Cercles of Mali

A cercle is the second level administrative unit in Mali. Mali is divided into eight régions and one capital district (Bamako); the régions are subdivided into 49 cercles. These subdivisions bear the name of their principal city.

During French colonial rule in Mali, a cercle was the smallest unit of French political administration that was headed by a European officer. A cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages. In 1887 the Cercle of Bafoulabé was the first cercle to be created in Mali. In most of former French West Africa, the term cercle was changed to Prefecture or Department after independence, but this was not done in Mali.

Some cercles (and the district) were, prior to the 1999 local government reorganisation, further divided into Arrondissements, especially in urban areas or the vast northern regions (such as Kidal), which consisted of a collection of Communes. Since these reforms, cercles are now directly subdivided into rural and urban communes, which in turn are divided in Quartiers (Quarters, or Villages and encampments in rural areas) which have elected councils at each level. There are 703 communes, 36 urban communes (including 6 in Bamako District) and 667 rural communes. The cercles are listed below.

Mali

Coordinates: 17°N 4°W / 17°N 4°W / 17; -4

Mali (ⁱ/ˈmɑːli/; French: [maˈli]), officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali), is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi). The population of Mali is 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako. Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. The country's economy centers on agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt. About half the population lives below the international poverty line of $1.25 (U.S.) a day. A majority of the population (55%) are non-denominational Muslims.

Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (for which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, and art. At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, making it a part of French Sudan. French Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state.

Malič

Malič (Serbian Cyrillic: Малич) is a mountain in western Serbia, near the town of Ivanjica. Its highest peak has an elevation of 1,110 meters above sea level.

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Mali (cartoonist)

T. R. Mahalingam, better known by his pen-name Mali, was an illustrator and cartoonist from Tamil Nadu, India, in the pre-independence era. He was the Tamil Press's first caricaturists, according to Chennai historian S. Muthiah in The Hindu. Muthiah has written elsewhere that Mali did as much with his strokes for Vikatan as its celebrated editor Kalki Krishnamurthy did with his words.

Mali published his drawings in the Indian Express in the 1930s, and first made his name at the Free Press Journal 'before being immortalised in the pages of Ananda Vikatan, the first popular Tamil periodical'. He also did cartoons for the Vikatan group's English-language Merry Magazine, where he became the editor in 1935. He is said to have left the editorial nitty-gritty to his assistant editor, while continuing to illustrate such humorous serials as 'Private Joyful in Madras' (The magazine shut down in c. 1935 or 1936).

While it was the writer and poet Subramanya Bharathi who first introduced cartoons to Tamil journalism, it was Ananda Vikatan that made them truly popular. As cartoonist and senior artist at Ananda Vikatan, Mali was thus a key influence on a second generation of cartoonists. Gopulu and Silpi were illustrators he mentored at Vikatan.