Posted on December 11, 2021
This is an update of my post published on December 11, 2010:
On December 11, 1958, the African nation then called the Republic of Upper Volta achieved self-government – although not complete independence from France.
The name Burkina Faso, which was adopted in 1984, means “the land of upright people” in the languages of Moore and Dioula.
The earlier name, Upper Volta, comes from the name of three of the rivers that cross the country: Black Volta, White Volta, and Red Volta.
Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation located inside the “bulge” of Western Africa. It is fairly flat, and it has seasonal rain-and-flooding and then weather characterized by a hot, dry wind blowing in from the Sahara Desert. It is one of the poorest countries in the world.
- Here is a short video about an African film festival that brings about a million visitors to Burkina Faso each year. The narrator tells us that some merchants are able to make more money in one week, selling goods to festival-goers, than many of their countrymen make in TEN YEARS!
- Here is a challenging geography worksheet featuring Burkina Faso.
Also on this date:
Anniversary of the dedication of a monument to the boll weevil!
Astronomer Annie Jump Cannon’s birthday
UNICEF’s birthday
International Mountain Day
Physicist Max Born’s birthday
Anniversary of the first recorded sighting of the Aurora Borealis in America
Indiana’s statehood day
Kaleidoscope Day
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Birthday of the “Father of Bacteriology,” Robert Koch
Day of the Horse
(Second Saturday of December)
Gingerbread Decorating Day
(Second Saturday in December)