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Burkina Faso


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Burkina Faso

Land Area 273800km²
Land Area + Seaarea
Population 16751455
Population density 61.2 / km²

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Burkina Faso (UK:, US: (listen); French: [buʁkina faso]), officially the Republic of Burkina Faso (Mossi: Repibilik báága Burkĩna Faso), is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It covers an area of around 274,200 square kilometres (105,900 sq mi) and is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north and west; Niger to the east; Benin to the southeast; Togo to the southeast; Ghana to the south; and Ivory Coast to the southwest. The July 2019 population estimate by the United Nations was 20,321,378. The country's official language of business and government is French. The Mossi language is spoken by roughly 50% of the population natively. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta (1958--1984), the country was renamed"Burkina Faso" on 4 August 1984 by erstwhile President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabé ( bur-KEE-nə-bay). Its capital is Ouagadougou. Upper Volta's Republic was established on 11 December 1958 as a self-governing colony within the French Community, and on 5 August 1960 it gained independence, as President with Maurice Yaméogo. From the 1966 coup d'état, led, Yaméogo was deposed after protests by students and labor union members. His rule coincided with the Sahel drought and famine, and facing issues from the traditionally strong trade unions of the country he had been deposed in the 1980 coup d'état. Encountering resistance from trade unions again, Zerbo's government was overthrown in the 1982 coup d'état. The leader of the faction of Ouédraogo's authorities, Thomas Sankara, was made Prime Minister but was imprisoned. Efforts to free him contributed to the 1983 coup d'état, in which he became President. Sankara launched an ambitious socioeconomic programme that included the outlawing of polygamy, forced marriages and female genital mutilation, land redistribution to peasants, road and railroad building and a nationwide literacy campaign and renamed the country Burkina Faso. Sankara was overthrown and killed in deteriorating relations with coloniser France -- the 1987 coup d'état led by Blaise Compaoré and its ally the Ivory Coast were the reason given for the coup. In 1987, Blaise Compaoré became president , following an 1989 coup attempt, was elected in 1998 and 1991, elections that were boycotted by the opposition and received a considerably low turnout, in addition to in 2005. Until he was ousted by the popular youth upheaval of 31 October 2014, after which he was exiled to the Ivory 30, he remained head of state. Michel Kafando became the country's transitional president. On 16 September 2015, a coup d'état against the Kafando authorities was completed by Presidential Security, the presidential guard of Compaoré's Regiment. On 24 September 2015, after pressure from ECOWAS, the African Union and the armed forces, the junta agreed to resign, as president, and Michel Kafando was reinstated. In the general election held on 29 November 2015, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré won in the first round with 53.5percent of the vote and was sworn in as President on 29 December 2015.

Source: Wikipedia