GEOGRAPHY

Burkina Faso inhabits a landlocked savanna cut by three principal rivers:

• Le Nakambe (formerly the White Volta)
• Le Nazinon (formerly the Red Volta)
• Le Mouhoun (formerly the Black Volta)

Burkina Faso lies between the Sahara Desert and the Gulf of Guinea, south of the loop of the Niger River. The land is green in the south, with forests and fruit trees. The northern provinces lie in the Sahel, a belt of semi-arid land with low rainfall that fringes the Sahara desert. Most of central Burkina Faso lies on a savanna plateau, 650–1,001 feet (198–305 meters) above sea level, with fields, brush, and scattered trees.

Much of Burkina Faso is very flat (average altitude is between 650 and 1,300 feet [200 and 400 meters] above sea level), but in the southwest there are rolling hills, waterfalls, and dense woodlands. The country’s second largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso, is perched atop a rocky cliff of the Falaise de Banfora, or Banfora Escarpment.

This is also traditionally the wettest part of the country, supporting rice fields and plantations of cashew nuts and sugar cane. (from www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/ontheline/explore/journey/burkina/geography.htm)