Burkina Faso (formerly Upper
Volta) achieved independence from France in 1960. Repeated military coups
during the 1970s and 1980s were followed by multiparty elections in the
early 1990s. Current President Blaise COMPAORE came to power in a 1987
military coup and has won every election since then. Burkina Faso's high
population density and limited natural resources result in poor economic
prospects for the majority of its citizens. Recent unrest in Cote d'Ivoire
and northern Ghana has hindered the ability of several hundred thousand
seasonal Burkinabe farm workers to find employment in neighboring
countries.
Geography
Burkina Faso
Location:
Western Africa, north of Ghana
Geographic coordinates:
13 00 N, 2 00 W
Map references:
Africa
Area:
total: 274,200 sq km
land: 273,800 sq km water: 400 sq km
Area - comparative:
slightly larger than Colorado
Land boundaries:
total: 3,193 km
border countries: Benin 306 km, Cote d'Ivoire 584 km, Ghana 549
km, Mali 1,000 km, Niger 628 km, Togo 126 km
Coastline:
0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims:
none (landlocked)
Climate:
tropical; warm, dry winters;
hot, wet summers
Terrain:
mostly flat to dissected,
undulating plains; hills in west and southeast
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Mouhoun
(Black Volta) River 200 m highest point: Tena Kourou 749 m
Natural resources:
manganese, limestone, marble;
small deposits of gold, phosphates, pumice, salt
total: 0.8 cu km/yr
(13%/1%/86%) per capita: 60 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
recurring droughts
Environment - current issues:
recent droughts and
desertification severely affecting agricultural activities, population
distribution, and the economy; overgrazing; soil degradation;
deforestation
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone
Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of
the selected agreements
Geography - note:
landlocked savanna cut by the
three principal rivers of the Black, Red, and White Voltas
People
Burkina Faso
Population:
15,264,735 note:
estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of
excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy,
higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth
rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than
would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)
total: 16.7 years
male: 16.5 years female: 16.9 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.109% (2008 est.)
Birth rate:
44.68 births/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Death rate:
13.59 deaths/1,000 population
(2008 est.)
Net migration rate:
NA
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03
male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64
years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67
male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2008
est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 86.02
deaths/1,000 live births male: 93.68 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 78.12 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 52.55
years male: 50.67 years female: 54.49 years (2008
est.)
Total fertility rate:
6.34 children born/woman (2008
est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
4.2% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
300,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
29,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: very
high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal
diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease:
malaria water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis note:
highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this
country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible
among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)
Nationality:
noun: Burkinabe
(singular and plural) adjective: Burkinabe
Ethnic groups:
Mossi over 40%, other
approximately 60% (includes Gurunsi, Senufo, Lobi, Bobo, Mande, and
Fulani)
Religions:
Muslim 50%, indigenous beliefs
40%, Christian (mainly Roman Catholic) 10%
Languages:
French (official), native
African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the
population
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and
over can read and write total population: 21.8%
male: 29.4% female: 15.2% (2003 est.)
Government
Burkina Faso
Country name:
conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Burkina Faso local long
form: none local short form: Burkina Faso
former: Upper Volta, Republic of Upper Volta
Government type:
parliamentary republic
Capital:
name: Ouagadougou
geographic coordinates: 12 22 N, 1 31 W time
difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard
Time)
2 June 1991 approved by
referendum, 11 June 1991 formally adopted; last amended January 2002
Legal system:
based on French civil law
system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
universal
Executive branch:
chief of state:
President Blaise COMPAORE (since 15 October 1987) head of
government: Prime Minister Tertius ZONGO (since 4 June 2007)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister elections: president
elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term);
election last held 13 November 2005 (next to be held in 2010); in April
2000, the constitution was amended reducing the presidential term from
seven to five years, enforceable as of 2005; prime minister appointed by
the president with the consent of the legislature election
results: Blaise COMPAORE reelected president; percent of popular vote
- Blaise COMPAORE 80.3%, Benewende Stanislas SANKARA 4.9%
Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly or
Assemblee Nationale (111 seats; members are elected by popular vote to
serve five-year terms) elections: National Assembly election
last held 6 May 2007 (next to be held in May 2012) election
results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CDP 73,
ADF-RDA 14, UPR 5, UNIR-MS 4, CFD-B 3, UPS 2, PDP-PS 2, RDB 2, PDS 2,
PAREN 1, PAI 1, RPC 1, UDPS 1
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; Appeals Court
Political parties and leaders:
African Democratic
Rally-Alliance for Democracy and Federation or ADF-RDA [Gilbert
OUEDRAOGO]; Citizen's Popular Rally or RPC [Antoine QUARE]; Coalition of
Democratic Forces of Burkina or CFD-B [Amadou Diemdioda DICKO]; Congress
for Democracy and Progress or CDP [Roch Marc-Christian KABORE]; Movement
