Burkina Faso

American  

[ber-kee-nuh fah-soh] / bərˈki nə ˈfɑ soʊ /

noun

1. a republic in western Africa: formerly part of French West Africa. 106,111 sq. mi. (274,827 sq. km). Ouagadougou.

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Burkina Faso British  

/ bɜːˈkiːnəˈfæsəʊ /

noun

1. Former name (until 1984): Upper Volta. an inland republic in W Africa: dominated by Mossi kingdoms (10th–19th centuries); French protectorate established in 1896; became an independent republic in 1960; consists mainly of a flat savanna plateau. Official language: French; Mossi and other African languages also widely spoken. Religion: mostly animist, with a large Muslim minority. Currency: franc. Capital: Ouagadougou. Pop: 17 812 961 (2013 est). Area: 273 200 sq km (105 900 sq miles)

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Burkina Faso Cultural  

1. Republic in west Africa, formerly called Upper Volta, bordered by Niger to the north and east, Benin on the southeast, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast on the south, and Mali on the west and north. Its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou. Burkina Faso gained independence from France in 1960.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Burkina Faso

A growing Islamist insurgency has resulted in almost 10,000 fatalities across Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger over the past year, according to data analyzed by the Pentagon-funded Africa Center for Strategic Studies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

“What’s gone downhill is security,” Wilcox said, fingering Mali and Burkina Faso.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

Traoré has presented such projects as evidence of Burkina Faso becoming more economically self-reliant, alongside investments in industries including cotton, textiles and food processing.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

Both are from the African country Burkina Faso.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

“You don’t know America. You say Senegal and American people, they say, Where is that? My friend from Burkina Faso, they ask her, your country in Latin America?”

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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