Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

Mopti Cercle Mopti Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Mopti Region of Mali. The administrative center (''chef-lieu'') is the town of Mopti. The cercle is divided into 15 communes:. Names of communes are in upper-case without accents. * Bassir ...

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesBani Rivers and is linked by an elevated causeway to the town of

Sévaré Sévaré (or Sevare) is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali. It is a crossroads town of about 40,000 situated about southeast of Mopti and south of Fatoma, the old capital of Kunaari. From Sévaré one can access Bandiagara to the east, Gao ...

. The urban commune, which includes both Mopti and Sévaré, had a population of 114,296 in the 2009 census.

Geography

Mopti lies on the right bank of the

Bani River The Bani River is the principal tributary of the Niger River in Mali. The river is formed from the confluence of the Baoulé and Bagoé rivers some east of Bamako and it merges with the Niger near Mopti. Its length is about . Geography The ...

, a few hundred meters upstream of the confluence of the Bani with the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mal ...

. Between August and December when the rivers flood the Inner Niger Delta, the town becomes a series of islands connected by raised causeways. During this period the only road access to the town is along a 12 km causeway that links Mopti to

Sévaré Sévaré (or Sevare) is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali. It is a crossroads town of about 40,000 situated about southeast of Mopti and south of Fatoma, the old capital of Kunaari. From Sévaré one can access Bandiagara to the east, Gao ...

. Mopti lies to the west of the Dogon Plateau and is 66 km northwest of Bandiagara and 76 km north-northeast of Djenné. The town is the capital of the Mopti Region and the administrative center of the

Mopti Cercle Mopti Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Mopti Region of Mali. The administrative center (''chef-lieu'') is the town of Mopti. The cercle is divided into 15 communes:. Names of communes are in upper-case without accents. * Bassir ...

. The urban commune of Mopti includes the towns of both Mopti and Sévaré. The commune is completely surrounded by the rural commune of

Socoura Socoura is a village and rural commune in the Cercle of Mopti in the Mopti Region of Mali. The commune contains 28 small villages and in 2009 had a population of 42,553. The commune entirely surrounds the urban commune of Mopti Mopti ( Bam ...

. At the time of the 2009 census the population of the Mopti commune was 114,296. For administrative purposes the commune is subdivided into 11 ''quartiers'': Komoguel I, Komoguel II, Gangal, Toguel, Bougoufié, Mossinkoré, Taïkiri, Médina Coura, Sévaré I, Sévaré II, and Sévaré III. The seat of the commune, the Hôtel de Ville de Mopti, is in Komoguel I.

History

The town of Mopti derives its name from the Fulfulde word for gathering. The name replaced the earlier Bozo name of ''Sagan''.. Unlike towns such as Djenné, Timbuktu and Gao, Mopti was a village until the French conquest at the end of the 19th century and did not play an important role in the history of the region. In April 1828 the French explorer, René Caillié, stopped at Mopti on his journey by boat from Djenné to Timbuktu... In his account he described the village, which he called Isaca, as having 700-800 inhabitants with the houses constructed of sun-dried mud bricks. The inhabitants grew rice on the floodplains, herded livestock and fished with cotton nets. Large quantities of the dried fish were traded in Djenné and other markets. The women made a "beautiful kind of pottery" which they sold in Djenné and to boats heading for Timbuktu. Two centuries later, the cultivation of rice is still very important to the local economy, dried fish are exported over a large part of West Africa and pottery is still shipped from the port. At the time of Caillié's visit the village was part of the Massina Empire, controlled by

Seku Amadu Sheikhu Ahmadu ( ar-at, شيخ أحمد بن محمّد لبّو, Shaykh Aḥmadu bin Muḥammadu Lobbo; ff, Seeku Aamadu ; ) (c. 1776 – 20 April 1845) was the Fulbe founder of the Massina Empire (Diina of Hamdullahi) in the Inner Niger De ...

from his base at Hamdullahi, 21 km to the southeast. In 1862 Umar Tall captured Hamdullahi and for a short period the village became part of the Toucouleur Empire. In 1893 French forces under

Louis Archinard Louis Archinard (11 February 1850 – 8 May 1932) was a French Army general at the time of the Third Republic, who contributed to the colonial conquest of French West Africa. He was traditionally presented in French histories as the conqueror an ...

occupied the region which then became part of the French Sudan. At the time of the French conquest, Mopti consisted of several separate settlements on small areas of higher ground that remained above the water during the annual flood. French soldiers exploring the Niger on gunboats described Mopti as consisting of a pair villages on the bank of the river 2 km apart with a third village slightly inland. According to the French colonial army officer, Capitaine Lucien Marc, in 1902 Mopti was a "miserable village" with a few huts.. Between 1905 and 1912 the French colonial forces constructed a 12 km dyke connecting Mopti with

Sévaré Sévaré (or Sevare) is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali. It is a crossroads town of about 40,000 situated about southeast of Mopti and south of Fatoma, the old capital of Kunaari. From Sévaré one can access Bandiagara to the east, Gao ...

to allow access to the town by road when the Niger was in flood. The village expanded rapidly in the first decade of the 20th century, and by the 1930s the commercial area on the river and the Komoguel district had been developed. The French colonial administration initiated the rebuilding of the great mosque in 1933, basing the design on that of the

Great Mosque of Djenné The Great Mosque of Djenné ( ar, الجامع الكبير في جينيه) is a large brick or adobe building in the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style. The mosque is located in the city of Djenné, Mali, on the flood plain of the Bani R ...

