Burkina Faso is located in West Africa and is partially situated in the sahel area in the southern part of the Sahara desert. Niger lies in the east side and Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast are in the south. Its size is 274 122 square kilometers which means it is nearly 9 times bigger than Belgium.

The country mainly consists of peneplain with a few isolated hills. In the southwest there is a sandstone massive and hills there are twice as high (500 – 550 meters) as in the rest of the country. The plains are cut through by a number of rivers. Most of these rivers are part of the Volta river system.

Burkina Faso has a tropical climate. The utmost north has a desert climate with less than 500mm rainfall a year. The centre of the country has a steppe climate and the south a tropical savanna climate. Towards the south the average amount of rainfall increases up to approximately 1200mm in the southwest. The average temperature is 29°C. The rainy season lasts from June until October but is shorter in the north of the country. Still Burkina Faso has a relatively dry climate. The dry season lasts from November until May. Especially the Harmattan, a hot dry wind from the Sahara blows from December until February.