for Tolerance and Progress or MTP [Nayabtigungou Congo KABORE]; Party for
African Independence or PAI [Philippe OUEDRAOGO]; Party for Democracy and
Progress/Socialist Party or PDP/PS [Ali LANKOANDE]; Party for Democracy
and Socialism or PDS [Felix SOUBEIGA]; Party for National Rebirth or PAREN
[Oumar DJIGUIMDE]; Rally for the Development of Burkina or RDB [Antoine
KARGOUGOU]; Rally of Ecologists of Burkina Faso or RDEB [Ram OUEDRAGO];
Republican Party for Integration and Solidarity or PARIS [Cyril
GOUNGOUNGA]; Union for Democracy and Social Progress or UDPS [Fidele
HIEN]; Union for Rebirth - Sankarist Movement or UNIR-MS [Benewende
STANISLAS]; Union for the Republic or UPR [Toussaint Abel COULIBALY];
Union of Sankarist Parties or UPS [Ernest Nongma OUEDRAOGO]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
Burkinabe General Confederation
of Labor or CGTB [Tole SAGNON]; Burkinabe Movement for Human Rights or
MBDHP [Chrysigone ZOUGMORE]; Group of 14 February [Benewende STANISLAS];
National Confederation of Burkinabe Workers or CNTB [Laurent OUEDRAOGO];
National Organization of Free Unions or ONSL [Paul KABORE];
watchdog/political action groups throughout the country in both
organizations and communities
chief of mission:
Ambassador Paramanga Ernest YONLI chancery: 2340 Massachusetts
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-5577
FAX: [1] (202) 667-1882
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission:
Ambassador Jeanine E. JACKSON embassy: 602 Avenue Raoul
Follereau, Koulouba, Secteur 4 mailing address: 01 B. P. 35,
Ouagadougou 01; pouch mail - US Department of State, 2440 Ouagadougou
Place, Washington, DC 20521-2440 telephone: [226] 50-30-67-23
FAX: [226] 50-30-38-90, 50-31-23-68
Flag description:
two equal horizontal bands of
red (top) and green with a yellow five-pointed star in the center
note: uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
Economy
Burkina Faso
Economy - overview:
One of the poorest countries in
the world, landlocked Burkina Faso has few natural resources and a weak
industrial base. About 90% of the population is engaged in subsistence
agriculture, which is vulnerable to periodic drought. Cotton is the main
cash crop and the government has joined with three other cotton producing
countries in the region - Mali, Niger, and Chad - to lobby in the World
Trade Organization for fewer subsidies to producers in other competing
countries. Since 1998, Burkina Faso has embarked upon a gradual but
successful privatization of state-owned enterprises. Having revised its
investment code in 2004, Burkina Faso hopes to attract foreign investors.
Thanks to this new code and other legislation favoring the mining sector,
the country has seen an upswing in gold exploration and production. While
the bitter internal crisis in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire is beginning to be
resolved, it is still having a negative effect on Burkina Faso's trade and
employment. In 2007 higher costs for energy and imported foodstuffs, as
well as low cotton prices, dampened a GDP growth rate that had averaged 6%
in the last 10 years. Burkina Faso received a Millennium Challenge Account
threshold grant to improve girls' education at the primary school level,
and appears likely to receive a grant in the areas of infrastructure,
agriculture, and land reform.
Cote d'Ivoire 25.9%, France
22.8%, Togo 7.2% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient:
$659.6 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$897 million (31 December 2007
est.)
Debt - external:
$1.33 billion (2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
Currency (code):
Communaute Financiere Africaine
franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West
African States
Currency code:
XOF
Exchange rates:
Communaute Financiere Africaine
francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005),
528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003) note: since 1 January 1999, the XOF
franc has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications
Burkina Faso
Telephones - main lines in use:
94,800 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
1.017 million (2006)
Telephone system:
general assessment:
services only fair; in 2006 the government sold a 51 percent stake in the
national telephone company and ultimately plans to retain only a 23
percent stake in the company; fixed-line connections stand at less than 1
per 100 persons; mobile-cellular usage, fostered by multiple providers, is
increasing rapidly from a low base domestic: microwave radio
relay, open-wire, and radiotelephone communication stations
international: country code - 226; satellite earth station - 1
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2007)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 2, FM 26, shortwave 3
Radios:
394,020 (2000)
Television broadcast stations:
3 (1 national, 2 private)
Televisions:
131,340 (2002)
Internet country code:
.bf
Internet hosts:
193 (2007)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
1 (2002)
Internet users:
80,000 (2006)
Transportation
Burkina Faso
Airports:
33 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 2 over
3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 31 1,524
to 2,437 m: 3 914 to 1,523 m: 11 under 914 m: 17
(2007)
Railways:
total: 622 km
narrow gauge: 622 km 1.000-m gauge note: another 660
km of this railway extends into Cote D'Ivoire (2006)
Roadways:
total: 15,272 km
paved: 4,766 km unpaved: 10,506 km (2004)
Military
Burkina Faso
Military branches:
Army, Air Force of Burkina Faso
(Force Aerienne de Burkina Faso, FABF), National Gendarmerie (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory
military service; 20 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49:
3,364,288 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49:
2,115,948 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.2% (2006)
Transnational Issues
Burkina Faso
Disputes - international:
two villages remain in dispute
along the border with Benin; Benin accuses Burkina Faso of moving boundary
pillars; in recent years citizens and rogue security forces rob and harass
local populations on both sides of the poorly-defined Burkina Faso-Niger
border; despite the presence of over 9,000 UN forces (UNOCI) in Cote
d'Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict continues to spread into neighboring
states who can no longer send their migrant workers to work in Ivorian
cocoa plantations
