Kidal ( Tuareg Berber: ⴾⴸⵍ, KDL, Kidal) is a town and

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the desert region of northern

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. Mal ...

. The town lies northeast of

Gao Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ...

and is the capital of the

Kidal Cercle Kidal Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Kidal Region of Mali. The administrative center ''(chef-lieu)'' is the town of Kidal. The cercle is divided into rural and urban communes, and below this, quarters/villages. In 2009 the cercle ...

and the

Kidal Region Kidal Region ( Bambara: ߞߌߘߊߟ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ tr. Kidal Dineja) the eighth administrative region of Mali, covering . This area was formerly part of Gao Region, but was created as a separate region in 1991. It is located in the north of the coun ...

. The commune has an area of about and includes the town of Kidal and 31 other settlements.

History

On 30 March 2012, Kidal and its military base were captured by the

National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad or the Azawad National Liberation Movement (Tamasheq: '; ar, الحركة الوطنية لتحرير أزواد ''al-Ḥarakat al-Waṭaniyat Litaḥrīr ʾĀzawād''; french: Mouvement nati ...

as part of the Tuareg rebellion for the independence of

Azawad Azawad, or Azawagh (Tuareg: Azawaɣ, or Azawad; ar, أزواد) was a short-lived unrecognised state from 2012 to 2013. Azawagh (''Azawaɣ'') is the generic Tuareg Berber name of all Tuareg Berber areas, especially the northern half of Mali ...

. A spokesman for the Malian military junta said "To preserve the life of the people of Kidal, the military command decided not to prolong the battle". Gao and

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou; Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label=Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrativ ...

were captured within the next 48 hours, and on 6 April, the

declared the independence of Azawad from

. In the course of the conflict the MNLA lost their control to Islamist militias. On 30 January 2013 French and Malian forces moved into the town to bring it back under government control. On 14 December 2013, a car bombing in Kidal killed two

United Nations peacekeepers Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished ...

. On 21 May 2014, MNLA forced government troops in Kidal to retreat after heavy fighting, capturing the military base. On 13 February 2020 Mali government forces returned to Kidal after six years.

Demographics

Historical population

The population of the city of Kidal has grown from 11,159 in 1998 to 25,969 in 2009, raising its percentage in the

from 26.3% to 38.3%.

Languages

Kidal city is mainly

Tamasheq Tamashek or Tamasheq is a variety of Tuareg, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic tribes across North Africa in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Tamasheq is one of the three main varieties of Tuareg, the others being Ta ...

speaking with 79.13% of the city speaking it in 2009. The second most spoken language in Kidal city is Songhai with 7.18% of the city speaking it. Other minority languages include Bambara spoken by 5.51% of the city,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

spoken by 3.78% of the city, and other minority languages spoken by 4.4%.

Notable Inhabitants

Musician Ahmed Ag Kaedy comes originally from Kidal.

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies it climate as hot desert (BWh), with extremely hot weather most of the year.

Gallery

File:Kidal.jpg, Entry to the town File:Kidal Colonial Fortress 2005.jpg, French colonial fortress at Kidal

References

External links

*. *. {{Authority control Populated places in Kidal Region Regional capitals in Mali Tuareg Azawad