Country · Africa
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a country in Western Africa. Its capital city is Ouagadougou. About 19.8 million people live there, in an area of 272 967 square kilometres.
Picture credit: Ibrahim Somgalia Guitti (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Masséni Héma (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Masséni Héma (CC BY-SA 4.0) · The black photographer (CC0) · Jeff Attaway (CC BY 2.0) · 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, Ivory Coast, Ghana, 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 out evenly, that is roughly 72.4 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 in Burkina Faso sits on average 297 metres above sea level.
Because it is landlocked, everything that arrives by ship has to cross one of its 6 neighbours first.
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 it is the 29th largest of 54 countries, and the 19th most populated.
That is close to the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
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.
Where this country lands in the record lists
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?
Burkina Faso borders Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Togo — 6 neighbours in total.
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.
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.
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