Bougouni, Ségou

Bougouni is a village and seat of the commune of Mariko in the Cercle of Niono in the Ségou Region of southern-central Mali. The village lies on the west side of the Fala de Molodo, 19 km north of Niono.

References

Bougouni

Bougouni is a commune and city in Mali, the administrative center of Bougouni Cercle, which is in turn found in the administrative region of Sikasso. Bougouni is located 170 km south of Bamako and 210 km west of the city of Sikasso. It covers an area of 7 square kilometres and as at the 2009 Census the commune had a population of 59,679, mostly Fulas (Fula: Fulɓe; French: Peuls) and Bambaras (Bambara: Bamananw).

History

Bougouni was the fourteenth commune created by the French colonial authorities of French Sudan. On July 10, 1894, Bougouni became the administrative center of the commune under its first administrator, Lieutenant Gouraud. Bougouni held an important set of colonial archives which were lost in a fire during the March 1991 uprising against President Moussa Traoré.

Geography

Bougouni, like many cities of Mali, enjoys sufficient rainfall for regular farming. Cotton is produced in the region around the town, making it a center for processing and transport. The Bougouni-Foulaboula Protected Forest (Forêt Classée de Bougouni-Foulaboula) begins just to the southwest of the town.

Ségou

Ségou (also Segou, Segu, Seku) is a town and an urban commune in south-central Mali that lies 235 kilometres (146 mi) northeast of Bamako on the River Niger. The town is the capital of the Ségou Cercle and the Ségou Region. With 130,690 inhabitants in 2009, it is the fifth-largest town in Mali.

The village of Ségou-Koro, 10 km 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 12 km 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's Toucouleur Empire in 1861, then by the French Army Colonel Louis Archinard in 1890.

Ségou Region

Ségou Region is an administrative region in Mali, situated in the centre of the country with an area of 64,821 km² (around 5% of Mali). The region is bordered by Sikasso Region on the south, Tombouctou and Mopti on the east, Burkina Faso to the southeast and the Koulikoro Region to the west. In 2009 it had 2,336,255 inhabitants, making it the second most populous region of Mali. Its administrative capital is the town of Ségou.

Climate

The Ségou Region is characterized by a semi-arid climate (average yearly rainfall: 513 mm) and irrigated by two important waterways: the Niger and the Bani River, allowing allow irrigation for agriculture. Ségou has two seasons: a rainy season and a dry season. The rainy season starts in June and lasts about four months until September. On the other hand, the dry season includes a cold period and a period of heat. The average yearly rainfall is about 513 mm. The harmattan is the dominant wind in the dry season and it blows from north to south. The monsoon blowing from south to north-west is more frequent during rainy season (hivernage).

Ségou (disambiguation)

Ségou is a city in Mali.

Ségou may also refer to:

See also