, 603 km north of Abidjan. It had around 26,000 inhabitants in 2010, more than 60,000 in 2024. It constitutes one of the gateways to the Comoé national park.
The holders of royalty and exclusive landowners are the Koulango.
The Ouattara, Kamara, Cissé, Coulibaly, Diabagaté, and Bamba families are from the Malinké group.
The Kambiré, Hien, Kambou, Palé, Somé, Noufé, Sib and Dah families are from the Lobi group.
In the 18th century, fleeing the supremacy of the Ashanti people, the Abron invaded the kingdom of Bouna.
The Koulango were subjugated until the 20th century by the Abron. This is the reason for the influence of Akan culture in the Nassian region.
In 1896, the troops of Almamy Samory Touré destroyed the kingdom of Bouna. 80% of the villages in the kingdom of Bouna are wiped off the map. The population of Bouna, estimated in 1889 at 10,000 inhabitants by the explorer Binger, was decimated in large quantities.
Five provincial kings act as guardians and preservers of land rights to help each sovereign in his task.
The town is home to the so-called Samory mosque, in banco, which owes its name to the fact that Samory Touré prayed there with his troops.