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BURKINA FASO
5 August 1960
Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) gains independence from France
Burkina Faso is a small, poor, landlocked country in West Africa. It is bounded by Niger to the east, Mali to the north and west, and Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Ivory Coast to the south. Burkina Faso, previously known as Upper Volta, was once part of French West Africa since 1896 until 1960.
The first people to settle in the area are the Mossi people in the 11th and 13th century. They established powerful kingdoms such as the Ouagadougou, Tenkodogo, and Yatenga. These kingdoms were centres of the trans-Saharan trade. These kingdoms were able to resist conquest by the Mali and Songhay Empires. Later in 1890, it was colonised by the French who rewrote the borders, according to these present borders.
The country marched towards independence under a Mossi dominated party. Upper Volta became independent in 1960. In 1984, the country changed its name to Burkina Faso. Because of Burkina Faso is a poor country; it has not being able to satisfy the needs of its populations. This has resulted in numerous coups and an exodus of young people to more prosperous countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Nigeria.
For a broad overview of African independence, go to our site’s coverage of African Independence (chronology and history)
Links:
http://www.discoverfrance.net/Colonies/Burkina_Faso.shtml - to read a history of the country.
http://www.alovelyworld.com/webbur/index2.html - to view photos from the country
http://www.burkinaembassy-usa.org/business.html for business information about the country.
http://csinburkinafaso.hitspot.net/student_activities.htm is a must-see for educators and learners
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/africa/burkina_faso/
history.htm covers Burkina Faso history briefly
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/bf.htm offers basic geographic and historical info
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/burkina.html is a richly varied site of annotated links
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/uv.html on the CIA world factbook site, provides brief, if one-sided information on government, history, economy, etc. and a map
http://www.drums.org/djembefaq/index.htm explores music culture there
http://allafrica.com/burkinafaso/ for current news on Burkina Faso
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