17 new temples announced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced 17 new temple locations Sunday, with sites planned from Utah to Africa.

The big picture: Church President Russell M. Nelson has made temple-building a hallmark of his time in leadership, more than doubling the 182 temples that were built or in planning when he assumed the church's highest office in 2018.

• Temples house important ceremonies, and the announcement of a new one typically generates excitement among members and publicity for the church in the cities where they're built.

The intrigue: The flurry of massive builds has led to contentious zoning disputes in multiple states as the church invokes religious freedom protections to exceed normal size limits in residential and rural neighborhoods.

By the numbers: The biggest share of the new temples announced during the weekend's General Conference are planned for sites in the United States, with three in the Mountain West:

• Price, Utah
• Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
• Queen Creek, Arizona
• El Paso, Texas
• Huntsville, Alabama
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Summit, New Jersey

Zoom in: Five are planned for Latin American countries, consistent with the faith's growth among Latino believers . Those locations are:

• Juchitán de Zaragoza, Mexico
• Santa Ana, El Salvador
• Medellín, Colombia
• Santiago, Dominican Republic
• Puerto Montt, Chile

Zoom out: Three were announced for Africa: Maputo, Mozambique; Abuja, Nigeria and Kampala, Uganda

• In Europe, where growth is relatively slow among most Christian churches, temples were announced for Dublin, Ireland and Milan, Italy.