Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso means "Land of the Upright People," and the name captures something real about this landlocked Sahelian country. Renamed from Upper Volta in 1984 by the revolutionary president Thomas Sankara - Africa's Che Guevara - the country has a fierce sense of identity despite being one of the poorest nations on Earth. Sankara vaccinated 2.5 million children in a week, planted 10 million trees to fight desertification, and outlawed female genital mutilation - all before being assassinated at age 37.

Ouagadougou, the capital with the name nobody can resist saying out loud, hosts FESPACO, the largest film festival on the African continent, drawing filmmakers and cinephiles from around the world every two years. The country's Mossi kingdoms have centuries of elaborate history, the sacred crocodiles of Bazoulé let visitors sit on their backs, and the ruins of Loropeni are a UNESCO World Heritage Site older than many European castles. Burkina Faso does not make many headlines, but the ones it does make tend to be extraordinary.