Geography

Area; 274,200 sq. km. (106,000 sq. mi.); about the size of Colorado. Cities; Capital--Ouagadougou (pop. 1.5 million). Other cities--Bobo-Dioulasso (500,000), Koudougou (90,000). Terrain; Savanna; brushy plains and scattered hills. Climate; Sahelian; pronounced wet and dry seasons.

People

Nationality; Noun and adjective--Burkinabe (accent on last e). Population (2010); 15.73 million. Annual population growth rate (2010); 3.1%. Ethnic groups; 63 ethnic groups among which are Mossi (almost half of the total population), followed by Gourmantché, Fulani, Dioula, and Bissa. Religions; Muslim 60%, Catholic 19%, animist 15%, Protestant 5%. Languages; French (official), Moore, Peulh, Gourma, Dioula. Education; Literacy (2009)--26%. Health; Infant mortality rate (2010)--91.7/1,000. Life expectancy (2010)--56.7 years. Work force; Agriculture--77.9%; industry--2.1%; commerce, services, and government--5.5%.

Government

Type; Republic. Independence; August 5, 1960. Constitution; June 11, 1991. Branches; Executive--president (head of state and Council of Ministers) prime minister (head of government). Legislative--one chamber. Judiciary--independent. Subdivisions; 13 regions, 45 provinces, 351 communes. Political parties; Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), Alliance for Democracy Federation/ African Democratic Assembly (ADF/RDA), Unity for the Renaissance/Sankarist Party (UNIR/PS), Unity for the Republic (UPR), Convention of Democratic Forces of Burkina (CFD/B), and numerous other small opposition parties. Suffrage; Direct universal. Government budget (2010); $2.4 billion. Defense; 5.5% of government budget.

Economy

GDP (2009); $9.1 billion. Annual growth rate (2009); 3.2%. Per capita GDP (2009); $580. Avg. inflation rate (2009); 2.6%. Natural resources; Manganese, gold, limestone, marble, phosphate, zinc, uranium. Agriculture (34% of GDP); Products--cotton, millet, sorghum, rice, livestock, peanuts, shea nuts, maize. Industry (26.5% of GDP); Type--mining, agricultural processing plants, brewing and bottling, light industry. Trade (2009); Exports--$855 million; cotton, gold, livestock, peanuts, shea nut products. Major markets--Singapore, Belgium, China, Thailand, Ghana, Niger. Imports--$783 million. Official exchange rate; Fixed to the euro. Communaute Financiere Africaine (CFA) francs 656=1 euro (2003; approx. CFA francs 579=U.S. $1; 2005; CFA francs 534=U.S. $1; 2009; approx. 472 CFA francs=U.S. $1).