Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso: population, cities

Population

Population

According to Countryaah website, Burkina Faso has about 20 million people.

Ethnic composition

The population of Burkina Faso is made up of around 60 ethnic groups. About 40% of them are Mossi, who mostly live in the region of the Mossi Plateau around the capital.

The west of the country is mainly populated by Dioula (Bobo) and the Sahel zone in the north and northeast of the country by the Fulani (Peul). In addition, the Gourmantche, Gurunsi, Senufo and Lobi are among the ethnic groups living in Burkina Faso.

Religious affiliation

About 55% of the residents of Burkina Faso are of the Islamic faith, about 30% are followers of traditional African religions and another 15% are Christian.

National languages The official language of the country is French. In addition, Mooré, Djoula and Fulfulde are spoken.

Capital and other cities

Ouagadougou

The capital of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougou with a population of over 2 million.

Other cities are:

• Bobo-Dioulasso with around 370,000 residents
• Koudougou with around 90,000 residents
• Ouahigouya with around 60,000 residents
• Banfora with around 60,000 residents

Burkina Faso: geography, map

Defined by DigoPaul, Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa. It lies on the so-called Upper Guinea threshold, a hilly plateau. The north of the country lies in the Sahel zone, in the south there is a sandstone massif.

Burkina Faso covers an area of 274,000 km². Thereof:

• Forest

  Around 24% of the country is forested.

• Meadow and pasture land

  Around 37% of the land is used as meadow or pasture land.

• Fields and fields

  Around 13% of the land is used as arable land or fields, especially for growing manioc, sweet potatoes, millet, maize, rice and pulses (subsistence farming), as well as coffee, tea and cotton for export.

Burkina Faso shares a border with a total of six states. They are:

• Benin with a length of 306 km
• Ivory Coast with a length of 584 km
• Ghana with a length of 549 km
• Mali with a length of 1,000 km
• Niger with a length of 628 km as well
• Togo with a length of 126 km.

Longitude and latitude

Burkina Faso extends over the following geographical latitude (abbreviation Δφ) and geographical longitude (abbreviation Δλ):

You can find detailed information on this subject under Longitude and Latitude.

Time of the country

For Burkina Faso, Central European Time (CET) applies, i.e. the time without summer time. A minus sign means that it is earlier there, a plus sign that it is later than CET:

Further and detailed explanations of the time can be found under Time zones, time.

The highest point of the sun in Ouagadougou

Ouagadougou is located at a northern latitude of around φ = 12.5 ° and thus in the middle of the tropics. If the declination δ of the sun has the value of 12 ° 30 'N, and thus the image point of the sun is exactly above the city, the sun is perpendicular there. This happens exactly twice a year, roughly 1 month after March 21st and 1 month before September 21st.

Attention

If the image point of the sun and thus the declination δ is north of the latitude of Ouagadougou, the sun is not in the south at noon, as in our latitudes, but in the north. In this case, the sun moves from east to north to west, where, like us, it sets.

Mountains, rivers, lakes

The highest point in the country is the Tena Kourou with a height of 749 m. Other higher mountains in the country are the Pics de Sindou and Chaîne de Banfora in the south-west of the country.

The three source rivers of the Volta originate in Burkina Faso, which reaches a total length of about 1,600 km and flows into the Atlantic. These are the Black Volta (Mouhoun) with a length of 1,352 km, the White Volta (Nakambé) and the Red Volta (Nazinon), which flows into the White Volta after about 320 km. Other rivers in Burkina Faso are the Comoé with a length of around 230 m, the Pendjari (border river to Benin) as well as Béli, Goroual, Féléol, which flow into it.

There are no larger lakes in Burkina Faso. Smaller lakes are Tingrelasee, Bamsee, Demsee, Bagré and Kompienga reservoirs.

Gold mines

Burkina Faso has no small amount of gold. But most of the exploitation and profits go to Canadian mining companies, who are contractually authorized to do so. But also small mines are operated illegally by the locals.