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The city is roughly in the centre of the country (12.4° N 1.5° W). The city has only limited industry, mainly in food processing and textiles. There is a international airport, a rail link to Abidjan in the Côte d'Ivoire, and road links with Niamey, Niger. The University of Ouagadougou , founded in 1974 (or 1969), was the country's first institution of higher education. The city has few modern buildings, excepting the headquarters of the West African Central Bank , and the old Central Mosque remains one of the tallest and most significant buildings. The city hosts the annual FESPACO African film festival and is the site of one of the largest markets in West Africa. Other significant structures include the Moro-Naba Palace .
Ouagadougou was a state founded in the 11th century, the central settlement was called Kombemtinga , it became capital of the Mossi empire in 1441. The state grouped with three others into French colony of Upper VoltaUpper Volta (French Haute-Volta was the name of the African country now called Burkina Faso until August 4, 1984. The old name indicates that the country contains the upper part of the river Volta. The river is divided into three parts, called the Black V (Haute Volta) in 1919Events January January 1 Edsel Ford succeeds his father as head of the Ford Motor Company January 5 Spartacist uprising Socialist demonstrations in Berlin turn into attempted communist revolution with Spartacist League in the forefront January 9 Spartacus with Komemtinga, renamed Ouagadougou, as the capital following on the French capture of the area in 1896Events January 4 Utah is admitted as the 45th U. January 5 An Austrian newspaper reports that Wilhelm Rontgen discovered a type of radiation later known as X-rays. January 12 H. Smith takes the first X-ray photograph. January 18 The X-ray machine is exhib. Ouagadougou became the capital city of the independent Republic of Upper Volta in 1960Events January-February January 1 Independence of Cameroon January 9 Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt January 11 Chad declares its independence. January 14 Ralph Chubb, the gay poet and printer, dies at Fair Oak Cottage in Hampshire. January 23, renamed Burkina Faso in 1984This page is about the year 1984. For other uses of 1984, see 1984 (disambiguation). 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday (link shows calendar). Events January January 1 Brunei becomes a fully independent state January 1 AT&T is broken up into 22 indepe.