Introduction•

Burkina Faso is lightly larger than Colorado, Burkina Faso, formerly known as Upper Volta, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Its neighbors are Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, and Ghana. The country consists of extensive plains, low hills, high savannas, and a desert area in the north.

Ivory Coast is officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire is a country in West Africa. The government officially discourages the use of the name Ivory Coast in English, preferring the French name Côte d'Ivoire to be used in all languages. [5] It borders Liberia and Guinea to the west, Mali and Burkina Faso to the north, Ghana to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south.

• Capital: Ouagadougou, Pop. 1 million). Other cities - Bobo-Dioulasso

(410,000) - Koudougou

(83,000).• Population: 14.4 million • Monetary unit: CFA Franc• Nationality: Burkinabe (noun/adjective)• Languages: French (official), Moore, Dioula and others• Ethnicity/race: Mossi (over 40%), Gurunsi, Senufo,

Lobi, Bobo, Mande, Fulani• National Holiday: Republic Day, December 11• Religions: Islam 50%, indigenous beliefs 40%,

Christian (mainly Roman Catholic) 10%

• Literacy rate: 21.8% (2006 est.)• Work force: Agriculture- 90%; industry 2.1%;

commerce, services, and government 5.5%.

Life in Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou• Most of Burkina's people are concentrated in

the south and center of the country, Hundreds of thousands of Burkinabe migrate to Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana, many for seasonal agricultural work.

• A plurality of Burkinabe are Muslim, but most also adhere to traditional African religions. The introduction of Islam to Burkina Faso was initially resisted by the Mossi rulers. Christians, both Roman Catholics and Protestants, comprise about 25% of the population, with their largest concentration in urban areas.

• Few Burkinabe have had formal education. Schooling is in theory free and compulsory until the age of 16, but only about 54% of Burkina's primary school-age children are enrolled in primary school due to actual costs of school supplies and school fees and to opportunity costs of sending a child who could earn money for the family to school. The University of Ouagadougou, founded in 1974, was the country's first institution of higher education. The Polytechnical University in Bobo-Dioulasso was opened in 1995.

• Many kinds of art and different handcrafts can be found in Burkina Faso, and there is much traditional music and dancing. Handcrafted fabric and art objects are among the few real enterprises in Burkina Faso. Because there are so few avenues for employment and enterprise in such a poor country, those who sell such tourist items can be rather persistent, especially in the large markets and tourist areas of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. But even though salespeople can border on aggressive (especially toward Americans), they are much less so than in many other tourist locations in the developing world. 

• The artists themselves represent a range of talents and skills, some of which are passed down from one generation to the next, and others of which are adapted or learned from other families or cultures

• Dancing is a long-time part of the culture of Burkina Faso, both traditional dancing and contemporary dancing. There are many small groups of dancers that perform locally or travel small distances for special events.

“I can't believe I caught this picture of one of the amazing dancers who performed at the celebration to welcome the new Peace Corps volunteers to Bobo-Dioulasso. He was accompanied by ballophones and drums”.

Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso

• Capital: Yamoussoukro (official). • Other cities: Bouake• Cities: Principal city--Abidjan (economic capital• Currency: CFA Franc• Terrain: Forested, undulating, hilly in the west.• Population: 18,700,000.• Nationality: Ivoirian(s) (noun and adjective)• Languages: French (official); five principal language groups.• Ethnicity/race: Akan 42.1%, Voltaiques or Gur 17.6%, Northern

Mandes 16.5%, Krous 11%, Southern Mandes 10%, other 2.8% (includes 130,000 Lebanese and 14,000 French) (1998)

• Annual growth rate: 2.2%, with immigration.• Ethnic groups: More than 60.• Religions: Muslims form 43% of the population,

Christians, 12.2% (6.9% Catholics and Protestants 6.8%) and traditional beliefs, 44.8% are the majority.

• Literacy: 51% (2004 est.)• Education: School is not compulsory at this time.

• The modernized sector of Côte d’Ivoire’s population has been greatly influenced by French culture. The native culture of the country remains strong, however, and is well known for its artistic creations, especially masks. The French language is almost universally used in the written literature of Côte d’Ivoire, to the exclusion of the African languages.

•Traditional arts continue to flourish, and the Abidjan museum offers a rich storehouse. The Senufo carve masks, decorate doors with esoteric signs, and dance to the slow, majestic rhythms of drums supported by xylophones. The mountaineers of the Man forest wear masks showing horrifying faces, and they dance at a quick pace governed by the sound of drums and led by stilt-walkers. Versatile Baule artists make fine gold jewelry and wooden sculptures.

• Cote d'Ivoire has more than 60 ethnic groups, usually classified into five principal divisions: Akan (east and center, including Lagoon peoples of the southeast), Krou (southwest), Southern Mande (west), Northern Mande (northwest), Senoufo/Lobi (north center and northeast). The Baoules, in the Akan division, probably comprise the single largest subgroup with 15%-20% of the population. They are based in the central region around Bouake and Yamoussoukro. The Betes in the Krou division, the Senoufos in the north, and the Malinkes in the northwest and the cities are the next largest groups, with 10%-15% each of the national population. Most of the principal divisions have a significant presence in neighboring countries.

Of the more than 5 million non-Ivoirian Africans living in Cote d'Ivoire, one-third to one-half are from Burkina Faso; the rest are from Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Benin, Senegal, Liberia, and Mauritania. The non-African expatriate community includes roughly 10,000 French and possibly 60,000 Lebanese. As of mid-November 2004, thousands of expatriates, African and non-African, had fled from the violence in Cote d'Ivoire.