Burkina Faso: The Colonial Period

Near the end of the 19th-century scramble for African territory among the European powers, France gained control over the region. In 1895 the French peacefully negotiated a protectorate over Yatenga; in 1896 they forcefully occupied Ouagadougou; and in 1897 they annexed Gourma and the lands of the Bobo, Lobi, and Gurunsi peoples. An Anglo-French agreement in 1898 established the boundary with the Gold Coast (now Ghana).

The region of present-day Burkina Faso was administered as part of the French colony of Soudan (then called Upper Senegal-Niger and now mostly part of Mali) until 1919, when it was made a separate protectorate as Upper Volta. In 1932, it was divided among Côte d'Ivoire, Soudan, and Niger for administrative convenience. In 1947, Upper Volta was reestablished as a separate territory within the French Union, and in 1958 it became an autonomous republic within the French Community.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Independence to the Present
• The Colonial Period
• Early History
• Government
• Economy
• Land and People

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