Target Country: Burkina Faso
About Burkina Faso
- Burkina Faso is landlocked country located in West Africa. Its estimated population in June of 2017 was over 20 million. It was noted on the CIA website that these estimates took into account excess mortality. This creates an unequal distribution of age groups in the country. (see population pyramid below)
- Their official language is French but they have native African languages from the Sudanic family which is used by a high majority of the country.
- There is a maternal mortality rate of 371 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to the United States which is 14 deaths per 100,000. This is the annual number of female deaths from anything caused by the pregnancy.
- The population percentage below the poverty line is 40% while their unemployment rate is 77%.
- They only spend 5% of GDP on Health expenditures.
- Their two main religious practices the majority of the population takes part in are Muslim and Catholic. With a less than 1% not participating in any religion at all.
Population Pyramid
You can see the unequal age distribution below. In more established nations, one could expect to see a more equal distribution of age from children to the elderly. However, a short life expectancy combined with a high birth rate creates the sloped sides shown here. Over 50% of the population is under the age of 25. They have a very high dependency ratio, which the number of people who are dependent on others.
Maternal Mortality: Burkina Faso versus United States
The graphic below shows the maternal mortality rate per 100,000 live births in both Burkina Faso and the United States. The United States, the owner of the highest maternal mortality rate among all developed nations at around 30 deaths per 100,000 births, consistently measures in at ten to fifty times lower of a rate than Burkina Faso. The United States, with one of the largest GDPs in the world, spends 20% of its GDP on health care compared to the much poorer country of Burkina Faso that spends 5% of its own.