Country · Africa
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a country in Western Africa. About 19.8 million people live there, in an area of 272 967 square kilometres. Its capital city is Ouagadougou.
Picture credit: Masséni Héma (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Masséni Héma (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Mr Digital bf (CC BY-SA 4.0) · The black photographer (CC0) · Kayhan ERTUGRUL (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Burkina Faso?
Burkina Faso lies in Western Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 1 447 km from the equator.
Burkina Faso is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 6 countries: Benin, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger and Togo.
How big is Burkina Faso?
Burkina Faso covers 272 967 square kilometres.
That is about 6.6 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 74th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 72.4 people on every square kilometre.
That is close to the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Burkina Faso?
About 19.8 million people live in Burkina Faso.
That is the 58th biggest population in the world.
People here speak French.
They pay with the West African CFA franc (Fr).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 47 years.
The land of Burkina Faso
The land of Burkina Faso sits on average 297 metres above sea level.
Because it is landlocked, anything that comes by ship has to cross one of its 6 neighbours to get here.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Burkina Faso different?
Websites from here often end in .bf.
Burkina Faso and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 3 live in Burkina Faso.
It takes up about 0.2 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa the country ranks 29th of 54 by size, and 19th by population.
Burkina Faso and its neighbours
Niger, its largest neighbour, is about 4.6 times bigger.
Niger has more people: 22.4 million against 19.8 million.
Nature and animals
The highest mountain in the country is Tenakourou, at 749 metres. The longest river in the country is the Mouhoun (Black Volta). The largest lake in the country is Lake Bam.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Burkina Faso compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 34 times as big as Burkina Faso: 9 372 610 km² against 272 967 km².
- Burkina Faso is about 1.1 times as big as the United Kingdom: 272 967 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Burkina Faso?
The capital of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougou. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Burkina Faso?
About 19.8 million people live in Burkina Faso, which makes it the 58th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Burkina Faso?
How big is Burkina Faso?
Burkina Faso covers 272 967 square kilometres, making it the 74th largest country in the world. That is about 6.6 times the size of Switzerland.
What is the highest mountain in Burkina Faso?
The highest mountain in Burkina Faso is Tenakourou, 749 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Burkina Faso?
The longest river in Burkina Faso is the Mouhoun (Black Volta), about 1 352 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Burkina Faso?
The largest lake in Burkina Faso is Lake Bam. It covers about 4 km².
Which continent is Burkina Faso in?
Burkina Faso is in Africa, in the part called Western Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
Last checked: · How these pages are made