You will find Burkina Faso to the West of Niger as a part of the landlocked West African region. It was called Upper Volta earlier and is an independent republic with a democratic system of governance. Education is free and is compulsory between the ages of 7 and 14.Koudougou and Bobo-Dioulasso are the prominent cities besides the capital city of Ouagadougou which houses the international airport of the country.

French is the official language and the local currency is the CFA-franc.

Livestock and agriculture forms the backbone of the economy. More than 80% of the population of Burkina Faso thrives on agriculture of items like peanuts, cotton, millet, corn rice, sesame sorghum and nomadic stock keeping. A large number of men also seek employment seasonally in other countries like Ghana and C'ote d'Ivoire.

The primary industries in Burkina Faso are cotton lint, beverages, agricultural processing, soap, cigarettes, textiles and gold. The country exports cotton, animal products and gold. The Ministry of Trade decides whether the goods should have an import title or authorization, otherwise import and export are free. For goods that require authorization, it has to be acquired earlier and the validity is a renewable for 6 months for imports, and 3 months for exports. Machinery, food products and petroleum are imported.

Considering all petroleum products are imported in their refined form, the oil industry plays a key role in the country’s economy. The mining industry is at its infancy.

 Fossil fuels and hydroelectric power is the main source of electricity in the country and in 1996, 220 million kWh was recorded. The parastatal utility Societe Nationale de l'Electricite et du Gaz (SONELGAZ) provides electricity.Various ventures to tap the maximum potential of hydroelectric power are already underway.

Aid from the World Bank and IMF has helped the country to raise its actual GDP growth. A credit deal of 15m$ has been signed with the World Bank, to bring about economic reforms and regional integration. Progress- oriented  economic and institutional reforms like, budget preparation and execution procedure, trade liberalisation (domestic and foreign), public enterprises sector reform (including an effective banking sector reform) and fiscal reform (introduction of the VAT) have resulted in substantial economic progress in the 1990’s. The country’s currency devalued in 1994. Although Burkina Faso has shown growth, it is not quite enough to reduce poverty and the economy remains frail. 

Travelling in Burkina Faso may involve susceptibility to diseases like Malaria, tuberculosis, cholera, hepatitis A, meningitis, typhoid fever, yellow fever, schistosomiasis and dengue fever. It depends on the individual’s health, the place you are travelling to, current immunization status and the local disease status.