Ouagadougou

Capital and industrial centre of Burkina Faso, and of Kadiogo Province; population (2002 est) 839,800. Industries include textiles, beverages, and the manufacture of vegetable oil products, especially soap. Its pre-eminence as a commercial centre is challenged by Bobo-Dioulasso. It was the capital of the Mossi empire from the 15th century.

The town incorporates several old Mossi settlements, but urban growth dates mainly from the establishment of a French administrative post and a mission station in 1904. It grew slowly until it became the territorial capital in 1952. The city has the palace of Moro Naba, emperor of the Mossi people, a neo-Romanesque cathedral, and a central avenue called the Champs Elysées. The University of Ouagadougou was founded in 1969. The city is connected by rail with Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) and by road with Niamey (Niger).