1981 Edition

Aid

obligations and loan authorizations (FY78), economic $6.51 billion, military $2.35 billion

Area

9,371,829 km* (contiguous US plus Alaska and Hawaii); 19% cultivated, 27% grazing and pasture, 32% forested, 22% waste, urban, and other

274,540 km2; 50% pastureland, 21% fallow, 10% cultivated, 9% forest and scrub, 10% waste and other uses

Budget

(FY81 est.) receipts $605.64 billion, outlays $661.237 billion

Coastline

19,924 km

Fiscal year

1 October-30 September

Land boundaries

3,307 km

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

3 nm (fishing 200 nm)

Ethnic divisions

79.7% white, 11.7% black, 6.5% Spanish origin, 1.5% Asian and Pacific Islander, 0.6% American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut (1980)

more than 50 tribes; principal tribe is Mossi (about 2.5 million); other important groups are Gurunsi, Senufo, Lobi, Bobo, Mande, and Fulani

Labor force

102.9 million (civilian), unemployment 7.6% (1981)

about 95% of the economically active population engaged in animal husbandry, subsistence farming, and related agricultural pursuits; about 30,000 are wage earners; about 20% of male labor force migrates annually to neighboring countries for seasonal employment

Language

English, predominantly

French official; tribal languages belong to Sudanic family, spoken by 50% of the population

Literacy

99.0% of total population 14 years or older (1977)

5%-10%

Nationality

noun — Upper Voltan(s); adjective — Upper •Voltan

Organized labor

20.2% of civilian labor force (1978)

4 principal trade union groups, represent less than 1% of population

Population

232,195,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.0%

6,208,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 2.4%

Religion

total membership in religious bodies, 133,749,000; Protestant 73,704,000, Roman Catholic 49,602,000, Jewish 5,781,000, other religions 4,662,000 (1978)

majority of population animist, about 20% Muslim, 5% Christian (mainly Catholic)

Branches

executive (President), bicameral legislative (House of Representatives and Senate), and judicial (Supreme Court); branches, in principle, independent and maintain balance of power

President is an army officer; 17-man military and civilian Cabinet was appointed 7 December 1980; Supreme Court

Capital

Washington, D.C.

Ouagadougou

Communists

Communist Party membership, claimed 15,000-20,000 (1981); general secretary, Gus Hall; in the 1980 presidential election the Communist Party candidate received 43,896 votes; Socialist Workers Party membership, claimed 1,800; national secretary, Jack Barnes; in the 1980 presidential election, the Socialist Workers Party candidate received 48,650 votes

no Communist party; some sympathizers

Elections

presidential, every four years (last November 1980); all members of the House of Representatives, every two years; one-third of members of the Senate, every two years Political parties and leaders: Republican Party, Richard Richards, chairman; Democratic Party, Charles T. Manatt, chairman; several other groups or parties of minor political significance

political process suspended pending gradual return to civilian rule Political parties and leaders: all political parties banned following November 1980 coup

Government leaders

Ronald Wilson REAGAN, President; George Herbert Walker BUSH, Vice President

Col. Say6 ZERBO, President, Military Committee of Reform for National Progress (CMRPN); Lt. Col. Felix TIENTARABOUM, Foreign Minister

Legal system

based on English common law; dual system of courts, state and federal; constitution adopted 1789; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

based on French civil law system and customary law UPPER VOLTA (Continued)

Member of

ADB, ANZUS, BIS, CCC, CENTO, Colombo Plan, DAC, FAO, GATT, Group of Ten, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICEM, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDE, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMCO, IMF, INTELSAT, IPU, ITC, ITU, IWC— International Whaling Commission, IWC — International Wheat Council, NATO, OAS, OECD, SPC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

AFDB, CEAO, EAMA, ECA, EIB (associate), Entente, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IPU, ISCON, ITU, NAM, Niger River Commission, OAU, OCAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day, 4 July

Proclamation of the Republic, 11 December

Official name

United States of America

Republic of Upper Volta

Other political or pressure groups

labor organizations are badly splintered, students and teachers occasionally strike; recent strike helped precipitate military coup

Political subdivisions

50 states, the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Wake and Midway Islands; under UN trusteeship Caroline, Marshall, and Northern Mariana Islands

