Burkina Faso

In brief

Burkina Faso is a country in West Africa. Its capital is Ouagadougou. With 24.1 million inhabitants in 2025, it ranks 59th in the world by population, out of the 195 countries recognised by the UN. Its area is 272,967 km². Landlocked, it shares land borders with Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Togo.

GDP per capita stands at $1,148 (2025), 172nd in the world. Life expectancy at birth is 61.3 years (2024). 29% of the population lives in cities.

History of Burkina Faso

The Mossi kingdoms, centred on Ouagadougou, dominated the region for centuries. Colonised by France, the territory became Upper Volta, independent on 5 August 1960. In 1984 Captain Thomas Sankara, who had taken power the year before, renamed it Burkina Faso, “the land of upright people”. He was assassinated in 1987; Blaise Compaoré then ruled until the popular uprising of 2014. Since 2015 the country has faced a jihadist insurgency, and the army took power in 2022.

Geography of Burkina Faso

A landlocked country, Burkina Faso is a savanna plateau, drier in the Sahelian north. It is watered by the three branches of the Volta: the Mouhoun, the Nakambé and the Nazinon.

Map of Burkina Faso

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Flag of Burkina Faso

The flag of Burkina Faso is red and green. Its official proportions are 2:3 (height to width).

• Green49%
• Red49%
• Yellow2%

Share of the flag’s surface taken by each colour.

What the flag stands for

Red over green, with a yellow star in the centre, adopted in 1984 under Sankara. Red evokes the revolutionary struggle, green the country’s farming wealth, and the star the revolution guiding the nation.

Sources: Wikipedia, articles “Burkina Faso” and “Flag of Burkina Faso”.

See also: flags with a star.

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Fact file

Economy and society