Republic of Upper Volta President and the National Assembly for a term of five years. Shortly after coming to power, Yaméogo banned all political parties other than the Alliance for Democracy. Thomas Sankara came to power by a coup on August 4, 1983. After coming to power, he formed the National Council of the Revolution (NCRC), and became the president of the twenty-man council. Under his rule, the name of the state was changed on August 4, 1984, from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, meaning "the homeland of upright men." From 1958 to 1960, the Republic of Upper Volta was headed by a High
Lake Volta Lake Volta Lake Volta is the largest reservoir, man-made lake, in terms of surface area contained behind the Akosombo Dam. It is completely within the country of Ghana and has a surface area of . Stretching from Akosombo in the south to the northern part of the country, it is one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the world. Lake Volta lies along the Greenwich meridian, and just six degrees of latitude north of the Equator. The lake's northernmost point is close to the town of Yapei, and its southernmost extreme is at the Akosombo Dam, downstream from Yapei. Akosombo