10 departments, composed of 44 cercles, headed by civilian administrators

Suffrage

all citizens over age 18, not compulsory

universal for adults

Type

federal republic; strong democratic tradition

military; on 25 November 1980 a bloodless military coup ended three years of civilian rule and suspended political activity

Voting strength

national average of voting age population voting, 53.9% (1980 presidential election) — Republican Party (Ronald Reagan), 50% of the popular vote (489 electoral votes); Democratic Party (Jimmy Carter), 42% (42 electoral votes); John Anderson (third-line candidate), 6% (no electoral votes); other, 2% (no electoral votes)

Agriculture

cash crops — peanuts, shea nuts, sesame, cotton; food crops — sorghum, millet, corn, rice; livestock; largely self-sufficient

Aid

economic commitments — Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF (1970-79), $693.0 million; US authorized including Ex-Im (FY70-80) $122.4 million

Budget

(1980) revenue $190.4 million, current expenditures $166.6 million, development expenditures $27.9 million

Crude steel

113.7 million metric tons produced (1977), 618 kg per capita consumption

Electric power

616,486,200 kW capacity (1980); 2,286.439 billion (net) kWh produced (1980), 10,245 kWh per capita

30,000 kW capacity (1980); 90 million kWh produced (1980), 13 kWh per capita

Exports

$181.8 billion (f.o.b., 1979); machinery, chemicals, grains, and road motor vehicles

$118.6 million (f.o.b., 1980 est.); livestock (on the hoof), peanuts, shea nut products, cotton, sesame

Fiscal year

calendar year

Fishing

catch 6.482 billion metric tons (1980); imports $3,648 million (1980); exports $1,006 million, (1980); est. value, $2,237 million (1980)

catch 7,000 metric tons (1979 est.)

GNP

$2,368.8 billion (1979); 63.7% personal consumption, 16.4% private investment, 20.1% government, —0.2% net exports; $10,745 per capita

$1,100 million (1980), $177 per capita; real growth, 2.5% (1980)

Imports

$218.9 billion (c.i.f., 1979); crude and partly refined petroleum, machinery, and transport equipment (mainly new automobiles)

$236.0 million (c.i.f., 1980 est.); textiles, food, and other consumer goods, transport equipment, machinery, fuels

Major industries

agricultural processing plants, brewery, bottling, and brick plants; a few other light industries

Major trade partners

exports— 23.4% EEC (5.9% UK, 4.7% FRG), 18.2% Canada, 12.8% LAFTA, 9.7% Japan, 5.4% Mexico; imports— 18.5% Canada, 16.1% EEC (5.3% FRG, 3.9% UK), 12.7% Japan, 10.6% LAFTA, 4.3% Mexico, 4.0% Nigeria, 3.9% Saudi Arabia (1979)

Ivory Coast and Ghana; overseas trade mainly with France and other EC countries; preferential tariff to EC and franc zone countries

Monetary conversion rate

about 211.3 Communaute Financiere Africaine francs=US$l (1980)

Airfields

14,746 in operation (1979)

Civil air

3,208 multiengine transport aircraft— some 2,500 jet planes, remainder turboprop (December 1980)

Freight carried

rail — 1,645.0 million metric tons, 1,360.0 billion metric ton/km (1980); highways— 936.84 billion metric ton/km (1980); inland water freight (excluding Great Lakes traffic)— 569.79 million metric tons, 319.01 billion metric tons/km (1979)

Highways

6,251,769.5 km (1978)

Inland waterways

40,416 km of navigable inland channels, exclusive of the Great Lakes (1970)

Military budget

$146.2 billion (1981 est. in current dollars)

Personnel

army 1,108,000, air force 790,000, navy and marines 1,013,000 (1979)

Pipelines

petroleum, 271,921 km (1979); natural gas, 408,203 km (1978)

Ports

53 handling 9.07% million metric tons or more per year

Railroads

286,885 km (1978)

1,173 km Ouagadougou to Abidjan (Ivory Coast line); 516 km meter gauge (1.00 m), single track in

Telecommunications

162 million telephones (74 telephones per 100 popl.); 4,550 AM, 4,100 FM, and 990 TV broadcast stations; 436 million radio and 133 million TV receivers (1979) DEFENSE FORCES