Koulikoro Region
Encyclopedia
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
. It is the second administrative area of Mali and covers an area of 90,120 km². Its capital is the city of Koulikoro
Koulikoro
Koulikoro is a city in Mali. The capital of the Koulikoro Region, Koulikoro is located on banks of the Niger River, from Mali's capital Bamako....
.
Geography
The region of Koulikoro is bordered by MauritaniaMauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
on the north, the region of Kayes
Kayes Region
Kayes Region is one of eight first level national subdivisions, called Regions in Mali. It is the first administrative area of Mali and covers an area of 120,760 km²...
on the west, by Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
and the region of Sikasso
Sikasso Region
Sikasso is the southern-most region of Mali. The capital city of the same name is the 3rd-largest city and is growing rapidly due to people fleeing the violence in Côte d'Ivoire to the south. Major ethnic groups include the Senoufo, known for masks and reverence for animals, the Samago, known for...
on the south, and by the region of Ségou
Ségou Region
Ségou is the fourth most populous administrative region in Mali, whose capital is the town of Ségou.-Geography:Situated at the center of Mali, Ségou Region covers 64,947 km²...
to the east. Koulikoro Region has a population of 1,516,486 people, particularly Bambaras, Malinkés
Mandinka people
The Mandinka, Malinke are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa with an estimated population of eleven million ....
and Somonos around the Niger River
Niger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
.
The region is irrigated by several rivers, including the Niger, Baoulé, Sankarani
Sankarani River
The Sankarani River is a tributary of the Niger River Flowing northward from the Fouta Djallon highlands of Guinea, it crosses into southern Mali, where it joins the Niger approximately 40 km upstream of Bamako...
, Baogé, Bani and Bafing
Bafing River
The Bafing River runs through Guinea and Mali and is about long. It joins with the Bakoy River in Bafoulabé to form the Sénégal River, in the Kayes Region of western Mali. It is also called the Black River while the Bakoy is called the White River...
. The climate of the region's south has the high rainfall typical of the Sudan
Sudan (region)
The Sudan is the name given to a geographic region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western to Eastern Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilâd as-sûdân or "land of the Blacks"...
, while north of the Kita-Bamako axis, it tends to a Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
ian aridity.
The largest cities of the region are Kati
Kati
Kati is a town made up of 37 communes in Mali's Koulikoro Region, about 15 km from Bamako, Mali's capital. It has a population of approximately 40,000 inhabitants.-Economy:...
, Koulikoro
Koulikoro
Koulikoro is a city in Mali. The capital of the Koulikoro Region, Koulikoro is located on banks of the Niger River, from Mali's capital Bamako....
, Kolokani
Kolokani
Kolokani is a town of approximately 13,000 inhabitants in Mali's Koulikoro Region.It is the capital of the Cercle of Kolokani, which consists of 10 rural communes . The cercle of Kolokani has an area of 14,380 km² and a population of 163,886 inhabitants....
, Nara, Banamba
Banamba
Banamba is the capital of Banamba Cercle, one of the seven Cercles of the Koulikoro Region of Mali. Its estimated 2008 population is 7000. The town lies due north of the regional capital of Koulikoro, and is connected by a 40km all weather road via the town of Sirakorola, about half way between...
and Dioïla. The Boucle du Baoulé National Park
Boucle du Baoulé National Park
The Boucle du Baoulé National Park lies in western Mali, in Kayes Region and Koulikoro Region, set up in 1982. It has an area of 25,330 km² but has little large wildlife...
and the natural reserves of Fina, Kongossambougou and Badinko shelter a diversity of wildlife.
History
The region of Koulikoro is the seat of several great empires which followed one another in Mali: the Ghana EmpireGhana Empire
The Ghana Empire or Wagadou Empire was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania, and Western Mali. Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BCE, and around Ghana's core region since about 300 CE...
, the Sosso Empire and the Mali Empire
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I...
.
Culture
The land of the Manding (or Mandé) is located in this area. It is the cradle of the Empire of Mali and known for preserving its traditional culture with its griots and its hunters. Like much of Mali, the area is strongly IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ized, but the practices of animists remain very present in the villages. Bambara
Bambara language
Bambara, more correctly known as Bamanankan , its designation in the language itself , is a language spoken in Mali by as many as six million people...
serves as the area's most common language.
Koulikoro is famous for its traditional puppet
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
theater, showcased in many festivals such as in the village of Diarabougou.
