Burkina Faso, by Celestine Yerbanga

Burkina Faso, formerly Upper-Volta, is a west-African country with an area of 274 000 km². It is a land-locked country surrounded by Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Togo.

Created on 28th September 1919, Upper-Volta was a part of France's colonies and still has a preferred relationship with this country. On 5th September 1932, the colony of Upper-Volta was disbanded and geographically distributed to Mali, Niger and Ivory Coast. Reconstituted on the 4th September 1947, Upper-Volta became independent on 5th August 1960. With the 1983 revolution, the country was renamed on 4th August 1984 and Upper-Volta became Burkina Faso meaning "land of people of integrity".

With a population of 12 million inhabitants, Burkina Faso is one of the most populated countries in west-Africa. The inhabitants are mostly Muslims (52%) and Christians (17%). French is the official language but there are also more than sixty ethnic groups with their own languages. The climate is tropical and there are two seasons: the dry season (from November to May) and the wet season (from June to October).

The main cities are Ouagadougou (the politic capital), Bobo-Dioulasso (the economic and cultural capital), Koudougou (known for its textile industry), Ouahigouya, Fada N'Gourma and Banfora (the industrial city with sugar cane plantations, a factory and a flourmill). Ouagadougou, "Ouaga" to the locals, is also called “capitale des deux roues” because bikes and motorbikes constitute the main mode of transport. In a certain way, Ouagadougou can be compared to China.

Burkina Faso is a land-locked country, and almost all its import-export business relies on the sea ports of border countries. Until recently, Burkina Faso had a special relationship with Ivory Coast: nearly all the goods bound for Burkina Faso, used to pass through the sea port of Abidjan (Ivory Coast). In addition, the railway linking Abidjan to Ouagadougou was an important route of freight transport. But with the latest political troubles in Ivory Coast, borders were locked and neither transport by road or rail was possible. Consequently, Burkina Faso was forced to turn towards the sea ports of Togo and Ghana.

Tourism is being developed. In the north, it is amazing to discover nomadic people’s way of life and visit historic and archaeological sites as well as beautiful sand dunes in a Saharan landscape. On the contrary in the west, the vegetation is quite luxuriant. Falls can be found in some places.

This area is famous for its National culture week with music, dance, mask and theater. In the east, there are wildlife parks and shooting is very popular. Ranches like “Nazinga“ are well-known to tourists. As to the south, the emphasis is put on house decoration, a traditionally female activity. On the international scene, the centre is well-know through major events such as the International art and handicrafts trade show of Ouagadougou and the Panafrican film and television festival of Ouagadougou.

The Burkinabè (the inhabitants of Burkina Faso) are cheerful, friendly and whenever you decide to visit Burkina Faso, you will be warm-welcomed!