Burkina Faso

West Africa circa 1875
The cavalry of the Mossi Kingdoms were experts at raiding deep into enemy territory, even against the formidable Mali Empire.
Armed men prevent the French explorer Louis-Gustave Binger from entering Sia (Bobo-Dioulasso) during his stay in April 1892.
French West Africa circa 1913
The capital, Ouagadougou, in 1930
Maurice Yaméogo, the first President of Upper Volta, examines documents pertaining to the ratification of the country's independence in 1960
President Blaise Compaoré ruled Burkina Faso from a coup d'état in 1987 until he lost power in 2014.
The National Assembly building in downtown Ouagadougou
Satellite image of Burkina Faso
Map of Burkina Faso
Savannah near the Gbomblora Department, on the road from Gaoua to Batié
Map of Köppen climate classification
Damage caused by the Dourtenga floods in 2007
A proportional representation of Burkina Faso exports, 2019
GDP per capita in Burkina Faso, since 1950
Processing facilities at the Essakane Mine in Burkina Faso
A group of farmers in Tarfila, Burkina Faso
The Grand marché in Koudougou, Burkina Faso
The railway station in Bobo Dioulasso was built during the colonial era and remains in operation.
A Burkinabè Tuareg man in Ouagadougou
The Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso
The Gando primary school. Its architect, Diébédo Francis Kéré, received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004.
A masked Winiama dancer, c. 1970
Artisan garland of decorative painted gourds in Ouagadougou
A plate of fufu (right) accompanied with peanut soup
Burkina Faso national football team in white during a match
A cameraman in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2010
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Ouagadougou

Landlocked country in West Africa with an area of 274200 km2, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and the Ivory Coast to the southwest.

- Burkina Faso

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French West Africa

French West Africa after World War II Green: French West Africa Dark grey: Other French possessions Black: French Republic
Afrique occidentale française Commercial Relations Report, showing the profile of a Fula woman, January–March 1938
Map of the seven colonies of the AOF in 1936. Note that the eighth colony, French Upper Volta was in this period parceled between its neighbors. French Sudan also contains a large portion of what is today the eastern half of Mauritania.
The former Governor's palace on Gorée Island, Dakar, Senegal
A gathering of former Governors of Senegal in Paris, 1950s
Native Africans forced into labor for the construct of the Guinée railway, 1904
Eugène Bonnier, commander in chief of French Sudan
A "Section Chief" in the building of the Dakar–Niger Railway, pushed by African workers, Kayes, Mali, 1904
King N'Diagaye, a local chief near Dakar Senegal, receiving a French Administrator ca. 1910
Louis-Gustave Binger signing treaty with Famienkro leaders, 1892, in present-day Ivory Coast
Timbuktu in French Sudan
1947 series

French West Africa (Afrique-Occidentale française, AOF) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Dahomey (now Benin) and Niger.

Compaoré in 2014

Blaise Compaoré

Compaoré in 2014
Palais Kossyam, since 2005 the president's official residence
Delegates of Ansar Dine and the MNLA in Ouagadougou, with Blaise Compaoré (16 November 2012)

Blaise Compaoré (born 3 February 1951) is a Burkinabé former politician who was president of Burkina Faso from 1987 to 2014.

A Traditional Mossi chief

Mossi people

A Traditional Mossi chief
Map of Burkina Faso; the Mossi primarily in the pink area.
The fast-moving Mossi cavalry once dominated large areas of what is now Burkina Faso
Naaba Zomb Wobgo, Andemtenga
Arrival of a band of Mossi, 1892
The dance company of Andemtenga in action during the Nakoobo ceremony of the Mossi chief Naaaba Zomb Wobgo at Andemtenga, province Kouritenga, Burkina Faso
Mossi Mask

The Mossi (or Mole, Mosse, sing. Moaaga) are a Gur ethnic group native to modern Burkina Faso, primarily the Volta River basin.

List of heads of state of Burkina Faso

This is a list of heads of state of Burkina Faso since the Republic of Upper Volta gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day.

Mansa Musa depicted holding a gold nugget from a 1395 map of Africa and Europe

West Africa

Westernmost region of Africa.

Westernmost region of Africa.

