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Capitals of the world
Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso: facts and figures
Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso. It has about 2,500,000 residents, which makes it the 60th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 295 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Niamey, 413 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Burkina Faso |
| Continent | Africa |
| City population | 2,500,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 60th of 172 |
| Elevation | 295 m |
| Founded | 1050 |
| Time zone | Africa/Ouagadougou |
| Coordinates | 12.37° N, 1.52° W |
| Country population | 24,074,580 residents |
| Country GDP | 27.6 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $1,148 |
| Life expectancy | 61.3 years |
| Internet users | 28.3 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Ouagadougou averages 25.6 °C from December to February and 27.6 °C from June to August. January is the coldest month of the year and April the warmest, and the city receives 672 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 24.4 °C |
| February | 27.2 °C |
| March | 31.2 °C |
| April | 33.0 °C |
| May | 32.4 °C |
| June | 29.7 °C |
| July | 27.2 °C |
| August | 25.8 °C |
| September | 26.7 °C |
| October | 28.3 °C |
| November | 27.6 °C |
| December | 25.2 °C |
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Niamey is the closest capital to Ouagadougou.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Niamey | Niger | 413 km |
| Bamako | Mali | 704 km |
| Lomé | Togo | 756 km |
| Accra | Ghana | 767 km |
| Porto-Novo | Benin | 795 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Ouagadougou to a place and a number you already know: it is 413 km from Niamey, and it is the 60th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Burkina Faso compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso, in Africa, with about 2,500,000 residents, averaging 25.6 °C from December to February and 27.6 °C from June to August.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Burkina Faso?
Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso. It has about 2,500,000 residents and lies in Africa.
How many people live in Ouagadougou?
About 2,500,000, which ranks Ouagadougou 60th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Ouagadougou?
Ouagadougou averages 25.6 °C from December to February and 27.6 °C from June to August, with 672 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Ouagadougou?
GDP per capita in the country is $1,148, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Niamey, capital of Niger: facts and figures
Niamey is the capital of Niger: 1,300,000 residents, 195 m above sea level, 25.0 °C from December to February and 30.0 °C from June to August. Key figures and sources.
- Bamako, capital of Mali: facts and figures
Bamako is the capital of Mali: 2,800,000 residents, 328 m above sea level, 26.4 °C from December to February and 27.1 °C from June to August. Key figures and sources.
- Lomé, capital of Togo: facts and figures
Lomé is the capital of Togo: 1,800,000 residents, 8 m above sea level, 27.6 °C from December to February and 25.3 °C from June to August. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.