Koudougou

The Grand marché (Main Market) of Koudougou

Coat of arms

Koudougou

Location within Burkina Faso, French West Africa

Coordinates: 12°15′N 2°22′W / 12.250°N 2.367°WCoordinates: 12°15′N 2°22′W / 12.250°N 2.367°W

Country

Elevation

282 m (925 ft)

Population (2012)

• Total

91,981

Time zone

GMT (UTC+0)

Area code(s)

+226 50

Website

Official website

Koudougou is a city in Burkina Faso's Boulkiemdé Province. It is located 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. With 131,825 inhabitants, as of 2006, it is the third largest city by population in Burkina Faso after Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso and is mainly inhabited by the Gurunsi and Mossi ethnic groups. Koudougou is situated on the only railway line in Burkina Faso and has some small industries, a market, a university and provincial government offices.

Situated on the Mossi Plateau, the city is 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Ouagadougou. In 1952 it was connected by rail to Ouagadougou and Abidjan. It is situated along the N13 road south of Sabou and north of Yako. The N21 road connects the city to Réo and the N14 connects it with Dédougou.

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

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). The city has small industries such as a soap, shea butter, cotton 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.

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Wikipedia