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Government type:
presidential republic
Capital:
name: Ouagadougou
geographic coordinates: 12 22 N, 1 31 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions:
13 regions; Boucle du Mouhoun, Cascades, Centre, Centre-Est, Centre-Nord, Centre-Ouest, Centre-Sud, Est, Hauts-Bassins, Nord, Plateau-Central, Sahel, Sud-Ouest
Independence:
5 August 1960 (from France)
National holiday:
Republic Day, 11 December (1958); note - commemorates the day that Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community
Constitution:
history: several previous; latest approved by referendum 2 June 1991, adopted 11 June 1991, temporarily suspended late October to mid-November 2014
amendments: proposed by the president, by a majority of National Assembly membership, or by petition of at least 30,000 eligible voters submitted to the Assembly; passage requires at least three-fourths majority vote in the Assembly; failure to meet that threshold requires majority voter approval in a referendum; constitutional provisions on the form of government, the multiparty system, and national sovereignty cannot be amended; amended several times, last in 2012 (2017)
Legal system:
civil law based on the French model and customary law
International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Burkina Faso
dual citizenship recognized: yes
residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Roch Marc Christian KABORE (since 29 December 2015)
head of government: Prime Minister Paul Kaba THIEBA (since 6 January 2016)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections/appointments: president elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second); election last held on 29 November 2015 (next to be held November 2020); prime minister appointed by the president with consent of the National Assembly
election results: Roch Marc Christian KABORE elected president in first round; percent of vote - Roch Marc Christian KABORE (MPP) 53.5%, Zephirin DIABRE (UPC) 29.6%, Tahirou BARRY (PAREN) 3.1%. Benewende Stanislas SANKARA (UNIR-MS) 2.8%, other 10.9%
Legislative branch:
description: unicameral National Assembly (127 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms)
elections: last held on 29 November 2015 (next to be held in 2020)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MPP 55, UPC 33, CDP 18, Union for Rebirth-Sankarist Party 5, ADF/RDA 3, NTD 3, other 10
Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Supreme Court of Appeals or Cour de Cassation (consists of NA judges); Council of State (consists of NA judges); Constitutional Council or Conseil Constitutionnel (consists of the council president and 9 members)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judge appointments mostly controlled by the president of Burkina Faso; judges have no term limits; Council of State judge appointment and tenure NA; Constitutional Council judges appointed by the president of Burkina Faso upon the proposal of the minister of justice and the president of the National Assembly; judges appointed for 9-year terms with one-third of membership renewed every 3 years
subordinate courts: Appeals Court; High Court; first instance tribunals; district courts; specialized courts relating to issues of labor, children, and juveniles; village (customary) courts
Political parties and leaders:
African Democratic Rally/Alliance for Democracy and Federation or ADF/RDA [Gilbert Noel OUEDRAOGO]
African People’s Movement or MAP [Victorien TOUGOUMA]
Congress for Democracy and Progress or CDP [Eddie KOMBOIGO]
Le Faso Autrement [Ablasse OUEDRAOGO]
New Alliance of the Faso or NAFA [Mahamoudou DICKO]
New Time for Democracy or NTD [Vincent DABILGOU]
Organization for Democracy and Work or ODT [Anatole BONKOUNGOU]
Party for Development and Change or PDC [Aziz SEREME]
Party for Democracy and Progress-Socialist Party or PDP-PS [Drabo TORO]
Party for Democracy and Socialism/Metba or PDS/Metba [Philippe OUEDRAOGO]
Party for National Renaissance or PAREN [Michel BERE]
People's Movement for Progress or MPP [Simon COMPAORE]
Rally for Democracy and Socialism or RDS [Francois OUEDRAOGO]
Rally for the Development of Burkina or RDB [Celestin Saidou COMPAORE]
Rally of Ecologists of Burkina Faso or RDEB [Adama SERE]
Union for a New Burkina or UBN [Diemdioda DICKO]
Union for Progress and Change or UPC [Zephirin DIABRE]
Union for Rebirth - Sankarist Party or UNIR-MS [Benewende Stanislas SANKARA]
Union for the Republic or UPR [Toussaint Abel COULIBALY]
Youth Alliance for the Republic and Independence or AJIR [Adama KANAZOE]
Government of Burkina Faso - History
Up until August of 1984 Burkina Faso was known as Upper Volta. As Upper Volta and as Burkina Faso this state has been politically unstable. The civilian government of General Sangoulé Lamizana was overthrown by a military coup d'état in November of 1980. In the next seven years there were four more coups d'état. These coups d'état were:
| Date | Leader | Name of Subsequent Leadership Group | Acronym |
| November 25, 1980 | Colonel Zaye Zerbo | Comité Militaire pour le Redressment Politique National | CMRPN |
| November 7, 1982 | Commandant Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo | Conseil de Salut du Peuple | CSP |
| August 4, 1983 | Captain Thomas Sankara | Conseil National de Révolution | CNR |
| October 15, 1987 | Captain Blaise Compaoré | Front Populaire | FP |
It is notable that the military rank of the government leaders descended from general to captain. It is also notable that Captain Blaise Compaoré was Captain Thomas Sankara's second in command.