Mansa Musa depicted holding a gold nugget from a 1395 map of Africa and Europe
13th-century Africa – Map of the main trade routes and states, kingdoms and empires.
West Africa circa 1875
French in West Africa circa 1913
A rhinoceros in Bandia Nature Reserve, Senegal. Credit: Corine REZEL.
African bush elephants in Yankari National Park, Nigeria
Deforestation in Nigeria.
Satellite imagery from outer space of West Africa
Railway systems in West Africa, 2022
Railway systems in West Africa 2030, projection
450px
A street and airport in the famous town of Timbuktu, Mali, showing the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style of the West African interior
Philip Emeagwali wearing the Boubou (or Agbada), a traditional robe symbolic of West Africa
Jollof rice or Benachin, one of many Pan–West African dishes found only in West Africa
Supporters of ASEC Mimosas
The talking drum is an instrument unique to West Africa.
Kora-playing griots in Senegal, 1900. Both the Kora, a 21-stringed harp-lute, and the griot musical-caste are unique to West Africa.
The 13th-century Great Mosque of Djenné is a superb example of the indigenous Sahelian architectural style prevalent in the Savannah and Sahelian interior of West Africa. It is listed an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Voodoo altar with several fetishes in Abomey, Benin
Map of petroleum and natural gas within West Africa
Praia, Cape Verde
Dakar, Senegal
Lomé, Togo
Porto-Novo, Benin
Niamey, Niger
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Banjul, Gambia
Conakry, Guinea
Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Monrovia, Liberia
Bamako, Mali
Georgetown, Ascension Island
Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo as well as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.

Prince Manga Bell and favorite wives

Polygamy

Practice of marrying multiple spouses.

Practice of marrying multiple spouses.

Prince Manga Bell and favorite wives
Chinese immigrant with his three wives and fourteen children, Cairns, 1904
Village chief and his wives in Guinea, c. 1910
Polygamy in Utah remains a controversial issue that has been subject to legislative battles throughout the years; it is currently an infraction; and recognition of polygamy is illegal under the Constitution of Utah.

Polygamy (taking the form of polygyny) is most common in a region known as the "polygamy belt" in West Africa and Central Africa, with the countries estimated to have the highest polygamy prevalence in the world being Burkina Faso, Mali, Gambia, Niger and Nigeria.

World administrative levels

Semi-presidential system

System of government in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two responding to the legislature of the state.

System of government in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two responding to the legislature of the state.

World administrative levels

This subtype is used in: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, East Timor, France, Lithuania, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Niger, Georgia (2013–2018), Poland (de facto, however, according to the Constitution, Poland is a parliamentary republic), Portugal, Romania, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine (since 2014; previously, between 2006 and 2010).

Benin

Country in West Africa.

Country in West Africa.

Map of the Kingdom of Dahomey, 1793.
The Portuguese Empire was the longest European presence in Benin, beginning in 1680 and ending in 1961, when the last forces left Ajudá.
Dahomey Amazons with the King at their head, going to war, 1793.
The French conquest of Dahomey in 1893
The flag of the People's Republic of Benin
Yayi Boni's 2006 presidential inauguration
Patrice Talon, current President of Benin
A Celestial Church of Christ baptism in Cotonou. Five percent of Benin's population belongs to this denomination, an African Initiated Church.
Benin map of Köppen climate classification.
Atakora, one of Benin's two northernmost departments.
The Pendjari National Park in Benin is one of the most important reserves for the West African lion and other large animals of West Africa.
A proportional representation of Benin exports, 2019
Extensive agriculture in the north of Benin, near Djougou.
Real GDP per capita development of Benin since 1950
Cotton field in northern Benin.
Beninese students.
Palais Des Congres in Cotonou.
Traditional music group.
Acarajé is peeled black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried.

It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east.

Volta River

Main river system in the West African country of Ghana.

Main river system in the West African country of Ghana.

It flows south into Ghana from Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso.

Yaméogo in 1960

Maurice Yaméogo

Yaméogo in 1960
Map of Upper Volta
Portrait of Lamine Guèye, fresco in Dakar
A market in Upper Volta
Flag of the Mali Federation
Members of the Conseil de l'Entente
Yaméogo meets Golda Meir during his visit to Israel in 1961
President Yaméogo (center) viewing the United States Constitution during his state visit to the country in March 1965
Ouagadougou cathedral
Headquarters of the BCEAO in Dakar
Yaméogo's friend, Ivoirien President Félix Houphouët-Boigny

Maurice Yaméogo (31 December 1921 – 15 September 1993) was the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, now called Burkina Faso, from 1959 until 1966.