Countries

Burkina Faso

A landlocked country in West Africa, called Upper Volta until 1984 after the three branches of the Volta River that rise here. Its new name means roughly "land of upright people". The capital, Ouagadougou, hosts FESPACO, Africa's largest film festival.

A red earthen building with people sitting in the shade of its doorway, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Bobo-Dioulasso

Photo: YABRE CLAUDE, CC BY-SA 4.0

Red for the revolution, green for the land's farming wealth, and the yellow star for the revolution's guiding light. Adopted in 1984, when Upper Volta became Burkina Faso.

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