![]() Its tributaries are seasonal streams, flowing for four to six months a year, but can cause floods. The basin of the Niger River also drains 27 percent of the country's surface. ![]() The Mouhoun, along with the Comoé that flows to the southwest, is the country's only river to flow year-round. The country owed its former name of Upper Volta to three rivers that cross it: the Mouhoun (formerly called the Black Volta), the Nakambé (the White Volta), and the Nazinon (the Red Volta). Burkina Faso is therefore a relatively flat country, with a very few localized exceptions. The difference between the highest and lowest terrain is no greater than 2,000 ft (600 m). The southwest forms a sandstone massif, where the highest peak is found: Ténakourou, 2,450 ft (749 m). Most of the country is a gently undulating landscape with a few isolated hills. The land is green in the south, with forests and fruit trees, and desert in the north. It lies between the Sahara Desert and the Gulf of Guinea, south of the loop of the Niger River. Despite the greater political stability, Burkina Faso is still troubled by intermittent droughts, tropical diseases and HIV/AIDS, low worldwide prices for cotton (one of its major cash exports), poverty, illiteracy, and uneven population density (very high in the capital while huge areas are deserted).īurkina Faso is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest. Governmental instability during the 1970s and 1980s was followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s, though one party still dominates the politics of the nation. Formerly Haute-Volta it was a colony of French West Africa, before becoming the Republic of Upper Volta, it was renamed in 1984 by then President Thomas Sankara using native words meaning "the land of upright and honest people." The inhabitants are known as Burkinabé. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest. “living better” than others.īurkina’s indigenous paradigm is now increasingly endangered as youth migrate increasingly toward cities for employment, rejecting the cultural traditions of their parents and ancestors.Unitary provisional government under a military juntaīurkina Faso is a landlocked nation in West Africa. Such traditions include a wealth of knowledge about the indigenous ecological landscape including the local plants, herbs and trees used in a wide array of traditional healing.īurkina’s traditional beliefs and practices also encourage a balance with nature, and the notion that communities are all inter-dependent (rather than independent of one another), emphasizing the need to cooperate rather than compete with one another in order to achieve sustainability and conserve natural resources.Īs compared to the Western word, indigenous Burkina life is focused in community, and more interested with “living well” vs. This lasted until Octowhen President Sankara was assassinated along with his 12 cabinet members and key supporters in a bloody coup led by Sankara’s childhood friend, Blaise Compaore who remained in power for 27 years until his authoritarian regime was overthrown by a popular revolution in October, 2014.Īlthough 60% of the country practices Islam, and 23% of the country practices Christianity, it is often (unofficially) said that Burkinabé are 100% animist, meaning that even though the official statistic for traditional/animist practice is only 7.8% (according to the US State Dept), when the going gets tough, Burkinabé turn back to their own indigenous spiritual traditions. His agricultural reforms gave more lands to private farmers. He combatted desertification, poverty and illiteracy. He initiated a number of national campaigns to prevent disease, improve infrastructure and women’s rights. In calling the nation Burkina Faso, Sankara was hoping to inspire its citizens and politicians to rid themselves of corruption and to foster a greater sense of autonomy from foreign interference and influence. Combining words from Burkina’s two most commonly spoken languages, Morè and Dioula, the words Burkina Faso literally translate to the Land of Upright (or Honest) People. changed the name of the country from the Republic of Upper Volta to Burkina Faso. ![]() Following a number of military coups, the beloved populist leader Thomas Sankara became president (also through a coup d’etat although a bloodless one) in 1983 and implemented a number of major reforms. ![]()
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