Country Guide • Burkina Faso

Flag of Burkina

Burkina Faso, formerly known as Upper Volta, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Burkina Faso has West Africa's largest elephant population. Game preserves also are home to lions, hippos, monkeys, warthogs, and antelope. Infrastructure and tourism are, however, not well developed.

Official NameBurkina Faso
Area274,200km² (105,869mile²)
Population13,228,400
ContinentAfrica
Population per mile²125
Capital CityOuagadougou
ReligionsLocal native tribal beliefs 45%, Muslims 43% and Christians mainly Roman Catholics 12%
LanguageFrench, tribal languages are also spoken
GovernmentRepublic
Member of EUN/A
CurrencyCfa Franc (Communaute Financiere Africaine-Cfaf)
GDP$12.8 billion
GDP per Head$1,040
Natural ResourcesAntimony, bauxite, copper, manganese, limestone, marble; small deposits of gold, nickel, lead, phosphates, silver and zinc
Land UseArable Land 13%
AgricultureCotton, nuts including peanuts and shea nuts, sesame seeds, sorghum, millet, corn, rice and livestock
IndustryBrewing and Bottling, Food Processing, Mining, Textiles, Tyre Manufacture
TourismThe capital, Ouagadougou, has an interesting Ethnography Museum containing a substantial collection of Mossi artefacts, the town being the centre of one of the many ancient Mossi kingdoms. The Moro-Naba ceremony, with traditional costumes and drums, takes place outside the Moro-Naba Palace early every morning. Bobo Dioulasso is the largest town inhabited by the Bobo people in Burkina Faso, with attractive streets and a bustling market, the Grand Marché. There are some restaurants in Ouagadougou and in Bobo
Natural Hazards 
Health RisksMalaria. Yellow fever vaccinations are required and proof of a meningitis shot is also useful
ClimateBurkina has a tropical climate which is hot all year round and has two alternating seasons, (1.) a dry season between November and May and a (2.) wet season between June and October with violent storms in August. A dry dust laden wind called the Harmattan blows from the Sahara Desert in the northeast between March to May. Average annual precipitation in Ouagadougou is 894 mm (35 inches) and the average temperature ranges are from 16 to 33°C (61 to 91°F) in January to 26 to 39°C (79 to 102°F) in April
TimeGMT/UTC hours - No UTC/GMT offset
National DaysJanuary 1 - New Year's Day
January 3 - Anniversary of the 1966 coup d’état
March 8 - Women’s Day
May 1 - Labor Day
August 4 - Revolution Day[citation needed]
August 5 - Independence Day
August 15 - Assumption
October 15 - Anniversary of the 1987 coup d’état
November 1 - All Saints Day
December 11 - Proclamation of the Republic - Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community
December 25 - Christmas
VisasVisas are required for everybody except citizens of the Economic Community of West African States (ECWAS)
British EmbassyEmbassy Details

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