Geography and Climate

Between the Sahara desert and the rain forests near the western African coast, lies the Sahe

l, a geographic zone of about 5,000 kilometers long and 300 kilometers wide, located along the southern fringes of Africa's Sahara desert. This semi-arid region of Africa extends from Senegal on the west, through Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan, to Ethiopia on the east.

Burkina Faso sits at the edge of the Sahel, locked in by Benin, Togo and Ghana to the southeast, Ivory Coast to the south, Mali to the west and Niger to the north. About twice the size of Colorado, it is one of the smallest territories in West Africa, but one of the most heavily populated.

The climate in Burkina Faso is similar to that of other Sahel countries, featuring two distinct seasons: the dry season lasts from November until May and the wet season from June through October. The hottest time of the year falls between March and June, and dusty Harmattan winds blow incessantly between the months of December and February.

Most of Burkina is flat and arid. The vegetation thins out to the north into sandy dunes as it approaches the Sahara. The south opens into forests and sugar cane fields; and in the east there are rolling plateaus and green woodlands. There are three major rivers of Burkina Faso: the Mahoun, Nazinonm and the Nakanbe.

Historical Overview

The term savanna refers to a treeless or sparsely forested plain, and although the Saharan desert is sparsely populated with plant life, it has never been an impenetrable barrier for human beings, since ancient times many trade routes have successfully made the formidable crossing.

Much of Burkina Faso is populated by descendants of the Mossi empire, founded when a band of horsemen from nearby Ghana galloped through at the turn of the 15th century. The Mossi organized an empire that developed courts of law, administrative bodies, ministerial positions and a cavalry to protect its realm.

Cultural Overview

Burkina Faso has more than 60 ethnic groups, each with its own social and cultural distinction, but all emphatically Burkinabé. The major groups include the Bobo, who live around the city of Bobo Dioulasso, the Fulani, the Lobi and the Sénufo, but the most dominant group are the Mossi, descendants of the royal empire and the emperor, or Moro-Naba.

The cultural history of the Sahel is characterized by many encounters among people from divergent backgrounds. There has always been great linguistic diversity in the Sahel. Throughout history, Arabic-speaking peoples from North Africa and the Sahara and groups from the south came to this region, as did people with different agricultural production methods, including sedentary populations as well as nomads. These mixed cultures have engaged in trade, formed alliances, and alternately befriended and fought against each other.

For centuries, the Sahel region boasted some of Africa's most influential civilizations. A narrow band of semi-arid land south of the Sahara, the Sahel attracted both Arabs looking for gold and Europeans looking for slaves. The two influences merged with native ones, creating a culturally complex area.