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Ségou (; bm, ߛߋߓߎ, italic=no, ) is a town and an urban commune in south-central
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. Mali ...
that lies northeast of
Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, 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 t ...
on the right bank of the
River Niger 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 Mali, ...
. The town is the capital of the
Ségou Cercle Ségou Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Ségou Region of Mali. The administrative center (''chef-lieu'') is the town of Ségou. The cercle is divided into 30 communes:. Names of communes are in upper-case without accents. * Bagu ...
and the
Ségou Region Ségou Region ( Bambara: ߛߋߓߎ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ tr. Segu Dineja) is an administrative region in Mali, situated in the centre of the country with an area of , around 5% of Mali. The region is bordered by Sikasso Region on the south, Tombouctou a ...
. With 130,690 inhabitants in 2009, it is the fifth-largest town in Mali. The village of Ségou-Koro, upstream of the present town, was established in the 17th century and became the capital of the Bambara Empire.


History

In the middle of the 19th century there were four villages with the name of Ségou spread out over a distance of around along the right bank of the river. They were, starting from the most upstream, Ségou-Koro (Old Ségou), Ségou-Bougou, Ségou-Koura (New Ségou) and Ségou-Sikoro. The present town is on the site of Ségou-Sikoro. The village of Ségou-Koro prospered after Biton Mamary Coulibaly became king in 1712 and founded the Ségou (or Bamana) Empire. Mungo Park became the first European known to have visited the village in 1796. The empire gradually declined and was conquered by
El Hadj Umar Tall Hadji Oumarûl Foutiyou Tall (Umar ibn Sa'id al-Futi Tal, ar, حاج عمر بن سعيد طعل), ( – 1864 CE), born in Futa Tooro, present day Senegal, was a West African political leader, Islamic scholar, Tijani Sufi and Toucoule ...
's
Toucouleur Empire The Tidjaniya Caliphate ( ar, الخلافة التجانية; also known as the Tijaniyya Jihad state or the Segu Tukulor or the Toucouleur Empire) (1861–1890) was founded in the mid-nineteenth century by Elhadj Oumar Foutiyou Tall of the T ...
in 1861, then by the
French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
Colonel
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 a ...
in 1890.


Origin

Ségou has contested origins. Some claim that the word Ségou come from "Sikoro", meaning to the foot of a shea butter tree. Others argue that it was named after Cheikou, a
marabout A marabout ( ar, مُرابِط, murābiṭ, lit=one who is attached/garrisoned) is a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Sah ...
who founded the city, while still other theories support the claim that Ségou was founded by the Bozo fishermen coming from the north, who established their villages along the Niger River. The 11th century CE saw an influx of the
Soninke people The Soninke people are a West African Mande-speaking ethnic group found in Mali, Fouta Djallon, southern Mauritania, eastern Senegal, Guinea and The Gambia. They speak the Soninke language, also called the Serakhulle or Azer language, which is ...
, who were trying to escape from the collapse of the
Ghana Empire The Ghana Empire, also known as Wagadou ( ar, غانا) or Awkar, was a West African empire based in the modern-day southeast of Mauritania and western Mali that existed from c. 300 until 1100. The Empire was founded by the Soninke people, ...
, with Mandinka populations following. It is believed that
Kaladian Coulibaly Kaladian Coulibaly was a West African ruler who founded one of the first large Bambara people, Bambara kingdoms, centered on Ségou in what is now Mali. Around 1650, Coulibaly's kingdom was one of the dominant forces in the region. Though it lacke ...
, founder of the Bambara Kingdom's Koulibaly dynasty established the first sedentary villages here at his time. The later Diarra dynasty moved the capital of the Bambara Kingdom to Ségou.


Ségou Koro

Ségou Koro is located about ten kilometres from Ségou, on the road to Bamako. Segou Koro was created by the founder of the Bambara dynasty. During the 17th century, Bambara coming from
Djenné Djenné ( Bambara: ߘߖߋߣߣߋ tr. Djenne; also known as Djénné, Jenné and Jenne) is a Songhai people town and an urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, on ...
, led by Kaladian Coulibaly settled along the Niger River. Danfassari, Koulibaly's son continued his father's work by building his city there. After Koulibaly's death, his eldest grandson Mamari—also known as Biton—ruled the city and made it flourish. Today the town in some ways conserves the tradition and architecture of the ancient city.