The nation was not always so politically unstable. In fact, Upper Volta was notable among West African countries for its pattern of democratic government and political freedom. It emerged at independence with one core region, Moogho, which was the remnant of the Mossi Empire. This core region tended to dominate national politics. The peripheral elements of the state were the village and lineage groups. These included the traditional chieftancies. Thus there was from the very beginning the struggle between the centrists and the federationalist i.e., those who wanted the central government to be all powerful and those who wanted the local, regional elements to have autonomy and power.
Coups
1980 - President Lamizana is ousted in coup led by Saye Zerbo.
1982 - Saye Zerbo is overthrown in a coup led by Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo following industrial unrest.
1983 - Capt Thomas Sankara takes power from Mr Ouedraogo in an internal power struggle. He adopts radical left-wing policies.
1984 - Upper Volta renamed Burkina Faso.
1987 - Thomas Sankara ousted and killed in a coup led by his close aide, Blaise Compaore.
1990 - Compaore introduces limited democratic reforms.
1991 - Compaore re-elected without opposition under a new constitution.
How To Lose a Country in 10 Years: The Burkina Faso Formula
If the US Government was trying to destroy Burkina Faso, it could hardly have done it any better. But this already impoverished, landlocked West African country is simply symptomatic of Franco-America’s Sahel-wide exercise in absurdity. It goes like this: in the years following the 9/11 attacks there was no Islamist militant threat to speak of in this region. Nevertheless, on account of its hallucinatory fear, racialized mental-mapping, and neocon-neo-imperial reflexes, the Bush administration imagined and then induced not just a genuine jihadi rebellion, but an inter-communal implosion clear across the Sahel. And because Burkina Faso was long considered one of the most stable countries in West Africa – and its conflict currently runs hottest of all – this tortured nation makes for an instructive case study in incompetence and indecency.
The entire concept of the Pentagon’s Africa Command (AFRICOM) was more bizarre than most people probably remember. At its genesis in 2007, the US military was more than a little bogged down – trust me – failing to fight its way out of an Iraqi-paper bag the Bushies had pulled over their own heads. Plus, the Taliban boys-were-back-in-Afghan-town and ready to lasso old G.W.’s Obama successor into another surge-cum-quagmire. Africa, especially West Africa, on the other hand, had essentially no Islamist militants to speak of. Burkina Faso actually had the least of all. As late 2013, a State Department report noted that "there were no recorded terrorist incidents in Burkina Faso, which is not a source for violent extremist organization recruitment efforts or home to radical religious extremists."
Yet, as if the Pentagon wasn’t losing enough needless and hopeless wars, it opened a new proconsular franchise for the continent. See, according to Bush’s racialized 19th century-colonialist cerebral cartography, he wanted the post-9/11 US military sword to be "ready to strike at a moment’s notice in any dark corner of the world." AFRICOM was then charged with the counterintuitive charter of preventing war in places "where violent conflict has not yet emerged, where crises have to be prevented."
Apparently these folks never heard of the phase "violence begets violence," which is strange for such proud evangelical Christians, since the aphorism’s own origins trace back to Matthew 26:52 – "‘Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.’" A baker’s dozen-worth of years later, the entire African Sahel is a free fire zone jumble of jihadi, state-directed, and communal carnage.
