Simple directory > Regional > Burkina Faso

Country : Burkina Faso Official name: République Démocratique Populaire de Burkina Faso (Popular Democratic Republic of Burkina Faso) Head of State: President Captain Blaise Compaoré (since 1987, re-elected 13 November 2005) Head of government: Prime Minister Paramanga Ernest Yonli (since Nov 2000) Ruling party: Coalition led by Congrès pour la Démocratie et le Progrès (CDP) (Congress for Democracy and Progress) Area: 274,000 square km Population: 12.44 million (2004) Capital: Ouagadougou Official language: French Currency: CFA franc (CFAf) = 100 centimes (Communauté Financière Africaine (African Financial Community) franc). New notes have been issued; old notes cease to be legal tender from Jan 2005. Exchange rate: CFAf507.21 per US$ (Nov 2004); CFAf655.95 per euro (pegged from Jan 1999) GDP per capita: US$218 (2003) GDP real growth: 6.50% (2003) Labour force: 5.00 million (2003) Inflation: 1.70% (2003) Balance of trade: -US$275.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$1.30 billion (2003)

Historical profile

Formerly an ancient African kingdom, the area was taken over by France in the nineteenth century.

1958 The country was given self-government.

1960 Granted full independence from France as Upper Volta.

1980–82 The first president, Maurice Yameogo, was ousted by Colonel Sangoule Lamizama, who was in turn deposed by another colonel, who was ousted by a group of sergeants and corporals, later joined by some officers.

1983 Captain Thomas Sankara took over as president and changed Upper Volta's name.

1987 Sankara was assassinated. Captain Blaise Compaoré seized power.

1991 Compaoré was elected president, following the withdrawal of opposition candidates.

1992 The Organisation pour la Démocratie Populaire-Mouvement du Travail (ODP-MT) won a convincing victory in the legislative elections.

1998 Compaoré won the presidential election, which was boycotted by opposition parties.

1999 Prime Minister Ouédraogo and his cabinet resigned, but he and his cabinet were reinstated by presidential decree.

2000 Student demonstrations were broken up by police who allegedly killed and tortured some of the protestors. The IMF and the World Bank agreed US$400 million in debt relief under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The President appointed Paramanga Ernest Yonli as prime minister. Advisers to the UN claimed that Burkina Faso had helped destabilise the region by breaking a UN arms and diamonds embargo.

2001 International donors agreed to fund a US$85 million programme to combat the HIV/Aids epidemic in Burkina Faso.

2002 The Congrès pour la Démocratie et le Progrès (CDP) (Congress for Democracy and Progress) retained its majority in the parliamentary election. Prime Minister Yonli appointed a government.

2003 In February, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) announced funding for the fight against HIV/Aids, poverty reduction and other activities.

2004 Army captain, Luther Ouali, was jailed for 10 years for planning a coup against President Compaoré in October 2003.

There's no web links here.