Koudougou is a city in

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

's Boulkiemdé Province. It is located west of

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's n ...

, the capital of

. With a population of 160,239 (2019) it is the third most populous city in Burkina Faso after

and

Bobo Dioulasso Bobo-Dioulasso is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 904,920 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo-Dioula". The local Bobo-speaking population (r ...

and is mainly inhabited by the

Gurunsi Gurunsi or Grusi may refer to: * Gurunsi people, a people of northern Ghana and south and central Burkina Faso ** Gurunsi languages The Grũsi or Gurunsi languages, also known as the East Mabia languages,Bodomo, Adams. 2020.Mabia: Its Etymologic ...

and Mossi ethnic groups. Koudougou is situated on the only railway line in Burkina Faso and has some small industries, a market, a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and provincial government offices.

Geography

Situated on the Mossi Plateau, the city is west of

. In 1952 it was connected by rail to

and

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

. It is situated along the N13 road south of

Sabou Sabou is a town in the Sabou Department of Boulkiemdé Province in central western Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bord ...

and north of Yako. The N21 road connects the city to Réo and the N14 connects it with

Dédougou Dédougou is a city located in western Burkina Faso. It is the capital city of Mouhoun Province and Boucle du Mouhoun Region Boucle du Mouhoun is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. It was created on 2 July 2001 and had a populat ...

. Although the city's administrative borders used to extend further, the city currently encompasses 15 surrounding villages.

Economy

The economy of the city is dominated by agriculture with annual GDP for the city amounting to around 17.5 billion CFA (apx. $36 million).Site officiel rchivede Koudougou., (French), https://web.archive.org/web/20110224011339/http://www.mairie-koudougou.net/ The city has small industries such as a soap,

shea butter Shea butter (, , or ; ) is a fat extracted from yellow the nut of the African shea tree (''Vitellaria paradoxa''). It is ivory in color when raw and commonly dyed yellow with borututu root or palm oil. It is widely used in cosmetics as a moi ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

and various textile factories. As of February 2007, the city had radio-television production and broadcasting installations for Tele-Yaka, a clothing recycling and manufacturing workshop, an experimental mango and green-leaf vegetable plantation, a metal forge for construction and maintenance of farming tools and implements, a metal waste-management and metal engineering workshop geared towards machine parts and motor components, an electronics repair shop and an open-air exhibition space for local sculptors.

Transportation

The city has a railroad station along the Abidjan – Ouagadougou Railway. As of June 2014 ''Sitarail'' operated a passenger train along the line three times a week in each direction. Ouagadougou International Airport is approximately 141 km southeast of central Koudougou and as of June 2014 had regularly scheduled flights to most major cities in West Africa as well as Paris, Brussels and Istanbul.

Education

Since 2005 the city is home to the

University of Koudougou The University of Koudougou (renamed Université Norbert Zongo) is one of three public universities in Burkina Faso. It is located in the city of Koudougou. As of 2015/2016 it had the second highest enrollment of students nationally (16.2%) behind ...

(there were around 5,600 students enrolled in 2010/2011)Government of France, MINISTERE DES AFFAIRES ETRANGERES ET EUROPEENNES, AMBASSADE DE FRANCE AU BURKINA FASO, FICHE BURKINA FASO, (French)http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/IMG/pdf/BURKINA_18-5-11__2_.pdf and in 2012 a vocational school opened. Primary school enrollment in 2007-2008 was 79.2% and secondary school enrollment was 20.3%.

Sports

The city has a few

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

clubs including ''l'Association des Jeunes Sportifs de Koudougou'' (AJSK), ''l'AS des Employés de Commerce de Koudougou'' (ASEC-K), ''le Bouloumpoukou FC'' (BPFC), ''le Bouloumpoukou Stade'' (BPS), ''l'Association des jeunes footballeurs'' (AJF), and ''le Jeunesse Club Boulkiemdé''. They all play at the Stade Balibiè.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Boulkiemdé Province