| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Burkina Faso
former: Upper Volta, Republic of Upper Volta |
| Capital: |
Ouagadougou |
| Location: |
Western Africa, north of Ghana |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
13 00 N, 2 00 W |
| Area: |
total: 274,200 sq km
land: 273,800 sq km
water: 400 sq km |
| Area
Comparative: |
slightly larger than Colorado |
| Land
Boundaries: |
total: 3,193 km
border countries: Benin 306 km, Cote d'Ivoire 584 km, Ghana 549 km, Mali 1,000 km, Niger 628 km, Togo 126 km |
| Coastline: |
0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime
Claims: |
none (landlocked) |
| Climate: |
tropical; warm, dry winters; hot, wet summers |
| Terrain: |
mostly flat to dissected, undulating plains; hills in west and southeast |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Mouhoun (Black Volta) River 200 m
highest point: Tena Kourou 749 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
manganese, limestone, marble; small deposits of gold, antimony, copper, nickel, bauxite, lead, phosphates, zinc, silver |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
parliamentary republic |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
45 provinces; Bale, Bam, Banwa, Bazega, Bougouriba, Boulgou, Boulkiemde, Comoe, Ganzourgou, Gnagna, Gourma, Houet, Ioba, Kadiogo, Kenedougou, Komondjari, Kompienga, Kossi, Koulpelogo, Kouritenga, Kourweogo, Leraba, Loroum, Mouhoun, Namentenga, Nahouri, Nayala, Noumbiel, Oubritenga, Oudalan, Passore, Poni, Sanguie, Sanmatenga, Seno, Sissili, Soum, Sourou, Tapoa, Tuy, Yagha, Yatenga, Ziro, Zondoma, Zoundweogo |
| Independence |
5 August 1960 (from France) |
| National
Holiday: |
Republic Day, 11 December (1958) |
| Constitution: |
2 June 1991 approved by referendum; 11 June 1991 formally adopted; ammended April 2000 |
| Legal
System; |
based on French civil law system and customary law |
| Suffrage |
universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: President Blaise COMPAORE (since 15 October 1987)
head of government: Prime Minister Ernest Paramanga YONLI (since 6 November 2000)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 15 November 1998 (next to be held NA 2005); in April 2000, the constitution was amended reducing the presidential term from seven to five years, enforceable as of 2005, and allowing the president to be reelected only once; it is unclear whether this amendment will be applied retroactively or not; prime minister appointed by the president with the consent of the legislature
election results: Blaise COMPAORE reelected president with 87.5% percent of the vote |
| Legislative
Branch: |
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (111 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: National Assembly election last held 5 May 2002 (next to be held NA May 2007)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CDP 57, RDA-ADF 17, PDP/PS 10, CFD 5, PAI 5, others 17 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Supreme Court; Appeals Court |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
African Democratic Rally-Alliance for Democracy and Federation or RDA-ADF [Herman YAMEOGO]; Confederation for Federation and Democracy or CFD [Amadou Diemdioda DICKO]; Congress for Democracy and Progress or CDP [Roch Marc-Christian KABORE]; Movement for Tolerance and Progress or MTP [Nayabtigungou Congo KABORE]; Party for African Independence or PAI [Philippe OUEDRAOGO]; Party for Democracy and Progress or PDP [Joseph KI-ZERBO]; Union of Greens for the Development of Burkina Faso or UVDB [Ram OVEDRAGO] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
13,574,820
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2004 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 46% (male 3,135,098; female 3,114,354)
15-64 years: 51.1% (male 3,391,848; female 3,545,115)
65 years and over: 2.9% (male 163,137; female 225,268) (2004 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 16.8 years
male: 16.4 years
female: 17.2 years (2004 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Burkinabe (singular and plural)
adjective: Burkinabe |
| Ethnic groups: |
Mossi over 40%, Gurunsi, Senufo, Lobi, Bobo, Mande, Fulani |
| Religions: |
indigenous beliefs 40%, Muslim 50%, Christian (mainly Roman Catholic) 10% |
| Languages: |
French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
65,400 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
227,000 (2003) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: all services only fair
domestic: microwave radio relay, open-wire, and radiotelephone communication stations
international: country code - 226; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 3, FM 17, shortwave 3 (2002) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
1 (2002) |
| Internet country
code: |
.bf |
| Internet hosts: |
442 (2003) |
| Internet users: |
48,000 (2003) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
total: 622 km
narrow gauge: 622 km 1.000-m gauge
note:: another 660 km of this railway extends into Cote D'Ivoire (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 12,506 km
paved: 2,001 km
unpaved: 10,505 km (1999) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
none |
| Merchant marine: |
|
| Airports: |
33 (2003 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 2
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 31
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 17 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
|
|