Several musicians are natives of the region, including Salif Keita
Salif Keita
Salif Keïta is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita...
and Rokia Traoré
Rokia Traoré
Rokia Traoré is a Victoires de la Musique award-winning Malian singer, songwriter and guitarist. Born in Mali as a member of the Bambara ethnic group, her father was a diplomat and she travelled widely in her youth. She visited such countries as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, France and Belgium and was...
.
Transport and economy
KoulikoroKoulikoro
Koulikoro is a city in Mali. The capital of the Koulikoro Region, Koulikoro is located on banks of the Niger River, from Mali's capital Bamako....
is the terminus of the Dakar-Niger railway
Dakar-Niger Railway
The Dakar–Niger Railway connects Dakar, to Koulikoro, . It serves many cities in Senegal and Mali...
. It is also an important port on the Niger River which makes it possible to serve the towns of Ségou
Ségou
Ségou is a city in south-central Mali, lying northeast of Bamako on the River Niger, in the region of Ségou. It was founded by the Bozo people, on a site about from the present town...
, Mopti
Mopti
Mopti is a city at the confluence of the Niger and the Bani in Mali, between Timbuktu and Ségou. The city lies on three islands linked by dykes: the New Town, the Old Town and Medina Coura. As a result it is sometimes known as the "Venice of Mali".-History:The city of Mopti derives its name from...
, Tombouctou
Tombouctou
Tombouctou may be:* Tombouctou Region in northern Mali* The French name for the city of Timbuktu, which gives its name to the region...
and Gao
Gao
Gao is a town in eastern Mali on the River Niger lying ESE of Timbuktu. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it is the capital of the Gao Region and had a population of 86,663 in 2009....
. The area is served by the airport of Bamako-sénou.
Agriculture remains the dominant economic activity, although several industries are present in the district, such as the Hydroelectric dam of Sélingué
Selingue Dam
The Sélingué Dam is a single purpose hydroelectric dam located in the Koulikoro Region, on the Sankarani River, one of the affluents of the Niger River...
, gold-bearing industries around Kangaba
Kangaba
Kangaba is a town and commune and seat of the Cercle of Kangaba in the Koulikoro Region of south-western Mali.The area was once the Kangaba Province under the Mali Empire....
, and the cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
production site in Fana
Fana, Mali
Fana is a town and seat of the commune of Guegneka in Mali's Koulikoro Region. Fana has a population of approximately 25,631 inhabitants.Boasting a major production site of the Compagnie malienne pour le développement du textile , Fana is Mali's second greatest site of cotton production after...
, Mali's second largest.
Administrative subdivisions
Cercles of Mali
A cercle is the second level administrative unit in Mali. Mali is divided into eight regions and one capital district . These subdivisions bear the name of their principal city. The regions are divided into 49 cercles....
encompassing 106 Commune
Communes of Mali
A Commune is the third level administrative unit in Mali. Mali is divided into eight regions and one capital district . These subdivisions bear the name of their principal city. The regions are divided into 49 Cercles...
s:
- Banamba CercleBanamba CercleBanamba Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Koulikoro Region of Mali. Its seat is the town of Banamba, which is also its largest settlement...
- Dioïla CercleDioila CercleDioïla Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Koulikoro Region of Mali. Its seat is the town of Dioïla. It lies at the southeast corner of the region, and prior to 1977, it was combined with what is now Kati Cercle and the District of Bamako in the "Bamako Cercle", with the capital city...
- Kangaba CercleKangaba CercleKangaba Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Koulikoro Region of Mali. Its seat is the town and commune of Benkadi Habaladougou , also known as Kangaba...
- Koulikoro CercleKoulikoro CercleKoulikoro Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Koulikoro Region of Mali. Its seat is the town of Koulikoro, which is also the capital of the region. A major trade and industrial town on the Niger River, Koulikoro has been surpassed by Kati to the west as the largest town in the region...
- Kolokani CercleKolokani CercleKolokani Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Koulikoro Region of Mali. Its seat is the town of Kolokani, which is also its largest settlement. It lies directly to the north of Kati Cercle. Also to the south, is the District of Bamako, which after independence was carved out of the...
- Kati CercleKati CercleKati Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Koulikoro Region of Mali. Its seat is the town of Kati, which is also its largest town. It lies at the southwest corner of the region, and completely surrounds the Bamako Capital District...
- Nara CercleNara CercleNara Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Koulikoro Region of Mali. Its seat is the town of Nara, which is also the capital of its Region and its largest town. The cercle is divided into communes, and below this, Quarters/Villages....
Mali's capital Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
is located in the heart of the region, but forms a separate administrative entity called the Bamako Capital District.