About Alim's Country

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in western Africa. It's mostly flat with undulating plains and hills in the west and southeast. The country's climate is tropical with warm, dry winters, hot, dry read more...summers and a three-month rainy season. Burkina Faso, with a population of 13 million, is one of the poorest countries in the world. With no coastlines and ports, the country has few natural resources, fragile soil and an unequal distribution of income. About 90 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture, (mainly subsistence) which is vulnerable to variations in rainfall. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country is 1.6% of the population. French is the official language, although native African languages belonging to the Sudanic family are spoken by 90 percent of the population. About 50 percent of the population is Muslim, 40 percent practice indigenous religions and about 10 percent are Christian, both Catholic and Protestant. Originally colonized by the French, Burkina Faso gained its independence in 1960. Repeated military coups during the 1970s and 1980s were followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s. Burkina Faso's high population density and limited natural resources result in poor economic prospects for the majority of its citizens. Every year, thousands of seasonal farm workers seek employment in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana where they are adversely affected by instability in those regions.