Le Plateau is the central business district of Abidjan, occupying a peninsula in the Ébrié Lagoon. Its glass towers and wide French-style boulevards give it a skyline unlike anything else in West Africa — some of these buildings were erected during Ivory Coast's economic boom years of the 1960s and 1970s, when the country was briefly known as the "Ivorian Miracle."
The neighbourhood holds the National Museum, the Culture Palace, the Presidential Palace, and the main banking and commercial offices. The lagoon is visible at the ends of several streets. The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Plaza at the centre is where demonstrations and national ceremonies take place. Walking Le Plateau's main avenues takes about half a day and gives a strong sense of Abidjan's ambitions, past and present.