country in colonial times was known as upper volta

#COUNTRY IN COLONIAL TIMES WAS KNOWN AS UPPER VOLTA FULL#

During this time the Mossi Kingdoms successfully defended their territory, religious beliefs and social structure against forcible attempts at conquest and conversion by their Muslim neighbors to the northwest.

For several centuries, Mossi peasants were both farmers and soldiers. It has been declared as Burkina Faso’s first World Heritage site.įrom medieval times until the end of the 19th century, the region of Upper Volta was ruled by the empire-building Mossi people, who are believed to have come up to their present location from northern Ghana, where the ethnically-related Dagomba people still live. Loropéni is a pre-European stone ruin which was linked to the gold trade. Further research is needed to understand the role this early civilization played in the ancient and medieval history of West Africa. The Bura-Asinda system of settlements apparently covered the lower Niger River valley, including the Boura region of Burkina Faso. Recent archaeological discoveries at Bura in southwest Niger and in adjacent southwest Burkina Faso have documented the existence of the iron-age Bura culture from the 3rd century to the 13th century. The massif is bordered by sheer cliffs up to 492 feet (150 m) high. The southwest of the territory, on the other hand, formed a sandstone massif, where the highest peak, Ténakourou, is found at an elevation of 2,457 feet (749 meters). The larger part of the colony was covered by a peneplain, which formed a gently undulating landscape with, in some areas, a few isolated hills, the last vestiges of a Precambrian massif. The land was made up of two major types of countryside. Upper Volta was situated mostly between latitudes 9° and 15°N (a small area is north of 15°), and longitudes 6°W and 3☎. Water shortages are often a problem, especially in the north of the region.

The country contains large ponds, as well, such as Oursi, Béli, Yomboli, and Markoye. The country also contains numerous lakes - the principal ones are Tingrela, Bam, and Dem. They still can flood and overflow, however. The basin of the Niger River also drains 27% of the country’s surface. The Niger’s tributaries - the Béli, Gorouol, Goudébo, and Dargol - are seasonal streams and flow for only four to six months a year. The Black Volta is one of the country’s only two rivers which flow year-round, the other being the Komoé, which flows to the southwest. The colors of the national flag corresponded to the names of its three main tributaries - the Black Volta (or Mouhoun), the White Volta (Nakambé) and the Red Volta (Nazinon). The name Upper Volta indicated that the colony contained the upper part of the Volta River. Upper Volta covered an area of around 105,900 square miles (274,200 km²) and was surrounded by the present-day countries of Mali to the north Niger to the east Benin to the southeast Togo and Ghana to the south and Ivory Coast to the southwest. On August 4, 1984, the name was changed to Burkina Faso.

#COUNTRY IN COLONIAL TIMES WAS KNOWN AS UPPER VOLTA FULL#

On December 11, 1958, it was reconstituted as the self-governing Republic of Upper Volta within the French Community, and two years later on August 5, 1960, it attained full independence. After World War II, on September 4, 1947, the colony was revived as a part of the French Union, with its previous boundaries. The colony was dissolved on September 5, 1932, with parts being administered by the Côte d’Ivoire, French Sudan and the Colony of Niger. Before attaining autonomy it had been French Upper Volta, a colony of French West Africa established on March 1, 1919, from territories that had been part of the colonies of Upper Senegal and Niger and the Côte d’Ivoire. The Republic of Upper Volta ( République de Haute-Volta in French) was a landlocked West African self-governing colony within the French Community.

Country in colonial times was known as upper volta