1. The Colonialism of:
Burkina Faso
By Tyra Robinson

2. Geography
• Area: 274,200 sq. km. (106,000 sq.
mi.); about the size of Colorado.
• Cities: Capital--Ouagadougou (pop.
1 million). Other cities--Bobo-
• Dioulasso (410,000), Koudougou
(83,000).
• Terrain: Savanna; brushy plains
and scattered hills.
• Climate: Sahelian; pronounced wet
and dry seasons.

3. There are 3 major
rivers, the Black,
Red, and White
Voltas, which run

4. Mount Tenakourou
Village on top of Mount Tenakourou

5. Sahel region located at the
Southern border of the Sahara
Desert
Savanna region located near
rainforests

6. Climate :
Sahelian; pronounced wet
and dry seasons

8. Burkina Faso: Mossi Culture

9. Pre-colonial
Remained in power
until the 19th century
11th century A.D. 17th century
•Mossi entered
region 11th to the
13th century as
warrior group

10. Colonial Period
World
1870 1896 1899 1919 1932 War I
European arrival
Mossi Upper Upper Volta
defeated by Volta now became Upper Volta’s
French military separate territory
zone colony divided
•Germa
n •Niger
•British •Mali
•French
•Cote d’
Ivoire

11. The historian recalls the day
Senegal gained its
independence and the hopes
people held for its future.
“At school we were not allowed to speak our own national languages. We had what
they call a symbol; it was a small piece of wood on which they would draw a donkey
with big ears.
In the classroom if you would speak your national language you would be given this
symbol, that piece of wood and it would go around and when we came back, the
master would ask who has the symbol, of course you had to say you had the symbol
and they would beat you.
The donkey means in fact that if you speak your language you speak the language
of a donkey. So it was a way really to despise the national language.
We were not taught about African history. The part of the African history that was
taught was saying that the African leaders, that were regarded as national heroes
by the people, were barbarians, they were dictators, they were people who used to
kill their own people. They were considered as barbarians by the French textbook.
In the meantime they would teach us that the ancestors of the French were our
ancestors, we were taught to say that, which was totally ridiculous." The historian
recalls the day Senegal gained its independence and the hopes people held for its
future. - Abdullah Bathily

12. First President: Maurice Yameogo
Upper Volta
gained
independence
from France on
8/5/1960
INDEPENDENCE •RDA dominate
political force
•Opposition parties
banned

13. First Republic:
•Tight restrictions on
government
spending
•Re-imposed
Yameogo’s political
ban but promised to
restore civilian
government in 4 yrs.
Second Republic:
•Provided him
presidency for 4 yrs.
•Allowed military to
participate in
political institutions .
Major Lamazina
took over on
Third Republic:
January 4,1966
Limited the number of
with military political parties in the
accompaniment national elections that
followed.

14. TO:
FROM:
Burkina
Faso
Upper
Volta “ Land of the Upright
Men”

15. Capt. Blaise Compaore
came to power in 1978
“He pledged to pursue the
goals of the revolution but
to “rectify” Sankura’s
“deviations” from the
original aims. Compaore
reversed most of Sankara's
policies and combined the
leftist party he headed with
more centrist parties after
the 1989 arrest and
execution of two colonels
who had supported
Compaore and governed
with him up to that point.”

16. Timeline:
1998 - Compaore wins presidential election by a landslide.
1999 June - General strike over economic grievances and alleged human rights violations.
1999 August - State-owned mining company Soremib announces the closure of the country's biggest gold mine.
2000 December - Government agrees to set up UN-run body to monitor weapons imports after allegations that it has been
involved in smuggling arms to rebels in Sierra Leone and Angola.
2004 April - Military tribunal tries 13 people accused of plotting coup against President Compaore in October 2003. Army
captain Luther Ouali jailed for 10 years for masterminding plot.
2005 November - President Compaore wins a third straight term in office.
2006 December - Burkina Faso postpones a regional economic summit after deadly gun battles between police and soldiers
in the capital.
2007 May - The ruling party wins a majority in parliamentary polls.
2008 April - Two-day general strike follows weeks of protests about high living costs and call for wage increases.
2009 April - Parliament passes a law requiring at least 30% of candidates put forward for election by political parties to be
women.
2010 July - France, US issue travel warnings, citing the possibility of kidnappings by al-Qaeda operatives.
2010 November - Gold mine officially opened. Premier Tertius Zongo says it will earn substantial revenue for the country.
Presidential elections. President Compaore gains another term in office.
2011 March - Weeks of violent protests follow the death of a student in police custody.
2011 April - Soldiers, presidential guards mutiny over unpaid allowances. Thousands of people protest over food prices.
2011 July - Seven people are killed when government forces suppress mutiny in Burkina Faso's second city, Bobo Dioulasso.
2012 January - President Compaore sacks head of Burkina Faso's customs service, Ousmane Guiro, following the seizure of
nearly $4m in two large suitcases traced by police to Mr Guiro.
Timeline provided by http://www.bbc.co.uk

17. military dictatorships
“Growth in 2010 was thus led more by consumption than investment.
This led to an increase in imports, particularly petroleum products, the
effect of which was largely offset by a strong rise in exports,
particularly gold. The current account deficit was thus partially
absorbed in 2010 to around 2.7% of GDP. “
“Protests are growing against the ruling party
and recent upheavals involving the army are
tell-tale signs of what may come.”
and faltering economies
Burkina is attempting to improve the economy by developing its
mineral resources (mostly gold) improving its infrastructure, making its
agricultural and livestock more productive and competitive, and
stabilizing the supplies and prices of food grains.

18. Environment
The major environmental problems facing
Burkina Faso are recurrent drought and the
advance of the northern desert into the
savanna. This trend toward desertification
has been increased by overgrazing of
pasture, slash-and-burn agriculture, and
overcutting of wood for fuel.

19. Water availability 1,084 cubic meters
•water contact disease: schistosomiasis
•food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever