Burkina Faso
Capital:
Ouagadougou
Continent:
Africa
Maps:
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| African continent. Burkina Faso outlined in dark ink & shaded. |
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| A close up of Burkina Faso & its neighbors. |
Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Water Borders:
None
Total Area:
105,869 square miles
Five Largest Cities:
Ouagadougou, Bobo Dioulasso, Banfora, Koudougou, Ouahigouya
Famous Geographical Point:
Arli National Park
Famous Person:
Fanta Regina Nacro, filmmaker
Book Set In/About:
Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-87 by Thomas Sankara
In 1983, Sankara led a popular coup and became leader of Burkina Faso. He did lots of good things for the country, including changing its colonial name of Upper Volta to its current name. This is his book on the revolution. He was assassinated in a coup in 1987. The man who had him killed ended up ruling as a dictator for 27 years.
Movie Set In/About:
"Yaaba (Grandmother)" (1989), directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo
A young boy befriends the village outcast, who has been accused of witchcraft.
Headline of the Day:
"Burkina Faso President Takes Defence Portfolio in New Cabinet" on Yahoo News.
In a country that's already had multiple military coups, the current president, who's a civilian, wants (perhaps unsurprisingly) to keep tight control of the military.
Famous Geographical Point:
Arli National Park
Famous Person:
Fanta Regina Nacro, filmmaker
Book Set In/About:
Thomas Sankara Speaks: The Burkina Faso Revolution, 1983-87 by Thomas Sankara
In 1983, Sankara led a popular coup and became leader of Burkina Faso. He did lots of good things for the country, including changing its colonial name of Upper Volta to its current name. This is his book on the revolution. He was assassinated in a coup in 1987. The man who had him killed ended up ruling as a dictator for 27 years.
Movie Set In/About:
"Yaaba (Grandmother)" (1989), directed by Idrissa Ouedraogo
A young boy befriends the village outcast, who has been accused of witchcraft.
Headline of the Day:
"Burkina Faso President Takes Defence Portfolio in New Cabinet" on Yahoo News.
In a country that's already had multiple military coups, the current president, who's a civilian, wants (perhaps unsurprisingly) to keep tight control of the military.
Ah yes, the former Upper Volta. Burkina Faso is a much better name!
ReplyDeleteI think also this wins (so far) in the category of most vowels used when listing top five cities.
Burkina Faso means "the country of honorable people," which I think is quite lovely and yes, much better than Upper Volta.
ReplyDeleteI set up this post several days before it went live, and so ended up with a rather benign headline. The day before it went live, there was a terrorist attack. 29 people were killed. I haven't seen anybody talking about it. :-/