Africa · Western Africa
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso covers about 273,000 km² (105,000 mi²), the 75th largest of the 246 places listed here. That is close to New Zealand, at about 268,000 km².
- 273,000km²Area, main territory
- 23.0 millionPopulation
- 8.89In Belgiums
200 km
- Burkina Faso
Facts
| Area, main territory | 273,000 km²105,000 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 274,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| In Belgiums | 8.89 |
| Capital | Ouagadougou |
| Population | 23.0 millionWikidata, 2023 |
| Density | 84 people per km² |
| Latitude range | 9°N to 15°N |
| In other languages | ブルキナファソ 日本語 · 布基纳法索 中文 · 부르키나파소 한국어 |
| Continent | Africa#29 of 54 countries by area |
What the numbers say about Burkina Faso
- Russia, the largest place listed, is 62.3× the size of Burkina Faso.
- At 84 people per km², Burkina Faso is the 80th most densely populated of the 185 places over 1,000 km²; the median is 72 per km².
- Burkina Faso lies at 12°N, close to the equator, where a standard web map (Web Mercator) is nearly true to size: it inflates area by only about 1.0×.
- Laid out flat, Burkina Faso's main territory stretches about 633 km north to south and 863 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 274,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 273,000 km², to within 2%.
How Burkina Faso measures up
Burkina Faso holds 0.9% of the land area and 1.6% of the people of the 54 countries listed for Africa. In Western Africa it is the 6th largest of 16.
| Where it ranks | Figure | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 273,000 km² | 74th of 239 |
| Population | 23.0 million | 58th of 237 |
| Density | 84 per km² | 80th of 185 |
| Farthest north | 12.3°N | 132nd of 212 |
| Compared with | Its area | Burkina Faso is |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 30,700 km² | 8.89× its size |
| United Kingdom | 244,000 km² | 1.12× its size |
| Germany | 358,000 km² | 0.76× its size |
| Japan | 374,000 km² | 0.73× its size |
| France | 548,000 km² | 0.50× its size |
| India | 3,151,000 km² | 0.09× its size |
| Brazil | 8,473,000 km² | 0.03× its size |
| United States | 9,447,000 km² | 0.03× its size |
| Russia | 16,980,000 km² | 0.02× its size |
Where Burkina Faso sits
- Burkina Faso's centre lies at 12.3°N, 1.8°W, in the northern and western hemispheres, about 1,360 km from the equator.
- Its main territory spans 9°N to 15°N, about 630 km from its southern edge to its northern.
- The prime meridian passes through it.
Closest neighbours, by distance between centres
On the same latitude, elsewhere in the world
If Burkina Faso had other densities
- At Bangladesh's density of 1,252 people per km², Burkina Faso would have 341.6 million people. It has 23.0 million.
- At Canada's density of 3.7 people per km², Burkina Faso would have 1.0 million people. It has 23.0 million.
- At the median density of the places listed, 72 per km², it would have 19.7 million.
About the same size as
Largest in Africa
Compare Burkina Faso
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Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 0 - Countries, public domain
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-11
- Population
- Wikidata, 2023; covers the whole country, overseas territory included
- Data built
- 2026-11-11