Koutiala is a city in Mali

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...

 in the administrative 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...

. Koutiala serves as the capital of its administrative Cercle

Koutiala Cercle

Koutiala Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Sikasso Region of southern Mali. The administrative center is the town of Koutiala. The Cercle is divided into 36 communes.-Economy:...

, home to 355,289 people. As of 2005, Koutiala has an estimated 96,600 residents and an area of 18 000 km². The city is located 140 km north of the city of Sikasso

Sikasso

Sikasso is a city in the south of Mali and the capital of the Sikasso Region. With 130,700 residents, Sikasso recently passed Ségou to become Mali's second-largest city.-Geography:...

.

History

Situated in Minianka country, Koutiala was founded in the 16th century by members of the Coulibaly family from the Bambara kingdom of Segou

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...

. It now contains an important hospital for women and children.
Koutiala's sister city is Alençon

Alençon

Alençon is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon .-History:...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Economy

Koutiala is the heartland of 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 in Mali and is sometimes called "the white gold capital" for its cotton. However, the industry has been affected by stagnation since the 1980s. Aside from cotton it is also noted for grain production, primarily millet

Millet

The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...

, sorghum

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...

 and maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

. Koutiala is the second most industrial city in Mali, hosting, among others, the Compagnie malienne pour le développement du textile

Compagnie malienne pour le développement du textile

The Compagnie malienne pour le développement du textile , created in 1974, is a Malian cotton company. The company is owned by the Malian state and is charged with the production and marketing of Mali's cotton...

(CMDT) and the Huilerie cotonnière du Mali (HUICOMA).