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10 Nov 2005 00:00:00 GMT

FACTBOX: Burkina Faso

DAKAR (Reuters) - Following are key facts about Burkina Faso:

* A landlocked country in the arid Sahel region south of the Sahara, Burkina Faso was ranked the third poorest country on earth in the 2005 U.N. Human Development Index. Almost half its people live on less than $1 a day. Life expectancy is 48 years.

* Sub-Saharan Africa's top cotton producer, Burkina Faso also has valuable reserves of gold, manganese and zinc. Many of its population of around 13 million are subsistence farmers, with severe food shortages and drought not uncommon.

* The site of one of Africa's oldest kingdoms dating back to the 15th century, Burkina Faso was conquered by a French expeditionary force in 1896. It became a separate colony under French rule in 1919, acquiring its present borders in 1947. There have been five military coups since independence in 1960.

* The country used to be called Upper Volta, taking its name from the three rivers which water the plains -- the black, red and white Volta. In 1984, then-president Thomas Sankara changed the name to Burkina Faso or "Land of Upright Men".

* Compaore seized power in a 1987 coup but has widespread popular support. However neighbouring Ivory Coast has accused him of backing rebels holding the north of the country and he has been named in U.N. reports for supporting insurgents during Sierra Leone's civil war.

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