Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso, 1984 to today. Draft, not yet reviewed
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa. Formerly the Republic of Upper Volta, the country was renamed Burkina Faso on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara. There have been various coups d'état, in 1966, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, and twice in 2022, in January and September. Since 2025, Burkina Faso has formalised its exit from ECOWAS and La Francophonie, after it helped form the Alliance of Sahel States.
Seat of power: Ouagadougou
Rulers
Thomas Sankara
President of Burkina Faso, 1983–1987
He served as the first president of Burkina Faso from 1983 until his assassination in 1987. In 1984, he oversaw the renaming of the country as Burkina Faso, which means land of the upright people. His domestic policies included famine prevention, agrarian expansion, land reform, and suspending rural poll taxes.
Portrait of Thomas Sankara: The Militant/ Ernest Harsch, Public domain, file
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Blaise Compaoré
President of Burkina Faso, 1987–2014
He served as the second president of Burkina Faso from 1987 until his government was overthrown in 2014. He led a coup d'état during which Sankara was killed in 1987. His attempt to amend the constitution to extend his 27-year term led to the 2014 Burkinabé uprising, leaving him to resign and flee to the Ivory Coast.
Portrait of Blaise Compaoré: Office of the White House (Amanda Lucidon), Public domain, file
Michel Kafando
President of Burkina Faso, 2014–2015
He served as Interim President of Burkina Faso from 2014 to 2015. He was briefly ousted in the September 2015 coup attempt by the Regiment of Presidential Security, but he ultimately restored power within a week and disbanded the regiment.
Portrait of Michel Kafando: Etienne Ansotte / European Union, 2015 / EC - Audiovisual Service, CC BY 4.0, file
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Honoré Traoré
President of Burkina Faso, 2014–2014
He was a Burkinabé army general who served as the interim head of state of Burkina Faso for one day, from 31 October to 1 November 2014, following the overthrow of Blaise Compaoré's government in the 2014 Burkina Faso uprising.
Portrait of Honoré Traoré: Zoumana Wologo (VOA), Public domain, file
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Yacouba Isaac Zida
President of Burkina Faso, 2014–2014
He served as the Interim Head of State of Burkina Faso in November 2014. Zida was subsequently appointed Interim Prime Minister by Kafando.
Portrait of Yacouba Isaac Zida: U.S. Embassy Ouaga, Public domain, file
Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
President of Burkina Faso, 2015–2022
He served as the President of Burkina Faso from 2015 until he was deposed in 2022. He was elected president in the November 2015 general election, winning a majority in the first round of voting. On 24 January 2022, he was deposed and detained by the military in a coup d'état.
Portrait of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré: Théodore Boermans / European Commission, CC BY 4.0, file
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Chérif Sy
President of Burkina Faso, 2015–2015
He served as the transitional Head of Parliament from 2014 to 2015. He passed a range of reforms, such as revoking the death penalty, which had been used against journalists, including his friend Norbert Zongo.
Portrait of Chérif Sy: U.S. Embassy Ouagadougou, Public domain, file
Gilbert Diendéré
President of Burkina Faso, 2015–2015
He was the Chairman of the National Council for Democracy, the military junta that briefly seized power in Burkina Faso in the September 2015 coup d'état. He was appointed as chairman of the junta on 17 September 2015.
Portrait of Gilbert Diendéré: Master Sgt. Jeremiah Erickson, U.S. Air Force, Public domain, file
Ibrahim Traoré
President of Burkina Faso, 2022 to today
He has held power as the interim president of Burkina Faso since the overthrow of his predecessor in a 2022 coup. In September 2022, he led a coup against then-Interim President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and successfully ousted him. He has increasingly distanced Burkina Faso from France and ECOWAS, particularly by kicking out their troops.
Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba
President of Burkina Faso, 2022–2022
He served as interim president of Burkina Faso from 31 January 2022 to 30 September 2022, when he was removed in a coup d'état by his own military colleague, Ibrahim Traoré. He came to power on 24 January 2022, when he removed president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in a coup.
Portrait of Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba: Lamine Traoré (VOA), Public domain, file
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Culture
- The largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso is the Mossi people, who settled the area in the 11th and 13th centuries.
- During the Middle Ages, the Mossi established several separate kingdoms including those of Tenkodogo, Yatenga, Zandoma, and Ouagadougou.
- Approximately 63.8% of its population practices Islam, while 26.3% practices Christianity and 9% animistic religions, especially in the southwest of the country.
- The country's official languages are all national languages while Mooré is spoken by more than half of the population. There are more than 60 indigenous languages, and the constitution provides for other languages to be made official by law.
Picture
The ruins of Loropéni are a medieval heritage site near the town of Loropéni in southern Burkina Faso and were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2009.
Image: Rik Schuiling / TropCrop-TCS, CC BY-SA 4.0, file
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Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.