Burkina Faso is a land locked country in Western Africa lying between the Sahara desert and the Gulf of Guinea, north of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin. It is a former French colony and gained full independence in August 1960 as Upper Volta. French remains as the official language of the country.

The Republic of Upper Volta was established in December 1958 as a self-governing colony with the name Burkina Faso being adopted in 1984 when it was renamed by then-President Thomas Sankara.

Burkina Faso means "land of incorruptible people" and its citizens are called Burkinabe. The population of Burkina Faso is 19.8 million as at September 2018, based on the latest United Nations estimates and its capital city is Ouagadougou.

Burkina Faso is an extremely poor country with a GDP per capita of only $688. As a comparison the GDP per capita for UK is $42,514 (9th in the world as at September 2018) US $53,128 (5th) and Switzerland $76,667 (1st).

It is a religiously diverse society with Islam being the main religion. Around 60% of the population follow Islam, 23% practice Christianity (19% Roman Catholic 4% Protestant) and a further 15% follow Animism. Atheism is virtually non-existent.

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