Burkina Faso Facts
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The highest point in Burkina Faso is Tena Kourou (749 m).
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in Western Africa.
Burkina Faso was formerly known as Upper Volta.
The Mossi is the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso.
The Mossi people migrated to present-day Burkina Faso centuries before the arrival of Europeans.
Ouagadougou, also known as Wagadugu, was the capital of the Mossi kingdom.
The Mossi royal dynasty lasted for over five hundred years.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Upper Volta was colonized by the French.
Upper Volta became a territory of French West Africa in 1919. French West Africa, formed in 1895, included Cote d'Ivoire,
Guinea (French Guinea),
Mali (French Sudan) and Senegal. Later members were
Benin (Dahomey),
Burkina Faso (Upper Volta)
Mauritania and Niger. The Federation ended in 1958.
In 1932 Upper Volta was divided between Cote d'Ivoire and French Sudan.
Upper Volta was re-established as a territory of French West Africa in 1947.
In 1958 Upper Volta became an autonomous republic within the French Community.
Upper Volta achieved independence from France in 1960.
There was a military coup in Upper Volta in 1966.
Upper Volta was renamed Burkina Faso in 1984.
A number of coups also took place in the 1980s: 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987.
Blaise Compaore became president; he was in power for 27 years.
In 2022 the army took control of the country.
The northern part of Burkina Faso borders the Sahara Desert.
Burkina Faso is prone to severe droughts.
Burkina Faso suffered droughts in the early 1970s and the early 1980s.
Floods in 2007 affected countries in Africa, from east to west; a number of people lost their lives in flooding in Burkina Faso.
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Burkina Faso
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Read The Mossi of Burkina Faso
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