Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. Landlocked, dry, dusty and hot yet its people are known to be among the friendliest in West Africa.
With only two big cities, Ouagadougou the capital, and Bobo Dioulasso, the city were we live, the country side plays an important part in the lives of the Burkinabè.
Relatively small towns and cities are scattered in the bush. Most of those places are without running water or electricity. Medical facilities are very scars or non- existent. About 85% of the population is dependent on subsistence farming and the intermittent rainfall. The annual average income is about $300.
The Burkinabè are very hospitable and the often-simple meals are readily shared with anyone that drops in. Refusing such hospitality is a violation of good African manners. A meal usually consists out of to, a corn of millet hash with a sauce.
Aids
Aids has left its ravishing impact on the country. The former trade routes to Abidjan, the economical capital of Côte d'Ivoire, were a means of spreading the disease to neighboring countries. Bobo Dioulasso, being the first major city across the border, has been hard hit. Aids has had an impact on the economy as well. The victims come out of all layers of society, including the church.
Religion
Though traditional religions are practiced by 25.6% of the population,
two other faiths are represented in Burkina Faso: Islam represents
52% and Christianity 17.6% This includes both the Protestants and
the Catholics. Protestantism only represents about 5%
Languages
There are over 72 distinct ethno-linguistic groups in four major
language families. Some tribes are: Mossi, Bobo, Fulani, Samo
and Dafine. Some of the languages: Moré, Samo, Bobo, Jula
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 up to their present location from Northern Ghana, (where there exists the ethnically related Dagomba group). 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 Côte 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.