Here’s the CliffsNotes version of how and why that played out in the current Burkinabe contender for the bloodiest Sahel savagery – highlighting the immense amount of Franco-American accelerant that really burnished the blaze. The main match was lit in 2009, when Burkina Faso joined the Trans Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP) – a joint State-Pentagon, but military-skewed, slush fund for training, advising, and equipping local regional security forces to counter negligible, if not nonexistent, terror.
The core problem was philosophical – of America imposing, and Burkinabe political elites willingly applying, a counterterrorism formula that didn’t address, and actually inflamed, the long-neglected nation’s foundational cornucopia of conflict kindling. By handing scores of millions in Yankee-greenbacks to Burkinabe politicians with proven proclivities for corruption, plus weapons and training to state security forces with a historical knack, mainly, for coups and civil-suppression – Washington all-but ensured that the government’s response to the (initially nonexistent) threat would be both over-militarized and an overreaction. It’s as if Washington handed the Burkinabe ruling elites a hammer, told them to keep an eye out for jihadi nails, and that if they found some we’d ship over more hammers – is it really any surprise they promptly whacked away at already hated, and often marginalized Muslims in their midst.
That then caused counterproductive blowback across the entire spectrum of the scantly understood – at least by U.S. policymakers – "perfect storm" of volatility and grievance underpinning and belying the illusion of Burkina Faso as a posterchild of "stability" in the Sahel. After 9/11, politicians, pundits, and the Pentagon have tended to frame – and fit – every foreign conflict inside their nifty state-democracy versus Islamist-terror model. And, despite mountains of actual academic and scholarly expert research to the contrary, American policymakers somehow decided that the best way to fight terror was with state-terror – when, in fact, time and again it’s proven that force usually adds fuel to the fire.
Consider some stats – a security assistance report card of sorts. Since 2009, Washington has spent more than $69 million on Burkina Faso’s security forces, and in fact, more Burkinabe personnel (13,000+) were trained by American soldiers and contractors than in any other Sahelian state. So what did the American taxpayers get for their money? What was the haul for that hefty investment, you ask? Turns out, less than nada – unless you count a boatload of Burkinabe bodies, most of them innocents.
The number of reported attacks, fatalities, and displaced persons all reached record highs last year – and between 2018 and 2019 alone, conflict-related deaths increased more than seven-fold. Plus, some good that 11 years-worth of U.S.-training – including classes in "human rights" – did the Burkinabe security forces, since they and the government-backed (and recently armed) ethnic militias have themselves killed half the civilians who’ve perished since the conflict kicked off. Moreover, the military officer who briefly seized power in a 2014 coup happened to attend two U.S.-sponsored counterterrorism training seminars. Well, that’s pretty standard – since no less than eight American-trained African military officers have turned coup-artist since AFRICOM opened for (the fiasco) business.
Crazier still, Burkinabe military and political elites essentially brag about all this extrajudicial killing. Simon Compaoré, the president of the ruling People’s Movement for Progress and a former interior minister, told an interviewer that:
"We’re not shouting this from the rooftops, but it’s what we do. If the jihadists kill five to ten soldiers, the morale in the army is going to be very low. We need to make sure their morale doesn’t get destroyed. If we discover there are spies, we need to neutralize them right away."
Which raises the question: what’s the point of having the Leahy Laws – which prohibit funding and assisting foreign security forces credibly accused of gross violations of human rights – on the books, if the statutes are ignored as soon as they’re inconvenient.
In spite of Burkina Faso’s critical governance and corruption issues, and credible reports of bloody human rights violations by the security forces, Washington even now continues to send millions of dollars in security assistance Ouagadougou’s way. Talk about a classic case of "throwing good money at bad!"
Here’s the hard truth that I can’t for the life of me adequately conjure from an air-conditioned American apartment: if the conflict’s casualty rate remains on track, then some 600 more Burkinabe civilians will be slaughtered by Christmas. Naturally, the US government didn’t exactly ask We the People before helping to create then catalyze the conflict, and few Americans know or care where Burkina Faso falls on a damn map. But in the ethical court of criminal complicity, ignorance and apathy are no defense for aiding and abetting mass murder.
