Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, in the dry savanna and Sahel south of the Sahara. Its name, adopted after independence, means roughly the land of upright or honest people, reflecting a strong sense of dignity and self-reliance. Home to the historic Mossi kingdoms and to a rich tradition of cinema, music, and craft, it is one of the poorer countries in the world, and in recent years it has faced serious instability from extremist violence in the wider Sahel.
For centuries the region was dominated by the Mossi kingdoms, powerful states with a famous cavalry that resisted absorption by the great empires around them and endured into the colonial era. In the late nineteenth century France conquered the area, ruling it as the colony of Upper Volta. Independence came in 1960, and in 1984 the revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara renamed the country Burkina Faso and pursued a radical programme of self-reliance and reform before he was overthrown and killed.
The Mossi people trace their origins to the legend of Yennenga, a warrior princess and skilled horsewoman, the daughter of a king, who rode off alone and married a hunter; their son, Ouedraogo, is said to have founded the Mossi kingdoms. Yennenga is celebrated as the mother of the Mossi nation, and her image, on horseback, is a national symbol. As literal history the tale belongs to legend and oral tradition, but it expresses the deep roots of the country's largest people.
Burkina Faso is a mostly flat, landlocked country lying in the Sahel and dry savanna, with a hot climate and a single rainy season. The land has no coast and few natural barriers, a broad plateau drained by rivers, three of which, branches of the Volta, gave the colonial territory its old name of Upper Volta. The north fades toward the desert and is prone to drought, while the somewhat wetter south and southwest support more farming. Water and the advancing desert are constant concerns.
The flag of Burkina Faso has two horizontal bands of red over green, with a yellow five-pointed star in the centre. Adopted after the revolution of 1984, its colours are the pan-African red, gold, and green: the red represents the revolution and the struggle for independence, the green the abundance of the land and hope, and the gold star the guiding light of that revolution. The flag replaced the earlier banner of Upper Volta.
Burkina Faso is religiously diverse and has long been known for tolerance among its faiths. The majority of the population is Muslim, mostly Sunni, a faith long established in the Sahel, alongside a significant Christian minority, both Catholic and Protestant, and many people who follow traditional African religions, honouring ancestors and spirits. These communities have historically coexisted peacefully, and it is common for families to include members of more than one faith.
The cuisine of Burkina Faso is based on grains suited to its dry climate, above all millet, sorghum, and maize, which are made into a thick porridge called to, or tô, the everyday staple, eaten with sauces. These sauces are often made with leaves, okra, or peanuts and may include meat or dried fish. Rice dishes, grilled meat known as brochettes, and the millet beer called dolo are part of the food culture, which makes the most of the produce of the Sahel.
Agriculture is the foundation of life for most people in Burkina Faso, the great majority of them small farmers and herders working in a difficult, dry environment. Cotton is the leading cash crop and a major export, so important that the country is among Africa's top producers, while millet, sorghum, and maize are grown to feed the population, and livestock are raised across the land. Gold mining has also grown into a vital part of the economy.
The Mossi kingdoms, the colonial era as Upper Volta, and the brief, transformative rule of Thomas Sankara, a charismatic revolutionary often compared to other anti-colonial icons, shaped the nation. Sankara renamed the country and championed self-reliance before his assassination in 1987. In recent years Burkina Faso has been severely destabilised by the spread of armed extremist groups across the Sahel, which has displaced large numbers of people and contributed to a series of military coups.
Burkina Faso has a population of around 23 million people, made up of many ethnic groups, the largest being the Mossi, alongside the Fulani, Bobo, and others, speaking a range of languages with French as the official tongue. The population is young and fast-growing, and largely rural, concentrated in the centre and south. The capital, Ouagadougou, is the cultural heart of the country and famous for hosting a major pan-African film festival, a sign of the nation's vibrant arts.
