It was ranked 184 out of the 191 countries in the Human Development Index published by the United Nations in 2022. (http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/BFA). Some significant data on development in Burkina Faso are:

– Per capita income is estimated at 755€.

– The infant mortality rate for children younger than 5 years old is 9%

– The percentage of children between 3 and 5 years old in school: 6%

– The adult literacy rate is possibly 30%

– Life expectancy at birth: 62 years

An old French colony, Burkina Faso became independent in 1960. Captain Ibrahim Traore has been the president since September 2022, after a coup d’État, with which he overthrew Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who presided for 8 months, after his own coup d’État in January 2022. Previously, Roch Marc Christian Kabore presided the country for 6 years (2015 – 2021), suceeding Blaise Compaore who presided for 27 years (1987 – 2014)

In September 2023, Burkina Faso joined Mali and Niger to form the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which in July 2024 became the Confederation of Sahel States. This new entity has as its main objectives: (i) combating terrorism; (ii) restoring the full sovereignty of each member country; and (iii) achieving broader regional integration, including economic, political, and monetary dimensions.

The official language is French, although only a minority of the population speaks it.

Religion: 60,5% Muslim; 19% Catholic; 15,3% Animist; 4.2% Protestant and the rest other traditional African religions.

(Source “National Institute of Statistics and Demography”)