Burkina Faso Culture
Religion in Burkina Faso
More than 40% follow animist beliefs 50% are Muslim and 10% Christian (mostly Roman Catholic).
Social Conventions in Burkina Faso
Women are always expected to dress modestly since this is a Muslim country. Within the urban areas, many French customs prevail. Dress should be casual and appropriate for hot weather (yet short skirts and shorts are best avoided). Lounge suits for men and formal wear for women are required for evening entertainment. Burkina Faso is a fascinating country because of its diversity: over 60 ethnic groups dwell in this country, proud to be Burkinabé, and yet keen to preserve their own social and cultural idiosyncrasies. Outside the cities, little has changed for centuries and visitors should respect local customs and traditions.
Escalating conflict
In power since 1987, Compaore was only the last in a long line of autocrats to run Burkina Faso. Before him, the last democratically elected leader of the country was Maurice Yameogo, who oversaw independence from France in 1960 and was removed by another uprising six years later.
Five years ago, the return of democracy after an almost half-century hiatus brought with it a sense of hope and optimism for many, especially young, Burkinabes in a country of 20 million, where the average age is 17.6 years.
After an interim government led the transition to democracy in the wake of the insurrection and saw off a military coup which sought to reverse the move to popular rule, Burkina Faso on November 29, 2015 held an election that saw Kabore sweeping to power with 53.5 percent of the vote.
In its early stages, Kabore’s presidency looked set to be defined by ambitious development goals, freedom of expression and a departure from military governance.
Instead, Burkina Faso’s fate has been steered by a conflict that has killed approximately 5,000 people, created one of the world’s fastest growing humanitarian crises and exacerbated many of the societal problems Kabore was seeking to solve.
Data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a consultancy which gathers information on conflict globally, shows that in the five years before Kabore came to power, Burkina Faso saw just 55 fatalities related to conflict. In the five years since, there have been 4,939, an increase of 8,880 percent.
A view of the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou after it was destroyed in a 2016 attack [File: Ahmed Ouoba/AFP] The conflict struck right to the heart of the nation in January 2016 when al-Qaeda-linked fighters attacked the Splendid Hotel and Cappuccino restaurant in Ouagadougou, killing 28 and wounding 56, including many foreign nationals.
Catching many Burkinabes and outside observers off-guard, this was a wake-up call for many that decades of peace were at an end in a country which had been known in the region for stability and tolerance.
“What began as an insurgency in an isolated corner of the northern Soum province has grown ever since and swept large swaths of territory,” Heni Nsaibia, an analyst for ACLED, told Al Jazeera.
By 2019, violence had spread from its origins in the north of the country to the east, as well. Burkina Faso has never had a civil war, but Nsaibia says the current conflict has many of the key characteristics of one.
The fighting has its origins in neighbouring Mali where armed groups such as Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS), linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL respectively, took over large parts of that country from 2012 onwards.
Flown out of the country by a French intelligence service helicopter into exile in neighbouring Ivory Coast, the departure of Compaore after the insurrection was the triggering event which allowed the conflict to spill over the border into Burkina Faso.
Discontent in the remote provinces where rebels now roam free, had been simmering for years, however. Compaore was long suspected of having a pact with Malian rebels whereby he allowed them safe haven in Burkina Faso in exchange for non-aggression – but that came to an end when he left power.
Aside from the Malian groups, Malam Ibrahim Dicko, a Muslim preacher and radio host, founded Burkina Faso’s own homegrown rebel group, Ansar ul Islam, in late 2016.
Together, these groups have shaken the social fabric of Burkina Faso to its core, influencing many aspects of public behaviour, government policy and tearing lives apart.
“In the last two years, [Burkina Faso has] replaced Mali as the epicentre of armed attacks attributed to jihadi militant groups,” Nsaibia says.
