Western Africa · BFA
Burkina Faso
The story · 9 chapters
How it was drawn
Village societies and Mossi kingdoms that held off the empires of the Niger bend, made into the French colony of Upper Volta, erased in 1932, restored in 1947, and renamed Burkina Faso in 1984.
Play the story Take the first lessonThrough the ages
Rivals in history
The kingdoms, empires and states Burkina Faso fought or stood against, from the first to today.
- Songhai Empire1483 to 1498
Mossi raids reach the Niger bend. The Songhai ruler Sunni Ali defeats a Mossi army in 1483, and Askia Muhammad wages a holy war against the Mossi in 1497, but cannot conquer their kingdoms.
- France1896 to 1960
French columns take Ouagadougou in 1896 and impose taxes, forced labour and military recruitment. The Volta-Bani revolt of 1915 and 1916 is crushed. Upper Volta becomes independent peacefully on 5 August 1960.
- Mali1974 to 1986
Both countries claim the Agacher strip on their northern border. Short wars break out in 1974 and at Christmas 1985. In 1986 the International Court of Justice splits the strip roughly in half, and both sides accept the ruling.
- Jihadist groups (JNIM and Islamic State Sahel)Since 2015Still open
Since 2015 groups linked to al-Qaeda and to the Islamic State have attacked from Mali and from the north. They now contest large parts of the country, and massacres of civilians and soldiers continue.
Today
Burkina Faso now
Many of Burkina Faso’s ethnic groups arrived in the region between the 12th and 15th centuries. The Gurma and Mossi peoples established several of the largest kingdoms in the area and used horse-mounted warriors in military campaigns. Of the various Mossi kingdoms, the most powerful were Ouagadougou and Yatenga. In the late 19th century, European states competed for control of the region. France eventually conquered the area and established it as a French protectorate.
- Capital
- Ouagadougou
- Government
- presidential republic
- Head of government
- Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla
- Head of state
- Ibrahim Traoré
- Languages
- Bissa, Dioula, Mooré
- Area
- 274,200 km²
Through time
Then and now
- Population23.0 million2023 · 4.2 million in 1950
- Life expectancy61.1 years2023 · 33.0 years in 1950
- GDP per person$1,7042022 · $756 in 1950
- Living in cities29%2025 · 4% in 1950
- Literacy42%2023
- Political regimeClosed autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
- Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
- Military spending3.3% of GDP2025
- War deaths19 per 100,0002025
Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.
Relations
Close partners and tensions
Close partners
- France
- United States
Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.