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Bobo-Dioulasso
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Bobo-Dioulasso is a city of about 435,543 (as of 2006)[1], the second biggest city in Burkina Faso after Ouagadougou, the nation's capital. The name means literally, "home of the Jula-speaking Bobo," which is the dominant ethnic group in the region of the city. The city is situated in the southwest of the country, in the Houet Province, some 350 km (220 mi) from Ouagadougou. It is significant both economically (agricultural trade, textile industry) and culturally (Bobo is the center of culture and music of Burkina Faso).
Jula, a trade language, is the lingua franca of Bobo and surrounding region of western Burkina Faso. It is a derivative of Bamana, a dominant language of neighboring Mali. Bobo-Dioulasso is ethnically and linguistically very diverse, due to its position as an ancient crossroads of several trans-Saharan trade routes, so most Jula speakers in the region are not actually Jula themselves.
Lying on the Houët River, Bobo was founded as Sya in the fifteenth century. The city was occupied by the French in 1897, after which it grew around the Abidjan–Ouagadougou railway.
The city features the Bobo-Dioulasso Old Mosque (built in 1880), the fifteenth century Konsa house, and a sacred fish pond. There is also a museum, a zoo, and a pottery market.