Displaced people wait for help at a village in Burkina Faso’s Dablo area [File: Luc Gnago/Reuters]
Government
Country name
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Burkina Faso
local long form: none
local short form: Burkina Faso
former: Upper Volta, Republic of Upper Volta
etymology: name translates as "Land of the Honest (Incorruptible) Men"
Government type
Capital
name: Ouagadougou
geographic coordinates: 12 22 N, 1 31 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
etymology: Ouagadougou is a Francophone spelling of the native name "Wogodogo," meaning "where people get honor and respect"
Administrative divisions
13 regions Boucle du Mouhoun, Cascades, Centre, Centre-Est, Centre-Nord, Centre-Ouest, Centre-Sud, Est, Hauts-Bassins, Nord, Plateau-Central, Sahel, Sud-Ouest
Independence
5 August 1960 (from France)
National holiday
Republic Day, 11 December (1958) note - commemorates the day that Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community
Constitution
history: several previous latest approved by referendum 2 June 1991, adopted 11 June 1991, temporarily suspended late October to mid-November 2014 initial draft of a new constitution to usher in the new republic was completed in January 2017 and a final draft was submitted to the government in December 2017 a constitutional referendum originally scheduled for adoption in March 2019 has been postponed
amendments: proposed by the president, by a majority of National Assembly membership, or by petition of at least 30,000 eligible voters submitted to the Assembly passage requires at least three-fourths majority vote in the Assembly failure to meet that threshold requires majority voter approval in a referendum constitutional provisions on the form of government, the multiparty system, and national sovereignty cannot be amended amended several times, last in 2012
Legal system
civil law based on the French model and customary law in mid-2019, the National Assembly amended the penal code
International law organization participation
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Citizenship
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Burkina Faso
dual citizenship recognized: yes
residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years
Suffrage
18 years of age universal
Executive branch
chief of state: President Roch Marc Christian KABORE (since 29 December 2015 re-elected 22 November 2020)
head of government: Prime Minister Christophe DABIRE (since 24 January 2019)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections/appointments: president elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second) last held on 22 November 2020 (next to be held in November 2025) prime minister appointed by the president with consent of the National Assembly
election results: Roch Marc Christian KABORE reelected president in first round percent of vote - Roch Marc Christian KABORE (MPP) 57.9%, Eddie KOMBOIGO (CDP) 15.5%, Zephirin DIABRE (UPC)12.5%, other 14.1%
Legislative branch
description: unicameral National Assembly (127 seats 111 members directly elected in 13 multi-seat constituencies by party-list proportional representation vote and 26 members elected in a nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote all member serve 5-year terms)
elections: last held on 22 November 2020 (next to be held in November 2025)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA seats by party (preliminary results) - MPP 56, CDP 20, NTD 13, UPC 12
Judicial branch
highest courts: Supreme Court of Appeals or Cour de Cassation (consists of NA judges) Council of State (consists of NA judges) Constitutional Council or Conseil Constitutionnel (consists of the council president and 9 members)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judge appointments mostly controlled by the president of Burkina Faso judges have no term limits Council of State judge appointment and tenure NA Constitutional Council judges appointed by the president of Burkina Faso upon the proposal of the minister of justice and the president of the National Assembly judges appointed for 9-year terms with one-third of membership renewed every 3 years
subordinate courts: Appeals Court High Court first instance tribunals district courts specialized courts relating to issues of labor, children, and juveniles village (customary) courts
Political parties and leaders
African Democratic Rally/Alliance for Democracy and Federation or ADF/RDA [Gilbert Noel OUEDRAOGO]
African People&rsquos Movement or MAP [Victorien TOUGOUMA]
Congress for Democracy and Progress or CDP [Eddie KOMBOIGO]
Le Faso Autrement [Ablasse OUEDRAOGO]
New Alliance of the Faso or NAFA [Mahamoudou DICKO]
New Time for Democracy or NTD [Vincent DABILGOU]
Organization for Democracy and Work or ODT [Anatole BONKOUNGOU]
