Ouagadougou << `wah` guh DOO goo >> (pop. 1,475,223) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso. The city has a modern central district and numerous churches and mosques (Islamic houses of worship). The palace of the Moro Naba, the chief of the country’s Mossi people, is also in the city. Ouagadougou has an airport and a university. Its industries include food processing, the bottling of beverages, and the production of building supplies and textiles.
Ouagadougou was founded in about the 1100’s. In the mid-1400’s, it became the Moro Naba’s capital. In 1896, French forces captured the city. Ouagadougou grew little until 1954, when a railroad connected the city with Bobo Dioulasso and Côte d’Ivoire. In 1960, the independence of what is now Burkina Faso also stimulated growth.