Bambara Kingdom

The Bambaras from Djenné with Kaladian Coulibaly established their nation along the Niger River and founded the town of Ségou-Koro, the capital of the Bambara state. Bortolot (2003) says that Ségou evolved from a simple social structure, characterized by hunting and farming, to a more complex city dominated by a dynasty system. One of Koulibaly's descendants, Mamary Coulibaly, became the chief of the Bi-Ton and later took the name Biton. Biton spread terror, organised the army, and restructured the association into a city. He expanded the territory from Segou Koro to Timbuktu. Under his rule, the Macina and Djenné trading centers became a part of Ségou. Timbuktu was not part of Ségou. It remained autonomous and paid tribute to Biton. After Biton's death in 1755, one of the Coulibaly family slaves,
Ngolo Diarra Ngolo Diarra was the king of the Bambara Empire from 1766 to 1795. Following the 1755 death of empire founder Bitòn Coulibaly, his descendants (the Bitonsi) proved unable to maintain control, the kingdom fell briefly into chaos. Ngolo Diarra, a f ...
, obtained power to control the Bambara kingdom and established the Diarra dynasty. Ngolo Diarra ruled Ségou until the 19th century. He moved the kingdom's capital from Segou-Koro to Ségou-Sikoro, close to the site of the current city. Diarra continued Biton's conquest and extended the kingdom from Guinea to Timbuktu.


Conquest

In March 1861, the Muslim Toucouleur leader, El Hadj Oumar Tall, conquered the town. On his death in 1864, he was succeeded by his son
Ahmadu Tall Ahmadou Sekou Tall (June 21, 1836 – December 15, 1897) (also Ahmadu Sekou, Ahmad al-Madani al-Kabir at-Tijani) was a Toucouleur ruler ( Laamdo Dioulbé) of the Toucouleur Empire (1864–92) and (Faama) of Ségou (now Mali) from 1864 to 1884. A ...
. Ahmadu had to deal with Bambara rebellions and challenges from his brothers but he continued to rule until 1890 when the town fell to French forces led by Colonel
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 a ...
. ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 04 - 053 - Six femmes avec des marchandises sur la tête - Ségou, Mali - 1972.tif, Women with food for sale in dishes on their heads, Niger River bank, Segou 1972 ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 13 - 034 - Quatre hommes lavent des vêtements sur la rive du fleuve Niger - Ségou, Région de Ségou, Mali, 1972.tiff, Four men wash clothes in the Niger River, Segou 1972. ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 04 - 058 - Une allée avec des maisons de glaise - Ségou, Mali - 1972.tif, An alley in between mud houses, Segou 1972. ASC Leiden - F. van der Kraaij Collection - 19 - 042 - Au moins deux tisserands traditionnels travaillent sous un toit de paille - Ségou, Région de Ségou, Mali, 1972.tiff, Weavers at work, Segou 1972 ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 03 - 28 - Un marché avec des arbres sur une rive du fleuve Niger - Ségou, Mali - novembre-décembre 1993.tiff , A market on the bank of the Niger River, 1993 ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 03 - 27 - Le Bamanan Bar Restaurant Dancing Ségou - Ségou, Mali - novembre-décembre 1993.tif, The Bamanan Bar Restaurant Dancing Ségou, 1993 ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 03 - 59 - Deux petites filles en tenue occidentale avec des bols - Ségou, Mali - novembre-décembre 1993.tif, A girl on a street near a mosque, Segou 1993 ASC Leiden - van Achterberg Collection - 03 - 42 - Un marché au bord du fleuve Niger. Une présentation de plats - Ségou, Mali - novembre-décembre 1993.tif, Market of cooking pans on the Niger River bank, Segou 1993


Geography


Location

Ségou is situated 235 km from
Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, 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 t ...
, on the right bank of 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 ...
. The urban commune is bordered to the east by the commune of
Pelengana Pelengana (or Pélengana) is a small town and rural commune in the Cercle of Ségou in the Ségou Region of southern-central Mali. The commune contains the town and 25 villages in an area of approximately 359 square kilometers.. In the 2009 cens ...
, to the west by the commune of Sébougou and to the south by the commune of Sakoïba. The commune is subdivided into 15 ''quartiers'': Alamissani, Angoulême, Bagadadji, Bougoufié, Comatex, Dar Salam, Hamdallaye, Médine, Mission Catholique, Missira, Ségou Coura, Sido Soninkoura, Somono, Sokalakono, Bananissabakoro.


