Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) is a landlocked Sahel country that shares borders with six nations. It lies between the Sahara desert and the Gulf of Guinea, south of the loop of the Niger River, mostly between latitudes 9ð and 15ðN (a small area is north of 15ð), and longitudes 6ðW and 3ðE. The land is green in the south, with forests and fruit trees, and semi-arid in the north. Most of central Burkina Faso lies on a savanna plateau, above sea level, with fields, brush, and scattered trees. Burkina Faso's game preserves â the most important of which are Arly, Nazinga, and W National Park—contain lions, elephants, hippopotamus, monkeys, common warthogs, and antelopes. Previously the endangered painted hunting dog, Lycaon pictus occurred in Burkina Faso, but, although the last sightings were made in Arli National Park, the species is considered extirpated from Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso has a total area of , of which is land and water. Comparatively, it is slightly larger than New Zealand and Colorado. Its borders total : Benin , Ivory Coast , Ghana , Mali , Niger , and Togo . It has no coastline or maritime claims.
This is a list of the extreme points of Burkina Faso, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
It is made up of two major types of countryside. The larger part of the country is covered by a peneplain, which forms a gently undulating landscape with, in some areas, a few isolated hills, the last vestiges of a Precambrian massif. The southwest of the country, on the other hand, forms a sandstone massif, where the highest peak, Ténakourou, is found at an elevation of . The massif is bordered by sheer cliffs up to high. The average altitude of Burkina Faso is and the difference between the highest and lowest terrain is no greater than . Burkina Faso is therefore a relatively flat country. Its elevation extremes are a lowest point at the Mouhoun (Black Volta) River () and highest point at Tena Kourou ().
The country is divided into 13 administrative regions. These regions encompass 45 provinces and 351 departments.
The country owes its former name of Upper Volta to three rivers which cross it: the Black Volta (or Mouhoun), the White Volta (Nakambé) and the Red Volta (Nazinon). The Black Volta is one of the country's only two rivers which flow year-round, the other being the Komoé, which flows to the southwest. The basin of the Niger River also drains 27% of the country's surface.
The Niger's tributaries â the Béli, the Gorouol, the Goudébo and the Dargol â are seasonal streams and flow for only four to six months a year. They still, however, can cause large floods. The country also contains numerous lakes â the principal ones are Tingrela, Bam and Dem. The country contains large ponds, as well, such as Oursi, Béli, Yomboli and Markoye. Water shortages are often a problem, especially in the north of the country.
Burkina Faso has a primarily tropical climate with two very distinct seasons. In the rainy season, the country receives between 600 and 900 millimetres (23.6 and 35.4 in) of rainfall; in the dry season, the harmattan â a hot dry wind from the Sahara â blows. The rainy season lasts approximately four months, May/June to September, and is shorter in the north of the country. Three climatic zones can be defined: the Sahel, the Sudan-Sahel, and the Sudan-Guinea. The Sahel in the north typically receives less than of rainfall per year and has high temperatures, .
A relatively dry tropical savanna, the Sahel extends beyond the borders of Burkina Faso, from the Horn of Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, and borders the Sahara to its north and the fertile region of the Sudan to the South. Situated between 11ð3' and 13ð5' north latitude, the Sudan-Sahel region is a transitional zone with regards to rainfall and temperature. Further to the south, the Sudan-Guinea zone receives more than of rain each year and has cooler average temperatures.
Burkina Faso's natural resources include manganese, limestone, marble, phosphates, pumice, salt and small deposits of gold. 21.93% of its land is arable, and 0.26% has permanent crops as of 2012. As of 2003, 250 km<sup>2</sup> were irrigated. Its total renewable water resources as of 2011 were 12.5 m<sup>3</sup>, with a total freshwater withdrawal of 0.72 km<sup>3</sup>/yr (46% domestic, 3% industrial, 51% agricultural; this amounts to a per-capita withdrawal of 54.99 m<sup>3</sup>/yr.
Burkina Faso's fauna and flora are protected in two national parks and several reserves: see List of national parks in Africa, Nature reserves of Burkina Faso.
Recurring droughts and floods are a significant natural hazard. Current environmental issues include: recent droughts and desertification severely affecting agricultural activities, population distribution, and the economy; overgrazing; soil degradation; deforestation.
Burkina Faso is party to the following international environmental agreements: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands. It has signed, but not ratified, the Law of the Sea and the Nuclear Test Ban.
In Burkina Faso forest cover is around 23% of the total land area, equivalent to 6,216,400 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 7,716,600 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 6,039,300 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 177,100 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 16% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership.
Under the UNFCCC REDD+ framework, Burkina Faso has submitted national forest reference levels (FRLs). On the UNFCCC REDD+ Web Platform, the country's 2020 submission is listed as having an assessed reference level of 10,218,000 t CO2 eq per year, while a revised 2025 submission is listed as under technical assessment. The platform also lists a first National REDD+ Strategy submitted in 2022 and a second strategy and REDD+ action plan submitted in 2025.
The assessed 2020 FRL, modified during the technical assessment, covered the REDD+ activities âÂÂreducing emissions from deforestationâÂÂ, âÂÂreducing emissions from forest degradationâ and âÂÂenhancement of forest carbon stocksâ for the reference period 1995âÂÂ2017. The technical assessment reported that the benchmark included above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, deadwood and soil organic carbon, while excluding litter. It also included CO2 emissions and removals associated with changes in carbon pools and CO2, methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) and nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions from bush fires. Burkina Faso used a forest definition of land of at least 0.5 hectares with tree height of at least 2 metres and canopy cover of at least 10%.
A revised submission made in 2025 proposes an updated national FRL for 2000âÂÂ2013. According to the submission, it uses activity data produced with Collect Earth, continues to cover deforestation and forest degradation, and broadens enhancement of forest carbon stocks to include forest land remaining forest land, a change described as responding to recommendations from the 2020 technical assessment. The submission reports an average FRL of 13,787,040 t CO2 eq per year and an overall uncertainty of 2.74%, but this revised benchmark was still under technical assessment on the UNFCCC platform.