[9] Naturalization can be granted to persons who have resided in the territory for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the customs and traditions of the society.

[18] From the eleventh century, people moving from Ghana invaded the area establishing dominance in the region east of Lake Chad and between the Red and White Volta Rivers.

[22][24] The western and southern sections included people affiliated with the Kénédougou Kingdom, Wassoulou Empire, and other village confederations and networks.

[24][27] Typically, these kingdoms operated under a paramount leader, who used organized structures of authority, such as village elders and local chiefs, along with kinship networks to reinforce control over his subjects in exchange for patronage, prestige, and services.

This provision laid the groundwork for nationality legislation based upon whether the native inhabitants were able to be assimilated by adopting European standards.

[42] These laws prevented a wife from being treated as a slave, required her husband to support her, and entitled her kin to a bride price, to compensate them for the loss of her fertility to their kinship group and secure the legality of the union.

[46] Clarification in the 1897 decree included that bestowing nationality by birth in French territory only applied to children born in France, restoring descent requirements for the colonies.

The language requirement could be waived for those who had received military medals or recognition of the Legion of Honor or were in the French civil service.

[51] The decree noted that married women and minor children acquired the status of their husband or father however, this was only the case if the marriage had been conducted under French law, rather than customary practice.

24 on 25 March 1915 that allowed subjects or protected persons who were non-citizen nationals and had established domicile in a French territory to acquire full citizenship, including the naturalization of their wives and minor children, by having received the cross of the Legion of Honor, having obtained a university degree, having rendered service to the nation, having attained the rank of an officer or received a medal from the French army, who had married a Frenchwoman and established a one year residency; or who had resided for more than ten years in a colony other than their country of origin.

[59] It also allowed children born in France to native-born French women married to foreigners to acquire their nationality from their mothers.

[45][61] Under Article 26 of the 1928 decree was the stipulation that it did not apply to natives of the French possessions except Algeria, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion.

[64] At the end of World War II, a statute issued on 7 March 1944 granted French citizenship to those who had performed services to the nation, such as serving as civil servants or receiving recognitions.

[66] It expressly applied to Algeria, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion and was extended to the Overseas Territories in 1953, but in the case of the latter had distinctions for the rights of those who were naturalized.

It removed women who were twenty-one years old, or divorced, from control by a father or guardian and established specific rules for the payment and determining the amount of a bride price.

[74] In January 1959, a constituent assembly was called to discuss building a new African federation including Dahomey, Mali, Senegal, Sudan and Upper Volta.

[77] In 1960, President Charles de Gaulle endorsed the independence of the Mali Federation, which included Senegal and Sudan, without the imposition of economic sanctions.

[78] Having signed a bilateral agreement for managing the Abidjan harbor and entered into the Conseil de l'Entente with the Ivory Coast, Dahomey, and Niger, Upper Volta became independent in August 1960.

[82] That year, the Federation of Voltaic Women began working on revisions to the Family Code,[83] but coups in 1982 and 1983 led to continuing instability.