Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a western African country of roughly 24.2M people, covering 274,200 km² with its capital at Ouagadougou. Its economy is worth about $20B in nominal terms, anchored by gold, cotton, livestock.
- Population
- 24.2M
- Projected population, 2026
Source: UN World Population Prospects - Capital
- Ouagadougou
- GDP
- $20B
- Area
- 274,200 km²
- Currency
- West African CFA franc
Map
Overview
Burkina Faso is a western African country of roughly 24.2M people, covering 274,200 km² with its capital at Ouagadougou. Its economy is worth about $20B in nominal terms, anchored by gold, cotton, livestock.
Government
Burkina Faso operates as a transitional government. Independence: 1960. Executive, legislative and judicial functions are exercised from Ouagadougou.
Economy
Nominal GDP is approximately $20B, or around $827 per capita. The currency in circulation is the West African CFA franc. Leading sectors are gold, cotton, livestock.
Population
Burkina Faso has a projected population, 2026 of 24,174,471 people (United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects 2024 Revision, Online Edition — medium variant), a density of roughly 88 people per km². Values from 2024 onwards are medium-variant projections rather than live counts.
Cities
The largest urban centres are Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, Koudougou. Ouagadougou serves as the seat of government.
History
Modern Burkina Faso took shape through pre-colonial states, the colonial partition of the late nineteenth century, and independence in 1960. Our History section covers each period in depth.
Languages
Widely used languages include French, Mooré, Dioula. Official-language policy shapes schooling, courts and broadcasting.
Culture
Music, cuisine, film, textiles and sport in Burkina Faso form part of a fast-growing creative economy with an expanding export footprint.
Education
Primary enrolment is near-universal in most of the region; the constraints sit at secondary completion, technical training and higher-education funding.
Healthcare
Health spending across Africa averages about 5.7% of GDP. Burkina Faso's system combines public facilities, private providers and donor-funded programmes.
Business
Company registration, tax administration and access to finance are the practical determinants of doing business in Burkina Faso. See our Business section for sector reporting.
Investment
Investors typically look at gold, infrastructure and consumer services. Regulatory clarity and FX access are the recurring diligence questions.
Tourism
Visitors come for landscape, heritage and city life. Entry requirements, seasonality and internal transport are covered in our Travel guides.
Transportation
Road remains dominant; rail, ports and aviation capacity vary sharply and are the focus of most current infrastructure investment.
Infrastructure
Electricity access, broadband coverage and logistics quality are the three infrastructure metrics most closely tied to Burkina Faso's growth outlook.
Statistics
Full time series for population, GDP, trade, inflation, internet usage, education, health, tourism, agriculture and climate are published in The360Africa Data Center.
Frequently asked questions
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