9781422280713

West Africa

Words to Understand Autonomous: Having the freedom to govern itself or control its own affairs.

Subsidies: Economic incentives. Expatriates: People who live outside their native country.

OPPOSITE ABOVE: Resistance to the French invasion at Bobo-Dioulasso in 1892. OPPOSITE: A map of Burkina Faso. ABOVE: Grand Mosque of Bobo- Dioulasso.

originally established small kingdoms in the region in around 1100, including that of the capital Ouagadougou. Annexed by France in 1896 it became autonomous outside the French Community in 1960, following which there was a long period of military rule, interrupted in 1992 by the first multi-party ballots since 1978. President Blaise Compaoré won every election until 1987 when in

2014 he stepped aside following massive protests against plans to extend his rule. A transitional government took charge. In 2015, after a brief period of instabilty, former Prime Minister Roch Marc Christian Kaboré won the presidential election. In 2016 Islamists attacked a hotel and cafe frequented by the French military and other expatriates , killing 29 people.

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