Burkina Faso's original inhabitants were the Bobo, Lobi and Gurunsi peoples. The Mosi and Gurma peoples migrated to the region in the 14th Century. From the 15th to the 18th Century the Mossi successfully resisted incorporation into the Mali and Songhai empires as well as Fulani invasions. France conquered the territory between 1895 and 1904. Responding to insurrection in Upper Volta, the French introduced military rule until 1919, when it became a separate colony in the union of French West Africa. Upper Volta received self-government following a referendum in 1958 and full independence in 1960. Shortly after he won the first election, President Maurice Yameogo banned all opposition parties. He was overthrown in 1966 and succeeded by Gen. Sangoule Lamizana, who, as promised, returned the country to civilian rule in 1970 but reverted to authoritarian rule four years later. Until the early 1980s, several further attempts to establish multiparty politics failed. In August 1983 Capt. Thomas Sankara, a 34-year admirer of Libya's Colonel Qaddafi, came to power. He changed the name of Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, a blend of local words meaning "the land of the honorable," and introduced a Libyan-style "Jamahiriya." After several failed attempts, Sankara was assassinated in 1987 and succeeded by Capt. Blaise Compaoré who reversed hardline socialist policies and introduced economic reforms in cooperation with international banks. Attempts by the opposition to have Compaoré excluded from the November 2005 presidential election on the grounds that it violated the two-term stipulation in the Constitution, failed. He easily won against a fractured opposition in a race deemed fair and free.
Burkina Faso's original inhabitants were the Bobo, Lobi and Gurunsi peoples. The Mosi and Gurma peoples migrated to the region in the 14th Century. From the 15th to the 18th Century the Mossi successfully resisted incorporation into the Mali and Songhai empires as well as Fulani invasions. France conquered the territory between 1895 and 1904. Responding to insurrection in Upper Volta, the French introduced military rule until 1919, when it became a separate colony in the union of French West Africa. Upper Volta received self-government following a referendum in 1958 and full independence in 1960. Shortly after he won the first election, President Maurice Yameogo banned all opposition parties. He was overthrown in 1966 and succeeded by Gen. Sangoule Lamizana, who, as promised, returned the country to civilian rule in 1970 but reverted to authoritarian rule four years later. Until the early 1980s, several further attempts to establish multiparty politics failed. In August 1983 Capt. Thomas Sankara, a 34-year admirer of Libya's Colonel Qaddafi, came to power. He changed the name of Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, a blend of local words meaning ?the land of the honorable,? and introduced a Libyan-style ?Jamahiriya.? After several failed attempts, Sankara was assassinated in 1987 and succeeded by Capt. Blaise Compaoré who reversed hardline socialist policies and introduced economic reforms in cooperation with international banks. Attempts by the opposition to have Compaoré excluded from the November 2005 presidential election on the grounds that it violated the two-term stipulation in the Constitution, failed. He easily won against a fractured opposition in a race deemed fair and free.