Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in western Africa. It's slightly larger than Colorado and is mostly flat with undulating plains and hills in the west and southeast. The country's climate is tropical with warm, dry winters and hot dry summers.

Burkina Faso, with a population of 13 million, is one of the poorest countries in the world. With no coastlines and ports, the country has few natural resources, fragile soil and a highly unequal distribution of income. About 90% of the population is engaged in (mainly subsistence) agriculture, which is vulnerable to variations in rainfall. Nearly a half million people in Burkina Faso have HIV/AIDS. French is the official language, although native African languages belonging to the Sudanic family are spoken by 90% of the population. Most of the population practices indigenous religions the rest are Muslim and Christian.

Originally colonized by the French, Burkina Faso gained its independence in 1960. Repeated military coups during the 1970s and 1980s were followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s. Burkina Faso's high population density and limited natural resources result in poor economic prospects for the majority of its citizens. Every year, several hundred thousand seasonal farm workers seek employment in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana and are adversely affected by instability in those regions.

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