Historical Facts to Know About Burkina Faso.3 min read


Few things are known about the West African landlocked country of Burkina Faso. In this post, I want to highlight some of the amazing facts about the Upper Volta! Did I hear you say where the Upper Volta is? Yes! Burkina Faso used to be known as the Upper Volta before it gained its independence from the French. 
The country adopted the name Burkina Faso after its independence. Talking about independence, Burkina Faso got her independence on the 5th of August 1960. 1960 obviously seems to be the year most countries in Africa broke loose from the shackles of their colonial masters. Burkina Faso has its capital situated in Ouagadougou. The name “Ouagadougou” is gotten from the word “Wogodogo” meaning you are most welcome at home with us in the Moore Dialect.

Talking about dialect, the official primary national language of communication in Burkina Faso is the French language since the French colonized the country. However, there exist other languages that are spoken across the country. These languages include Tamasheq, Moore, Dioula, Fulfude and Gourma. A citizen of Burkina Faso is known as Burkinabe and the country has an active population of about 16.3 million people. In Burkina Faso, the Mossi is the biggest ethnic group.
Mossi People of Burkina Faso (Photo Credit: Commons.Wikimedia)

Burkina Faso is blessed with so many natural resources. The main export for the country is Gold, animal products and cotton. The largest cotton producing country in Africa is Burkina Faso. Majority of the food source in Burkina Faso is accompanied with sauce. Basically, the staple foods include sorghum, yams, peanuts, okra, potatoes, rice, beans and millet. Eighty percent of the entire population depends on solely subsistence agriculture. 

The country has about sixty ethnic groups and suffices to say that some of the major sports fancied by people in Burkina Faso include boxing, football, cycling, basketball and handball. In terms of sport, the national team of Burkina Faso until the year 1984 was known as Upper Volta Football national team. The nick name of the Burkina Faso national team is The Stallions and the national team of Burkina Faso first participated in Africa Cups of Nations in the year 1974. The vast diversity in cultural affiliation in Burkina Faso is quite unique. Masks made from antelope are commonly associated with the Mossi people while the Bobo people can invoke deity using a painted black, red and white mask design in form of a butterfly.

Burkina Faso is famous across Africa for its cultural and artistic artworks having the biggest market in West Africa. About sixty (60) percent of the entire population in Burkina Faso are Muslim, 20% Catholic and 5% are Protestants. The country is prone to suffering from devastating drought.  In the early 70s and 80s Burkina Faso experienced a several drought. In terms of education, most schools in Burkina Faso opens for studies from the first day of the week Monday to Saturday. The country first and famous advanced academic institution is “The University of Ouagadougo which was founded in the year 1974.

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