Burkina Faso contains approximately 21 million people distributed across 60 distinct ethnic groups. The Mossi comprise roughly 52 percent of the population and dominate the central plateau region around Ouagadougou. The Fulani represent approximately 8 percent and practice semi-nomadic pastoralism primarily in the north and east. The Gourmantché occupy the eastern regions near Fada N'gourma and constitute about 7 percent of the population. The Gurunsi peoples, including the Kassena, Nankana, and Lyéla subgroups, occupy the southern border regions and total approximately 6 percent. The Bobo ethnic group concentrates around Bobo-Dioulasso in the southwest and represents roughly 5 percent. The Senufo inhabit the southwestern provinces near Banfora and Comoé Province. The Lobi people occupy territories along the southwestern frontier with Côte d'Ivoire. The Bissa live in central regions between Mossi and Gourmantché territories. The Dagara occupy areas near the border with Ghana. Each ethnic group maintains distinct languages, with more than 70 languages spoken nationwide, though Moore, the Mossi language, functions as the most widely spoken indigenous tongue alongside French as the official administrative language.
The Mossi Kingdoms emerged between the 11th and 15th centuries when cavalry warriors from northern Ghana migrated onto the central plateau. These warriors established a hierarchical political structure centered on the title of Mogho Naaba, translating to "King of the World" or "Emperor of the Mossi." The Mossi established their capital at Ouagadougou by approximately the 15th century. The kingdoms developed a sophisticated political system with provincial chiefs called kombemba serving under the Mogho Naaba. The Mossi successfully resisted incorporation into the Songhai Empire during the 15th and 16th centuries through military campaigns. They resisted Islamic conversion more effectively than neighboring Sahelian kingdoms, maintaining traditional religious practices centered on ancestor veneration and earth spirits called tengkougas. The Mossi kingdoms remained politically independent until French colonial forces arrived in 1896. The French faced armed resistance from Mogho Naaba Wobgo, who refused to submit to colonial authority. French forces captured Ouagadougou on September 1, 1896, marking the effective end of Mossi political autonomy, though the French maintained the Mogho Naaba position as a ceremonial authority under indirect rule.
French colonizers established the territory of Upper Volta in 1919, partitioning lands from French Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire, and Niger. The colonial administration dissolved Upper Volta in 1932 and redistributed its territories among neighboring colonies to facilitate labor extraction for Ivorian cocoa and coffee plantations. France reconstituted Upper Volta as a distinct territory on September 4, 1947, responding to political pressure from Mossi traditional authorities and emerging African political leaders. Ouezzin Coulibaly emerged as a prominent independence advocate and served as president of the territorial assembly until his death in 1958. The territory achieved independence from France on August 5, 1960, under President Maurice Yaméogo, who led the Voltaic Democratic Union party. Yaméogo governed until January 1966, when labor unions and civil society groups organized mass protests against his increasingly authoritarian rule and economic austerity measures. Lieutenant Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana seized power in January 1966, initiating a pattern of military interventions that would characterize Burkinabè politics for subsequent decades.
Thomas Sankara seized power on August 4, 1983, at age 33, establishing a revolutionary government that fundamentally altered the country's political and cultural identity. Sankara renamed the country Burkina Faso on August 4, 1984, combining Moore and Dioula words meaning "Land of Upright People" or "Land of Incorruptible People." His government launched mass vaccination campaigns that immunized 2.5 million children against meningitis, yellow fever, and measles within weeks. Sankara's administration planted over 10 million trees to combat desertification. The government banned female genital cutting, forced marriages, and polygamy through decree, though enforcement remained inconsistent outside cities. Sankara required government officials to wear cotton tunics woven from Burkinabè fabric rather than imported suits, aiming to promote domestic textile production. He sold the government's fleet of Mercedes vehicles and designated the Renault 5 as the official ministerial car. Sankara reduced ministerial salaries and eliminated many perquisites associated with government office. His government constructed schools, health clinics, and infrastructure using predominantly domestic resources and voluntary labor brigades. Sankara restricted press freedoms, banned labor unions he considered counter-revolutionary, and established Popular Revolutionary Tribunals that operated outside conventional judicial processes. Blaise Compaoré, Sankara's longtime friend and second-in-command, led a coup on October 15, 1987, during which soldiers killed Sankara and twelve others at a presidential council meeting. Compaoré governed for 27 years until popular protests forced him to resign on October 31, 2014.