What is Ouagadougou known for?

Ouagadougou, also spelled Wagadugu, capital and largest town of Burkina Faso, western Africa. Ouagadougou is a city of large trees and modern public buildings abutting traditional residential neighbourhoods. It has a market, a crafts centre, the national museum, and the University of Ouagadougou (1969).

Why was the Mossi kingdom so powerful?

Why Was the Kingdom So Powerful? The Mossi Kingdoms were dominant as they consisted of five great kingdoms, including Ouagadougou, Tenkodogo, Fada N’gourma, and Zondoma and Boussouma. Each individual kingdom had domestic power and independence but shared family, military, and rituals with each other.

What is special about Burkina Faso?

Burkina Faso, which means “land of honest men”, has significant reserves of gold, but the country has faced domestic and external concern over the state of its economy and human rights. A former French colony, it gained independence as Upper Volta in 1960.

When did Ouagadougou become the capital of the Mossi empire?

The city became the capital of the Mossi Empire in 1441 and became the permanent residence of the Mossi emperors (Moro-Naba) in 1681. The Moro-Naba Ceremony is still performed every Friday by the Moro-Naba and his court.

What was the name of the Mossi empire?

Mossi states, complex of independent West African kingdoms (fl. c. 1500–1895) around the headwaters of the Volta River (within the modern republics of Burkina Faso [Upper Volta] and Ghana) including in the south Mamprusi, Dagomba, and Nanumba, and in the north Tenkodogo, Wagadugu (Ouagadougou), Yatenga, and Fada-n-Gurma (Fada Ngourma).

When did Ouagadougou become the capital of Burkina Faso?

An administrative centre of colonial rule, it became an important urban centre in the post-colonial era. First the capital of the Mossi Kingdoms and later of Upper Volta and Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou became a veritable communal centre in 1995.

How did the Mossi kingdom affect the Songhai Empire?

Increasing power of the Mossi kingdoms resulted in larger conflicts with regional powers. The Kingdom of Yatenga became a key power attacking the Songhai Empire between 1328 and 1477 taking over Timbuktu and sacked the important trading post of Macina.