The Republic of Burkina Faso is a country located in western Africa, that has the unfortunate characteristic of being a landlocked nation, not entitled to access to the coast and the monetary rewards that spawn from it. Burkina Faso was formerly known as the Upper Volta, and was a territory under the greater French Empire from 1896 until it declared its independence in 1960. However, despite attaining its independence in 1960, the country’s name remained as Upper Volta until the popular majority decided to change its name to the Republic of Burkina Faso. The population of Burkina Faso is approximately 14,784,000 people – making it the 63rd most populous country in the world according to United Nations reports. Burkina Faso is also relatively similar ranked by geographic area, as with a total territorial area of 274,000 square kilometers, it is ranked as the 74th largest country by geographic area. The capital and largest city of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougou, vital to the national economy as it is the country’s economic and trade center. Other notable cities in Burkina Faso include Ouahigouya, Kaya, Bobo-Dioulasso, and Koudougou, though none of them are as influential as Ouagadougou.
The geographic terrain of Burkina Faso is quite simply, homogeneous, that is, there tends to be one form of terrain that’s present throughout the country rather than a variety of climates and landscapes. The 274,000 square kilometers that comprise the Republic of Burkina Faso, are largely made-up of the Sahara Desert. For the areas that aren’t part of the vast desert, the country tends to be composed of infertile plains. Contrary to the homogeneity of the landscape, there are over 50 known ethnic groups that live in Burkina Faso, making it rather heterogeneous. The primary ethnic groups evident in the country are the Mossi, Bobo, Gurunsi, Lobi, Senufo, Fulani, and the Mande. Since there is such a diverse ethnic make-up in Burkina Faso, as well as because of their French colonial ties, the national and official language that is universally spoken, is French. The religious diversity is much less though, however, as 40 percent of the population follows traditional tribal beliefs, 50 percent of people practice Islam, and the remaining tend to be of Christian belief. Though Burkina Faso does have a large urban area (Ouagadougou), most of the country’s population resides in rural villages, since most of them are employed in the agricultural sector of the economy.
Burkina Faso, unfortunately, is among the poorest countries in the world, even by African continent standards. The country has the 162nd lowest GDP per-capita in the world, speculated to be approximately $1,400 per year, per person. Though most African countries by international standards are overwhelmed with poverty, many of the countries have access to the sea which gives them a relative advantage over the landlocked African countries. Most of the nation’s labor force works in subsistence farming, and few products are exported to other countries. The chief products of Burkina Faso include cotton, nuts, sesame, millet, rice, corn, livestock, and sorghum. The minority mining that’s present in Burkina Faso specifically mines manganese, gold, and phosphate minerals.
The national government of Burkina Faso drafted a written constitution in 1991 that specifies the laws and conditions in which the government should be operated. Burkina Faso is a parliamentary republic that has an executive branch ran by the president, who’s elected by the popular vote of the people to serve five-year terms, with a possibility for one re-election. The president’s responsibility is to appoint the prime minister to head the national assembly. The national legislative assembly has 111 representatives who are elected by popular vote to serve in office for five-year terms. The current President of Burkina Faso, since 1987, is President Blaise Compaore. The Prime Minister of Burkina Faso is Ernest Paramanga Yonli, who was appointed by President Compaore in 2000.
