Burkina Faso

Overview

The organised visitor might like to make their visit during one of the many festivals that the country puts on, such as the Pan African Film Festival, FESPACO, the Ouagadougou international arts and crafts fair, the Fete des Masques and the daily Moro-Naba ceremony.

Semi-desert contrasts with the water-rich areas in a way that is clearly expected, but the visitor will find it far more shocking once they are actually here. Markets, camel trips and ordinary trekking should all be looked at or taken part in as they are simple ways of getting closer to the people and their country.

The international airport is in the capital, Ougadougou, which is the place to go for the national museum and crafts centre and the university of the same name. Nearby are works of art that are being carved from rocks by international artists.

History

Until the end of the 19th century the history of Burkina Faso was dominated by the empire-building Mossi who are believed to have come from central or eastern Africa sometime in the 11th century. For centuries the Mossi peasant was both farmer and soldier and the Mossi people were able to defend their religious beliefs and social structure against forcible attempts to convert them to Islam by Muslims from the northwest.

When the French arrived and claimed the area in 1896 Mossi resistance ended with the capture of their capital at Ouagadougou. In 1919 certain provinces from Cote d'Ivoire were united into a separate colony called the Upper Volta in the French West Africa federation. In 1932 the new colony was dismembered in a move to economize; it was reconstituted in 1937 as an administrative division called the Upper Coast. After World War II the Mossi renewed their pressure for separate territorial status and on September 4 1947 Upper Volta became a French West African territory again in its own right.

A revision in the organization of French Overseas Territories began with the passage of the Basic Law (Loi Cadre) of July 23 1956. This act was followed by reorganizational measures approved by the French parliament early in 1957 that ensured a large degree of self-government for individual territories. Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French community on December 11 1958.

Upper Volta achieved independence on August 5 1960. The first president Maurice Yameogo was the leader of the Voltaic Democratic...more