Burkina Faso is a landlocked country located in the upper reaches of the Walter River in western Africa. It neighbors Benin and Niger in the east, is adjacent to Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo in the south and borders Mali in the west and the north. Most of its territory is inland plateau, the terrain is flat and is gently tilt from the north to the south and the average altitude is no more than 300 meters; the northern part is close to the Sahara Desert and the southwest Orodala region has a higher elevation; the Nakuru Peak is 749 meters above sea level, making it the country's highest point. The main rivers include Mu Wen River, Na Kangbo River and Nazi River.

In the economy, this country was established on the basis of agriculture and animal husbandry, which accounts for nearly 80% of the country's labor force. Burkina Faso has been a very poor country, one of the least developed countries and a major exporter of migrant workers in neighboring African countries because of the country's scarcity of resources and a small amount of arable land at the edge of the desert. The only railway within the territory starts from its capital of Ouagadougou to Côte d'Ivoire.

On October 30, 2014, Compaore, who has been in power for 27 years as the President of the Republic of Burkina Faso, planned to extend his term through amending the Constitution via the Parliament, triggering a large-scale anti-government demonstration in the country, and demonstrators asked him to step down. On October 31, Burkina Faso issued an official statement and the country's President Compaore resigned. In the afternoon of November 1, Burkina Faso declared the former Commander-in-Chief of the Presidential Guard, Isaac Zidar, as the head of the State for the transitional period in Burkina Faso. On November 17, 2014, Burkina Faso Transitional Authority announced that retired diplomat Michel Kafando was elected President of Burkina Faso during the transition period.

On January 15, 2016, a terrorist attack hit a hotel in Ouagadougou of Burkina Faso, and the hotel personnel were hijacked. Security forces killed 4 militants and 126 hostages were rescued. The incident caused 23 deaths in the hotel.