Climate

Ségou has a
hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''BSh''). The city is irrigated by two important waterways: the Niger and 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 Th ...
. Ségou has two seasons: a rainy season and a dry season. The rainy season starts in May and lasts about five months until September. Ségou's dry season includes a relatively mild period followed by a period of sweltering heat. The average yearly rainfall is about . The
harmattan The Harmattan is a season in West Africa that occurs between the end of November and the middle of March. It is characterized by the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind, of the same name, which blows from the Sahara over West Africa into the ...
is the dominant wind in the dry season and it blows from north to south. The monsoon blowing from south to north-west is frequent during rainy season (''hivernage'').


Demography

The Ségou Region's population was about 2,338,349 in 2009. With a rural population that is largely nomadic semi-sedentary or sedentary, the population consists of many
ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
groups, such as Bambara, Bozo,
Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
, Soninke,
Malinke Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family. It is the mother tongue of the Malinké peop ...
and Toucouleur. Bambaras are mostly farmers and are the most numerous ethnic group. Their language is Bambara or Djoula. The Bozos are the second most populous ethnic group. They typically live near the shore of the Niger river, in small towns of small houses. The Bozo economy is based on fishing. Bozo people have a monopoly on the transport system because of their knowledge of the Niger, its shallows and seasonal lakes, and are regarded as the masters of water. The , also fishermen, are not a distinct ethnic group but a mixture of Bambara, Bozo and Soninke. The Malinké/Mandinka/Maninka are closely related to Bambaras: They share costumes, religious beliefs, and practices with the Bambaras. The Marka, Saracollé or Soninke are merchants and warriors. The Soninke people are great travelers and Muslims, and have largely conserved their traditions.


Art and culture

The Bambaras used to transmit their knowledge by oral tradition, hence much of their art and culture is unknown. Ségou's cultural heritage includes traditional musical instruments, wonderful
griot A griot (; ; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: , ''djeli'' or ''djéli'' in French spelling); Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician. The griot is a repos ...
s, folkloric groups and the traditional masks and marionettes. The history of the Bambara state's traditional religious practices are ambiguous. They practice animism and fetishism as cultural practices, and also totemic and monism (cult of ancestors). The most famous Ségou handcrafts are based on pottery, weaving (blankets, wrappers and carpets), manufacturing of ''Bogolan'' (a distinctive variation of
Mud cloth A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...
), painting and sculpture. Ségou is also regarded as the capital of Malian pottery with a large pottery district in
Kalabougou Kalabougou is a Bambara village on the left bank of the Niger River in the Ségou Region of Mali. Kalabougou is located across the Niger River from Ségou, and dates back to the Bamana Empire which ruled in the area from the seventeenth to the n ...
situated on the left bank. Women make the pottery by hand with the clay coming from the Niger River and bring the finished works to the local Monday market.


Festivals

The most well-known festival in Ségou is the annual Festival sur le Niger (Festival on the Niger). This festival celebrates music and the arts and culture of the Bambara people, and includes the
Caravane culturelle de la paix Caravane is the brand name of a camel milk cheese produced in Mauritania by Tiviski, a company founded by Nancy Abeiderrhamane in 1987. The milk used to make the cheese is collected from the local animals of a thousand nomadic herdsmen, is ver ...
since 2013. The 16th edition of the festival took place in 2019, when for the first time it combined with Ségou' Art, a contemporary art fair. The two festivals continue to be combined for the 2023 event, which takes place over six days in early February.


Education

The University of Ségou was founded in 2009.


Places of worship

Among the
places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is somet ...
, they are predominantly
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
mosques. There are also
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
churches and temples : Roman Catholic Diocese of Ségou (
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
), Église Chrétienne Évangélique du Mali (
Alliance World Fellowship The Alliance World Fellowship is the international governing body of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA). The Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within the Higher Life movement of Christianity ...
),
Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...
.


