Religion's influence on Ouagadougou's urban landscape

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital, exhibits significant religious diversity, with 62.1% Muslims, 30.4% Catholics, and 6.9% Protestants, according to the 2019 General Census of Population and Housing. This diversity is further complicated by internal variations within Muslim and Protestant communities, driven by multiple doctrinal sensitivities. For instance, Protestant churches include the Federation of Evangelical Churches and Missions, the Council of Churches, Missions and Evangelical Ministries of Burkina, and the Conference of Charismatic Churches of the New Generation, alongside independent denominations like Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists. Similarly, Muslim faithful are largely organized under the Federation of Islamic Associations of Burkina, though some groups like the Ahmadiyya remain separate due to doctrinal differences. This fragmentation leads to a wide array of places of worship across the city. A 2018 study, part of the ANR "Insertion of Migrants through Religion in Burkina Faso" project, geolocated 1705 places of worship in Ouagadougou. The study, based on a doctoral thesis from Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, found that the distribution of these religious sites is influenced by historical factors and the social and cultural characteristics of neighborhoods. While sacred spaces are pervasive, their concentration varies; for example, Hamdallaye has a high concentration of mosques, and areas around the Cathedral are rich in Catholic references. Oua