Landlocked

This week's country is Burkina Faso (also known as Burkina) and is brought to you by the letter B and the number 4 (ha ha, Sesame Street references are awesome). It is also a completely landlocked (being that it is completely surrounded by land) country on the African continent. It is surrounded by Niger, Mali, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire (also known as the Ivory Coast).

The official language of Burkina Faso is French, though More, Gourma, Fulfulde, Dioula and Tamasheq are also spoken. Fun fact, I have never heard of those languages.



Deviating slightly from what I did with Albania's first blog, I am going to post some pictures Burkina Faso's landscape and architecture. I'll also post some random facts in-between pictures.



Burkina Faso has a Republican Government, meaning that they are a Republic, not that they are strictly voting Republican.



Burkina Faso won its independence in 1960.



The capital of Burkina Faso is Ougadougou, and I have no clue how one would go about pronouncing that... Just sayin'.



The Musée de Manega was established by Frédéric Pacéré Titinga. It features a random collection (if you will) of pieces important to the history and culture of Burkina Faso. These pieces include funerary pieces (the Boura Flutes), terracotta jars, bracelets and various others which were used for rituals.



There is no official state religion in Burkina Faso. Islam, Christianity and indigenous religions are the most practiced. If I was the Burkina Faso government, I would be most proud of their religious freedom. They take this particular freedom very seriously. It seems to be better under control than other countries, like the USA for example.



Burkina Faso's independence day is celebrated August 5th (That's when Donnie and I started dating).