Architecture

Ségou has two architectural styles:
French Colonial French colonial architecture includes several styles of architecture used by the French during colonization. Many former French colonies, especially those in Southeast Asia, have previously been reluctant to promote their colonial architectur ...
and traditional Sudanese and neo-Sudanese. The Sudanese style influenced public building and important residences. Monuments and great mosques are also built according to this style. Many of Sudano-Sahelian's kings built imposing palaces in the cities over which they ruled and most of these buildings are in red clay. The materials used for building are generally quite poor and many of the buildings need to be restored to maintain their state.


Economy

Today, Ségou is known for its pottery, its market and its fishing industry. Attractions in the old town of ''Ségou-Koro'' included a mosque, Coulibaly's tomb and an ancient tree. In the city center, the main landmark is the
water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...
. The most important economic activities are fishing, cattle herding and small scale farming. The main crop is
rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...
pearl millet but sorghum (''
Sorghum bicolor ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a Poaceae, grass species cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animal feed, and ethan ...
'') and
black-eyed pea The black-eyed pea or black-eyed bean is a legume grown around the world for its medium-sized, edible bean. It is a subspecies of the cowpea, an Old World plant domesticated in Africa, and is sometimes simply called a cowpea. The common commer ...
s are also grown. The yields are generally low.. There are two factories processing cotton: Compagnie Malienne des Textiles (COMATEX) and Compagnie malienne pour le développement du textile (CMDT). Commerce consists mostly of the small scale exchange and sale of products from the primary sector, sold weekly at the large Sudano-Sahelian market, drawing customers from far outside of the city. The main products sold are vegetables, pottery, cotton, leather, fruit, ovens, cattle and cereals. The headquarters of the
Office du Niger The Office du Niger is a semi-autonomous government agency in Mali that administers a large irrigation scheme in the Ségou Region of the country. Water from the Niger River is diverted into a system of canals at the Markala dam downstream of S ...
is based in the town. The Office du Niger is a semi-autonomous government agency that administers a large irrigation scheme in the Ségou Region to the north of the Niger River. Ségou used to be served by Ségou Airport (
IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
: SZU,
ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
: GASG). The airport lay south-west of the city center and is visible on old maps as well as satellite imagery.


Notable residents

Notable people from Ségou include Adame Ba Konare, Fanta Damba,
Garan Fabou Kouyate Garan Fabou Kouyaté (April 25, 1925 - April 1, 2016) was a Malian civil and social figure. He was a member of Mali's Association for Unity and the Progress of Islam (AMUPI), Director of Mali's first Islamic radio La Voix du Coran et du Hadith an ...
,
Mountaga Tall Mountaga Tall (born December 10, 1956) is a Malian politician who is President of the National Congress for Democratic Initiative (CNID)"Présidentielles: 24 SUR LA LIGNE DE DÉPART"
''L'Essor'', April 8, 2002 .
and
Bassekou Kouyate Bassekou Kouyaté (born 1966) is a musician from Mali. His band is known as Ngoni ba. He was born into the Kouyate family in Garana, Barouéli Cercle, 60 kilometres from Ségou, in 1966.Frank Bessem's Musiques d'AfriqueBassekou Kouyate/ref> At th ...
.
Maryse Condé Maryse Condé (née Boucolon; February 11, 1937) is a French novelist, critic, and playwright from the French Overseas department and region of Guadeloupe. Condé is best known for her novel ''Ségou'' (1984–85).Condé, Maryse, and Richard ...
's
historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
''Segu'' tells the city's history from 1797 to its 1860 defeat by El Hajj Oumar Tall's army.


International relations


Twin towns – sister cities

Ségou is twinned with: *
Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, since 1984. *
Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.


See also

*
Bamana Empire The Bamana Empire (also Bambara Empire or Ségou Empire, bm, italics=no, ߓߊ߲ߓߊߙߊ߲߫ ߝߊ߯ߡߟߊ, Banbaran Fāmala) was a large West African state based at Ségou, now in Mali. This state was established after the fall of the Mali Em ...
: for the Ségou Empire *
List of cities in Mali This list of cities in Mali tabulates all the largest communes in the country of Mali (including those in the north-eastern portion where the Mali Government no longer exercises de facto control). Besides the largest cities and towns (all urb ...


References


Sources

*. *. *. *. *.


Further reading

*.


External links

*
Ségou Tourist Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Segou Populated places in Ségou Region Regional capitals in Mali Communities on the Niger River Populated places established in 1620 French West Africa Bamana 1620 establishments in Africa