Burkina Faso
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Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation in western Africa.
Current Environmental Issues: recent droughts and desertification severely affecting agricultural activities, population distribution, and the economy; overgrazing; soil degradation; deforestation.
Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) achieved independence from France in 1960. Repeated military coups during the 1970s and 1980s were followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s. Current President Blaise Compaore came to power in a 1987 military coup and has won every election since then. Burkina Faso's high population density and limited natural resources result in poor economic prospects for the majority of its citizens. Recent unrest in Cote d'Ivoire and northern Ghana has hindered the ability of several hundred thousand seasonal Burkinabe farm workers to find employment in neighboring countries.
Geography
Location: Western Africa, north of Ghana
Geographic Coordinates: 13 00 N, 2 00 W
Area: 274,200 km2 (273,800 km2 land and 400 km2 water)
arable land: 17.66%
permanent crops: 0.22%
other: 82.12% (2005)
Land Boundaries: 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)
Natural Hazards: recurring droughts
Terrain: Mostly flat to dissected, undulating plains; hills in west and southeast. Its' lowest point is Mouhan (Black Volta) River (200 metres) and its' highest point is Tena Kourou (749 metres).
Climate: Tropical; warm, dry winters; hot, wet summers
Government
Government Type: parliamentary republic
Capital: Ouagadougou
Independence Date: 5 August 1960 (from France)
Legal System: based on French civil law system and customary law; has not accepted compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction
International Environmnetal Agreements
Burkina Faso is party to international agreements on Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, and Wetlands.
People and Society
Population: 15,264,735
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 46.3% (male 3,549,034/female 3,521,684)
15-64 years: 51.1% (male 3,885,124/female 3,922,198)
65 years and over: 2.5% (male 154,476/female 232,219) (2008 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 3.109% (2008 est.)
Birthrate: 44.68 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death Rate: 13.59 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net Migration Rate: N/A
Life Expectancy at Birth: 52.55 years
Total Fertility Rate: 6.34 children born/woman (2008 est.)
Languages: French (official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population
Literacy: 21.8% (male: 29.4% - female: 15.2% [2003 est.])
Water
Total Renewable Water Resources: 17.5 cu km (2001)
Freshwater Withdrawal: Total: 0.8 cu km/yr (13% domestic, 1% industrial, 86% agricultural). Per capita: 60 cu m/yr (2000)
Agriculture
Agricultural Products: cotton, peanuts, shea nuts, sesame, sorghum, millet, corn, rice; livestock
Irrigated Lands: 250 sq km (2003)
Resources
Natural Resources: manganese, limestone, marble; small deposits of gold, phosphates, pumice, salt.
Energy
| Production | Consumption | Exports | Imports | Reserves | |
| Electricity | 516.2 million kWh (2005) | 480.1 million kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2005) | |
| Oil | 0 bbl/day (2005) | 8,300 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 0 bbl/day (2004) | 8,158 bbl/day (2004) | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.) |
| Natural Gas | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) | 0 cu m (2005 est.) |
| Source: CIA Factbook | |||||
Conflict
International Disputes: In September 2007, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) intervened to attempt to resolve the dispute over two villages along the Benin-Burkina Faso border that remain from 2005 International Court of Justice decision; in recent years citizens and rogue security forces rob and harass local populations on both sides of the poorly-defined Burkina Faso-Niger border; despite the presence of over 9,000 UN forces (UNOCI) in Cote d'Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict continues to spread into neighboring states who can no longer send their migrant workers to work in Ivorian cocoa plantations
Economy
One of the poorest countries in the world, landlocked Burkina Faso has few natural resources and a weak industrial base. About 90% of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture, which is vulnerable to periodic drought. Cotton is the main cash crop and the government has joined with three other cotton producing countries in the region - Mali, Niger, and Chad - to lobby in the World Trade Organization for fewer subsidies to producers in other competing countries. Since 1998, Burkina Faso has embarked upon a gradual but successful privatization of state-owned enterprises. Having revised its investment code in 2004, Burkina Faso hopes to attract foreign investors. Thanks to this new code and other legislation favoring the mining sector, the country has seen an upswing in gold exploration and production. While the bitter internal crisis in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire is beginning to be resolved, it is still having a negative effect on Burkina Faso's trade and employment. In 2007 higher costs for energy and imported foodstuffs, as well as low cotton prices, dampened a GDP growth rate that had averaged 6% in the last 10 years. Burkina Faso received a Millennium Challenge Account threshold grant to improve girls' education at the primary school level, and appears likely to receive a grant in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, and land reform.
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $17.2 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $6.977 billion (2007 est.)
GDP-real growth rate: 4.2% (2007 est.)
GDP-per capita (PPP): $1,300 (2007 est.)
GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 29.7%
industry: 19.4%
services: 50.9% (2007 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line: 46.4% (2004)
Industries: cotton lint, beverages, agricultural processing, soap, cigarettes, textiles, gold
Exports: cotton, livestock, gold
Export Partners: China 33.3%, Singapore 15.3%, Thailand 7%, Ghana 6.3%, Niger 4.7% (2006)
Imports: capital goods, foodstuffs, petroleum
Import Partners: Cote d'Ivoire 25.7%, France 20.5%, Togo 7.1%, Belgium 4% (2006)
Economic Aid Recipient: $659.6 million (2005)
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF);
Further Reading