Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of 274,200 km2 (105,900 sq mi), bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and the Ivory Coast to the southwest. As of 2021, the country had an estimated population of 20,321,378. Previously called Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabès, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
The history of Burkina Faso includes the history of various kingdoms within the country, such as the Mossi kingdoms, as well as the later French colonisation of the territory and its independence as the Republic of Upper Volta in 1960.
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara was a Burkinabé military officer, Marxist revolutionary and Pan-Africanist who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his assassination in 1987. Viewed by supporters as a charismatic and iconic figure of revolution.
The music of Burkina Faso includes the folk music of 60 different ethnic groups. The Mossi people, centrally located around the capital, Ouagadougou, account for 40% of the population while, to the south, Gurunsi, Gurma, Dagaaba and Lobi populations, speaking Gur languages closely related to the Mossi language, extend into the coastal states. In the north and east the Fulani of the Sahel preponderate, while in the south and west the Mande languages are common; Samo, Bissa, Bobo, Senufo and Marka. Burkinabé traditional music has continued to thrive and musical output remains quite diverse. Popular music is mostly in French: Burkina Faso has yet to produce a major pan-African success.
Banfora is a city in south western Burkina Faso, with a population of 117,452 making it the sixth most populous city in Burkina Faso. It is the capital of the Comoe province. The city lies 85 kilometres (53 mi) south-west of Bobo-Dioulasso, on the Abidjan – Ouagadougou Railway. The Cascades de Karfiguéla are a series of waterfalls close to Banfora.
The unicameral National Assembly is Burkina Faso's legislative body. 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.
Gouin or Goüin may refer to:
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Burkina Faso:
Burkina Faso is a religiously diverse society, with Islam being the dominant religion. According to the latest 2019 census, 63.8% of the population adheres to Islam. Around 26.3% of the population practices Christianity, 9.0% follow Animism/Folk Religion, and that 0.9% are unaffiliated or follow other faiths.
Sidéradougou is a department or commune of Comoé Province in southern Burkina Faso. Its capital is the town of Sidéradougou. According to the 2019 census the department has a total population of 137,675.
Gouin-Gouin is a town in the Sidéradougou Department of Comoé Province in south-western Burkina Faso. The town has a population of 1,460.
A landlocked sub-Saharan country, Burkina Faso is among the poorest countries in the world—44 percent of its population lives below the international poverty line of US$1.90 per day —and it ranks 185th out of 188 countries on UNDP's 2016 Human Development Index .Rapid population growth, gender inequality, and low levels of educational attainment contribute to food insecurity and poverty in Burkina Faso. The total population is just over 20 million with the estimated population growth rate is 3.1 percent per year and seven out of 10 Burkinabe are younger than 30. Total health care expenditures were an estimated 5% of GDP. Total expenditure on health per capita is 82 in 2014.
Cerma (Kirma) is a Gur language of Burkina Faso. It is spoken by the Gouin people.
The Sanmatenga attacks occurred on 8 September 2019 in the Sanmatenga Province, Burkina Faso. In the Barsalogho Department a vehicle transporting people and goods, that was returning from a market, drove over an improvised explosive device (IED). 15 passengers were killed and six were injured in the IED attack. Most of the victims were traders. Meanwhile, around 50 km to the east, a convoy with vans carrying provisions for people displaced by fighting was attacked by gunmen. In this attack, 14 people were killed. It is unknown who carried out this attacks.
The Burkina Faso mosque attack occurred on the evening of Friday, 11 October 2019 in a mosque in Oudalan Province, Burkina Faso which left 16 people dead and two injured. It happened while the residents were praying inside the Grand Mosque in Salmossi, a village close to the border with Mali. AFP reported that 13 people died on the spot while 3 died later due to the injuries.
The Dolmané gold mine attack occurred on 4 October 2019 near Madouji, Arbinda Department, Soum Province, Burkina Faso. The Dolmané gold mining site was attacked by suspected Islamic terrorists. The attack took place not far from where a bridge linking two northern towns was blown up in mid-September. At least 20 persons, mostly people that worked in the gold mine, were killed and an unknown number of people were injured. Both Islamic State and al-Qaeda have affiliated groups in the region. It is unknown which of the two was responsible for this attack.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Burkina Faso is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Burkina Faso on 9 March 2020. The death of Rose Marie Compaoré, a member of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, on 18 March marked the first recorded fatality due to COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa.
An ongoing war and civil conflict between the Government of Burkina Faso and Islamist rebels began in August 2015 and has led to the displacement of 1.9 million people and the deaths of at least 2,000 civilians and combatants.
Islamist insurgency in the Sahel or Jihadist Insurgencies in the Sahel refers to the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel region of West Africa following the 2011 Arab Spring to the present day. In particular, the intensive conflict in the three countries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been referred to as the Sahel War.
The siege of Djibo is an ongoing blockade of the city of Djibo in Burkina Faso by several factions of Jihadist Islamist rebels. The siege began in February 2022, and is part of the Jihadist insurgency in Burkina Faso.
Diamitani, B. T. (2008). Observing Komo among Tagwa People in Burkina Faso: A Burkinabe Art Historian’s Views. African Arts, 41(3), 14–25. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20447897
