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 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 Burkinabè, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
Transport in Burkina Faso consists primarily of road, air and rail transportation. The World Bank classified country's transportation as underdeveloped but noted that Burkina Faso is a natural geographic transportation hub for West Africa.
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu is the capital of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais. The spelling of the name Ouagadougou is derived from the French orthography common in former French African colonies.
Bobo-Dioulasso is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 1,129,000 ; it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo-Dioula".
Ouagadougou Airport, officially Thomas Sankara International Airport Ouagadougou, is an international airport in the center of the capital city of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. It was built in the 1960s, and it is approximately 1.5 kilometres (1 mi) southeast of the main commercial area. The site itself is approximately 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) in length, 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) in width at its narrowest point, and covers an area of approximately 4.26 km2. Its runway is 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) long. When the airport was built it was on the southern boundary of the city. Ouagadougou has since experienced rapid urbanization and the airport is now surrounded by urban development.
Koudougou is a city in Burkina Faso's Boulkiemdé Province. It is located 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. With a population of 160,239 (2019), it is the third most populous city in Burkina Faso after Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso, and is mainly inhabited by the Gurunsi and Mossi ethnic groups. Koudougou is situated on the only railway line in Burkina Faso and has some small industries, a market, a university and provincial government offices.
Banfora is a city in southwestern 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.
Centre is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. The population of Centre Province was 1,727,390 at the 2006 census and increased by 75.6% in 13 years to 3,030,384 at the 2019 census, of which 50.8% was female. It is the most populous and urbanised region in Burkina Faso; in 2019 14.8% of Burkina Faso's population lived in Centre. The region's capital is Ouagadougou, which also serves as the national capital. Centre region consists of only one province, Kadiogo.
Centre-Ouest is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. The population of Centre-Ouest was 1,659,339 in 2019. The region's capital is Koudougou. Four provinces make up the region.
Boromo is a town in the Boromo Department of Balé Province in Burkina Faso. It is the capital of both the department and the province, and it has a population of 20,193 (2019).
Tenkodogo is the capital city of Boulgou Province and the Centre-Est Region of Burkina Faso with a population of 61,936 (2019). Tenkodogo is also the capital of the Tenkodogo Mossi Kingdom and considered to be root of all other Mossi Kingdoms, having been found circa 1100. The literal translation of Tenkodogo is ancient-land.
Kongoussi is a city located in Bam Province in central Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest countries. It has a population of 53,627 (2019) and is the provincial capital. Mooré, the language of the Mossi people, is spoken along with French, common among those who have attended school or spent time further afield.
Niangoloko is a town and seat of the Niangoloko Department in southwestern Burkina Faso. It is located near the city of Banfora and the border with Côte d'Ivoire. The town has a population of 33,292.
Tambao is a Manganese deposit and potential mine site in the Oudalan Province, located in the Sahel Region, which the far northeastern part of Burkina Faso. Tambao has been estimated, when exploited, to be one of the largest deposits in the region. Its development, a major priority of the Burkinabe state, has been an on and off project since the 1990s. Barely served by roads or other infrastructure, the Tambao reserves are some 210 kilometres (130 mi) north of Kaya and 350 kilometres (220 mi) northeast of the capital, namely Ouagadougou. The Tambao Airport has been recently built to serve the deposit and the corresponding villages.
There are 622 kilometres of 1,000 mmmetre gauge railway in Burkina Faso, which run from Kaya to the border with Côte d'Ivoire and is part of the Abidjan-Ouagadougou railway. As of June 2014, 'Sitarail' operates a passenger train three times a week along the route from Ouagadougou to Abidjan. Journey time is 43 to 48 hours.
Ivory Coast has 660 kilometres of railway. The track gauge is 1,000 mm.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Korsimoro is a town and the capital of the Korsimoro Department, in the Sanmatenga Province of central Burkina Faso. It is situated at 70 km NNE of Ouagadougou on the main road to Kaya. It had a population of 18,875 (2019).
The Abidjan-Niger Railway is a 1,260-kilometre (780-mile) single-track metre gauge line in francophone West Africa that links Abidjan, the economic capital of Ivory Coast to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The railway, like others on the continent, was constructed by the colonial power to encourage economic development in the region, although detractors would claim that it was to exploit the region solely for their own advantage.
