Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,878 sq mi), bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. As of 2021, the country had an estimated population of 23,674,480. Previously called Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
Burkina Faso has good relations with the European Union, African and certain Asian countries. France, the former colonial power, in particular, continues to provide significant aid and supports Compaoré's developing role as a regional powerbroker.
Maurice Nawalagmba Yaméogo was the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, now called Burkina Faso, from 1960 until 1966.
Youssouf Ouédraogo was a Burkinabé politician. In 1992 he became the first Prime Minister of Burkina Faso since 1983, serving from 16 June 1992 to 22 March 1994. Ouédraogo, a member of the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), later served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from January 1999 to June 2007.
The Congress for Democracy and Progress was the ruling party in Burkina Faso from 1996 until the overthrow of Blaise Compaoré in 2014.
The Federation of Green Parties of Africa is an umbrella body of the various national Green parties and environmental parties in Africa. The formal coalition, the African Greens Federation (AGF) formed in 2010 at a conference in Kampala, Uganda. As part of the Global Greens, founded in 2001 in Canberra, Australia, the parties included in the Federation of Green Parties of Africa follow the Global Greens Charter. The organization's permanent administration is in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, where the predominant green organization is the Rassemblement Des Ecologistes du Burkina Faso. These parties tend to, but not always, be left-leaning and often do not have widespread support in their respective countries.
The unicameral National Assembly is the legislative body of Burkina Faso. In 1995, it became the lower house of a bicameral parliament, but the upper house was abolished in 2002. The upper house was to have been restored under the name "Senate" in the June 2012 constitutional amendments. This revision was never executed due to an extended and unresolved political confrontation over the Senate's establishment, which left the country effectively with a unicameral legislature as of the October 2014 constitutional crisis.
The Chamber of Representatives is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered to be the "lower house" of the Federal Parliament.
Gilbert Noël Ouédraogo is a Burkinabé politician who has been President of the Alliance for Democracy and Federation–African Democratic Rally (ADF-RDA), a political party in Burkina Faso, since 2003. He served in the government of Burkina Faso as Minister of Social Action and National Solidarity from 2000 to 2002 and as Minister of Transport from 2006 to 2013. He was the Fourth Vice-President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso from 2013 to 2014.
Gérard Kango Ouédraogo was a Burkinabé statesman and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Upper Volta from 13 February 1971 to 8 February 1974. He was subsequently President of the National Assembly of Upper Volta from October 1978 to November 25, 1980.
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of Haiti's bicameral legislature, the Haitian Parliament. The upper house of the Haitian Parliament is the Senate of Haiti. The Chamber has 119 members who are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. There are no term limits for Deputies; they may be re-elected indefinitely.
André Salifou was a Nigerien politician, diplomat, and professor. He was president of the High Council of the Republic during the 1991–93 transitional period, briefly served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1996, and was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 1999.
The Constitution of Burkina Faso was approved by referendum on 2 June 1991, formally adopted 11 June 1991 and last amended in January 2002. The last amendment abolished the upper chamber of the parliament, the Chamber of Representatives.
Football is the most popular sport in Burkina Faso. And the national association can look back on recent developments with a great deal of pride. Reaching the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations on home soil in 1998, reaching the knockout stage for their first FIFA World Youth Championship in 2003, and appearances at two final competitions of the CAF U-17 Cup, as well as third place at the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Trinidad and Tobago in 2001 are the country's outstanding achievements at international level. The nations most famous players include Kassoum Ouegraogo, nicknamed Zico, who had his most successful seasons with Espérance de Tunis before ending his career in Germany, Siaka Ouattara, who spent his entire career with Mulhouse in France, and Moumouni Dagano, who was voted best African player in Belgium in 2001, when he played for the Belgian side Genk. He later went on to play for the French side Guingamp before transferring to another French team, FC Sochaux in 2005. Burkina Faso received an unexpected free pass into the group stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification process, when their opening round contestant, the Central African Republic, withdrew from the competition. This gave the West Africans, who were at that stage ranked 14th on the continent, the certainty that their name would be in the hat when the Preliminary Draw for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany was made. They got off to a flying start, beating Ghana 1-0 in their opening match and laying down a marker for their Group 2 adversaries South Africa, Cape Verde Islands, Congo DR and Uganda. The victory train began to come off the rails with two defeats to Cape Verde, and with a record of two wins and three losses, Burkina Faso were up against it at the half-way stage. Frenchman Bernard Simondi took over the coaching reins from Ivica Todorov and made the team harder to beat at home, even recording wins over South Africa and Congo DR, but in the end it was not quite enough, and the likes of Abdoulaye Cisse, Moumouni Dagano, and Wilfred Sanou went no further in the competition.
Salif Diallo was a Burkinabé politician who was President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso from 2015 to 2017. He was a key associate of President Blaise Compaoré from the 1980s to the 2000s, serving in various posts during that period, including as Director of the Cabinet of the President from 1987 to 1989, Minister of Environment and Water from 1995 to 1999, and Minister of Agriculture from 2000 to 2008. He was appointed as Burkina Faso's Ambassador to Austria later in 2008. He also served as Vice-President of the Congress for Democracy and Progress, the ruling party.
Alain Bédouma Yoda is a Burkinabé politician. He served in the government of Burkina Faso as Minister of Transport and Tourism from 1997 to 2000, Minister of Trade from 2000 to 2002, Minister of Health from 2002 to 2008, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation from 2008 to 2011. He was President of the Parliamentary Group of the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) from 2013 to 2014.
Bognessan Arsène Yé was a Burkinabé politician who was President of the Assembly of People's Deputies of Burkina Faso from 1992 to 1997, President of the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) from 1996 to 1999, and a Minister of State from 1997 to 2000. He was appointed Minister of State for Relations with Parliament and Political Reform in April 2011.
Chafik Rachadi is a Moroccan politician.
