History and Geography
What the exam expects
History and geography questions test chronological and spatial reasoning, not memorised lists. In history, know the precolonial kingdoms and empires of West Africa (Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Mossi kingdoms), the Atlantic slave trade, colonisation and the Scramble for Africa, the two world wars, decolonisation, the Cold War, and the construction of the Burkinabè state from 1960 through the revolutions and transitions to the present. In geography, master map reading, climate and vegetation zones of West Africa, population dynamics, urbanisation, migration, agriculture, mining, and the challenges of desertification and climate change.
Traps that recur
- Confusing the dates of independence across West African states (Burkina Faso: 5 August 1960).
- Presenting colonisation as a single event rather than a process (Berlin Conference 1884–85, conquest, administrative organisation).
- Confusing the Sahel, savanna and forest zones and their rainfall regimes.
- Confusing emigration, immigration and net migration.
- Treating desertification as purely climatic when human pressure is decisive.
Rule of thumb
In history, always situate an event with three coordinates: date, place, actors. In geography, always read a document by identifying its nature, source, scale and message before interpreting.
Worked example
A question asks why the Mossi kingdoms resisted conquest longer than coastal states. Structure the answer around political centralisation (the Mogho Naba and a hierarchical nobility), military organisation (cavalry and fortified villages), and the late arrival of French columns - not around a single personality.