Bamako, Mali

Bamako is the capital and largest city in Mali. Located on the Niger River, on the southwestern part of the country, it covers 245 sq km (94.6 sq mi) and has a population of 1.8 million people (2012 estimate), within a metropolitan area of 2.7 million people. It is one of the fastest growing city in Africa and the sixth fastest in the world. As it is, Bamako is the 7th biggest city in West Africa after Lagos, Abidjan, Kano, Ibadan, Dakar and Accra.

Human habitation in the Bamako area has been traced to the Paleolithic era, some 150,000 years ago. In the 11th century it was a market town within the Empire of Ghana. At that time, it was already a regional intellectural center, home to two universities and numerous mosques.

As the Ghana Empire declined, rule over Bamako transferred to the Mali Empire, which grew in the 14th century to dominate areas of present-day Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and Mauritania, prospering on the trade of cotton and salt. At that time, caravan routes crisscrossed the Sahara. However this came to an end in the 16th century, when invading Berbers from Morocco destroyed the trans-Sahara trade routes, bringing a collapse to the Mali Empire. This coincided with the Age of Discovery of Europeans, and the traditional trade routes were replaced by sea routes dominated by European powers.

Bamako was part of French West Africa until 1960, when it became part of independent Mali. It was made the capital of French Sudan, a colony within French West Africa, in 1908, and continue the role as capital of Mali upon independence.

Bamako, Mali
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bamako_cattle.jpg
Author: Robinelaine


Boats at the port of Kalaban Koro on the River Niger, about 6 km from Bamako
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BKO_(506).jpg
Author: FIFLAOUS

Visiting Bamako

The Bamako Senou International Airport is the main airport in Mali. Located 15 km south of downtown Bamako, it receives flights from Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Algiers, Brazzaville, Brussels, Casablanca, Conakry, Cotonou, Dakar, Johannesburg, Kayes, Lagos, Libreville, Lomé, Luanda, Monrovia, Mupti, Niamey, N'Djamena, Nouakchott, Ouagadougou, Paris, Pointe-Noire, Timbuktu and Tunis.

Places of Interest in Bamako

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