. Due to the limited land available, Mopti became more densely built than most Malian cities with many multi-story buildings and narrow streets. Originally, the islands were much smaller than they are today; first linked by dykes in the early twentieth century, the areas around and between natural islands have been gradually filled and raised—often by deposition of household trash, a process that still continues today in areas such as the western edge of the Old Town.. In 2002, Mopti was one of several Malian cities to host the Cup of African Nations tournament. A large, modern stadium was constructed for this event. During the 2012 Northern Mali Conflict, when Islamists took over most of Northern Mali, Mopti was one of the most northerly towns that remained under government control..

Amadou Toumani Touré Amadou Toumani Touré (4 November 19489 November 2020) was a Malian politician. He supervised Mali's first multiparty elections as chairman of the transitional government (1991–1992), and later became the second democratically-elected Presid ...

, a former president of Mali, is a native of Mopti.

Mosque

The Great Mosque (also called the Komoguel Mosque) is an example of Sudano-Sahelian architecture. The present building was constructed on the site of an earlier mosque dating from 1908 but sources differ on the exact date. The web site of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention gives a period of between 1933 and 1935. while the Aga Khan Development Network gives the slightly later period of between 1936 and 1943.. The design was based on that of the

Great Mosque of Djenné The Great Mosque of Djenné ( ar, الجامع الكبير في جينيه) is a large brick or adobe building in the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style. The mosque is located in the city of Djenné, Mali, on the flood plain of the Bani R ...

and is constructed using sun-dried mud bricks which are covered with a layer of banco. In restoration work carried out in 1978, the upper parts of the building were covered with a layer of cement but this later proved to be problematic as rain water penetrated the cement layer and created large fissures in the underlying mud structure. In the restoration carried out between 2004 and 2006 funded by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the cement layer was removed and the building restored to its original form. The mosque was added to the UNESCO Tentative List of World Heritage Sites in March 2009.

Industry

Mopti is the region's commercial center and Mali's most important port; markets around its harbour sell rock salt from

Taoudenni ar, تودني , nickname = , settlement_type = , total_type = , motto = , translit_lang1= , translit_lang1_type= , translit_lang1_info= , translit_lang1_type1= , translit_lang1_info1= , transli ...

, among many other goods. Fishing, herding, and agriculture (particularly rice production) also continue to be important to the local economy.

Tourism

Mopti is popular with tourists, having an active

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers ...

, a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

, and across the Niger, small fishing villages. Attractions in Mopti include Mopti Grand Mosque and the nearby Pays Dogon. There are several popular hotels, the Hotel Kanaga, Hotel Y a pas de Problème, and Hotel Ambedjele which is on the road to

Sévaré Sévaré (or Sevare) is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali. It is a crossroads town of about 40,000 situated about southeast of Mopti and south of Fatoma, the old capital of Kunaari. From Sévaré one can access Bandiagara to the east, Gao ...

. During the 2012 Northern Mali conflict, most Western tourists stayed away from the region, even though Mopti was not in rebel hands. However, the conflict had a mixed effect on the town as dispossessed people from the rebel-held area came to Mopti and boosted some parts of the economy.

Transport

The port of Mopti is served by ferries operated by the Compagnie Malienne de Navigation (COMANAV). The ferries run between August and December when the depth of water in the river is sufficient. They carry both freight and passengers between Koulikoro (59 km downstream from

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger Rive ...

) and Gao, a distance of 1308 km. Both passengers and freight are also transported by ''pinasses'', large wooden canoe shaped vessels, that are privately operated. Mopti is connected by a 12 km elevated causeway to Sévaré which lies on the Route Nationale 16 (RN16), the bitumen surfaced road that links Bamako in the west to Gao in the east. There is an airport at Sévaré.

Culture

The city is the subject of a 1999 documentary film, '' L'Esprit de Mopti''. It is also the birthplace of Slovak celebrity Ibrahim Maiga.

Demographics

Many ethnic groups are present in the commune including Fula, Bozo, Bambara, Dogon, Songhai, Bobos and Mossis.. The most spoken language is Fula followed by Bozo.

Climate

Mopti has a hot semi-arid climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''BSh''). The town lies near the southern boundary of the Sahel region and the weather is hot to sweltering and arid throughout much of the year. Nearly all the rainfall occurs between June and September. Average daily maximum temperatures in the hottest months of the year – April and May – exceed . Temperatures are slightly cooler, though still very hot, from June through September, when practically all of the annual rainfall occurs. Only the winter months of December and January have average daily maximum temperatures below . File:Mosque Mopti.jpg, Mopti Grand Mosque file:Mopti7.jpg, Market scene File:Sévaré3.jpg, Countryside near

Sévaré Sévaré (or Sevare) is a town in the Mopti Region of Mali. It is a crossroads town of about 40,000 situated about southeast of Mopti and south of Fatoma, the old capital of Kunaari. From Sévaré one can access Bandiagara to the east, Gao ...

in the commune of Mopti File:Mopti2.jpg, Boats in the harbour File:Mopti sel.jpg, Unloading rock salt from

Taoudenni ar, تودني , nickname = , settlement_type = , total_type = , motto = , translit_lang1= , translit_lang1_type= , translit_lang1_info= , translit_lang1_type1= , translit_lang1_info1= , transli ...

File:ASC Leiden - W.E.A. van Beek Collection - Dogon markets 20 - Women with onions and cabbages at the Mopti market, Mali 1992.jpg, Women selling onions and cabbages at the Mopti market, 1992

References

External links

* Pictures o

{{Authority control Regional capitals in Mali Communes of Mopti Region Inner Niger Delta Massina Empire Communities on the Niger River Bani River French West Africa

Geography

History

Mosque

Industry

Tourism

Transport

Culture

Demographics

Climate

See also

References

Further reading

External links