Burkina Faso's 22.1 million people belong to two major West African cultural groups: the Gur (Voltaic) and the Mandé.

The Mossi claim descent from warriors who migrated to present-day Burkina Faso and established an empire that lasted more than 800 years.

This population density, high for Africa, causes annual migrations of hundreds of thousands of Burkinabé to Ivory Coast and Ghana for seasonal agricultural work.

Burkina Faso has a young age structure – the result of declining mortality combined with steady high fertility – and continues to experience rapid population growth, which is putting increasing pressure on the country's limited arable land.

Even if fertility were substantially reduced, today's large cohort entering their reproductive years would sustain high population growth for the foreseeable future.