Postage stamps and postal history of Burkina Faso Postage stamps and postal history of Burkina Faso This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Burkina Faso, known as Upper Volta until July 1984. The story of the posts in Burkina Faso begins in the 1890s, with French penetration into the area and the establishment of military posts. Prior to the creation of French Upper Volta in 1919, postal service in the area was administered by Senegambia and Niger and then Upper Senegal and Niger. Upper Volta's first stamps were issues of Upper Senegal and Niger overprinted "HAUTE-VOLTE", appearing in 1920. Overprints and surcharges continued
Lake Volta Dam holds back both the White Volta River and the Black Volta River, which formerly converged where the middle of the reservoir now lies, to form the single Volta River. The present Volta River flows from the outlets of the dam's powerhouse and spillways to the Atlantic Ocean in southern Ghana. The main islands within the lake are Dodi, Dwarf, and Kporve. Digya National Park lies on part of the lake's western shore. The lake is formed by the Akosombo Dam, which was originally conceived by the geologist Albert Ernest Kitson in 1915, but whose construction only began in 1961