Party for Development and Change or PDC [Aziz SEREME]
Party for Democracy and Progress-Socialist Party or PDP-PS [Drabo TORO]
Party for Democracy and Socialism/Metba or PDS/Metba [Philippe OUEDRAOGO]
Party for National Renaissance or PAREN [Michel BERE]
People's Movement for Progress or MPP [Simon COMPAORE]
Rally for Democracy and Socialism or RDS [Francois OUEDRAOGO]
Rally for the Development of Burkina or RDB [Celestin Saidou COMPAORE]
Rally of Ecologists of Burkina Faso or RDEB [Adama SERE]
Soleil d&rsquoAvenir [Abdoulaye SOMA]
Union for a New Burkina or UBN [Diemdioda DICKO]
Union for Progress and Change or UPC [Zephirin DIABRE]
Union for Rebirth - Sankarist Party or UNIR-MS [Benewende Stanislas SANKARA]
Union for the Republic or UPR [Toussaint Abel COULIBALY]
Youth Alliance for the Republic and Independence or AJIR [Adama KANAZOE]
International organization participation
ACP, AfDB, AU, CD, ECOWAS, EITI (compliant country), Entente, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINUSMA, MONUSCO, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNITAR, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Seydou KABORE (since 18 January 2017)
chancery: 2340 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 332-5577
FAX: [1] (202) 667-1882
Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Sandra CLARK (since 25 September 2020)
telephone: [226] 25-49-53-00
embassy: Rue 15.873, Avenue Sembene Ousmane, Ouaga 2000, Secteur 15
mailing address: 01 B. P. 35, Ouagadougou 01 pouch mail - US Department of State, 2440 Ouagadougou Place, Washington, DC 20521-2440
FAX: [226] 25-49-56-28
Flag description
two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and green with a yellow five-pointed star in the center red recalls the country's struggle for independence, green is for hope and abundance, and yellow represents the country's mineral wealth
note: uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia
National symbol(s)
white stallion national colors: red, yellow, green
National anthem
name: "Le Ditanye" (Anthem of Victory)
lyrics/music: Thomas SANKARA
note: adopted 1974 also known as "Une Seule Nuit" (One Single Night) written by the country's former president, an avid guitar player
Coups
1980 - President Lamizana is ousted in coup led by Saye Zerbo.
1982 - Saye Zerbo is overthrown in a coup led by Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo following industrial unrest.
1983 - Capt Thomas Sankara takes power from Mr Ouedraogo in an internal power struggle. He adopts radical left-wing policies.
1984 - Upper Volta renamed Burkina Faso.
1987 - Thomas Sankara ousted and killed in a coup led by his close aide, Blaise Compaore.
1990 - Compaore introduces limited democratic reforms.
1991 - Compaore re-elected without opposition under a new constitution.
Society
Demographics
Burkina Faso is an ethnically integrated, secular state where most people are concentrated in the south and centre, where their density sometimes exceeds 48 persons per square kilometre (125/sq. mi.). Hundreds of thousands of Burkinabè migrate regularly to Ivory Coast and Ghana, mainly for seasonal agricultural work. These flows of workers are affected by external events the September 2002 coup attempt in Ivory Coast and the ensuing fighting meant that hundreds of thousands of Burkinabè returned to Burkina Faso. The regional economy suffered when they were unable to work. ]
In 2015, most of the population belonged to "one of two West African ethnic cultural groups: the Voltaic and the Mande. Voltaic Mossi make up about 50% of the population and are descended from warriors who moved to the area from Ghana around 1100, establishing an empire that lasted over 800 years". ⎖]
The total fertility rate of Burkina Faso is 5.93 children born per woman (2014 estimates), the sixth highest in the world. ]
In 2009 the U.S. Department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report reported that slavery in Burkina Faso continued to exist and that Burkinabè children were often the victims. ] Slavery in the Sahel states in general, is an entrenched institution with a long history that dates back to the trans-Saharan slave trade. ] In 2018, an estimated 82,000 people in the country were living under "modern slavery" according to the Global Slavery Index. ]
Ethnic groups
Burkina Faso's 17.3 million people belong to two major West African ethnic cultural groups—the Voltaic and the Mande (whose common language is Dioula). The Voltaic Mossi make up about one-half of the population. The Mossi claim descent from warriors who migrated to present-day Burkina Faso from northern Ghana around 1100 AD. They established an empire that lasted more than 800 years. Predominantly farmers, the Mossi kingdom is led by the Mogho Naba, whose court is in Ouagadougou. ]
