Bamako

Bamako is the capital and largest city of Mali, West Africa, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country.
Bamako is the nation's administrative centre. The city proper is a cercle in its own right. Bamako's river port is located in nearby Koulikoro, along with a major regional trade and conference centre. Bamako is the seventh-largest West African urban centre after Lagos, Abidjan, Kano, Ibadan, Dakar, and Accra. Locally manufactured goods include textiles, processed meat, and metal goods as well as mining. Commercial fishing occurs on the Niger River.
In recent years, Bamako has seen significant urban development, with the construction of modern buildings, shopping malls, and infrastructure projects aimed at improving the quality of life for its residents. The city is home to many notable institutions, such as the University of Bamako, the National Museum of Mali, the Mali National Zoo, and the Grand Mosque of Bamako. It is also the location for the Modibbo Keita International Airport. The buildings of Bamako have a unique architectural style.

History

The area of the city has evidence of settlements since the Palaeolithic era. The fertile lands of the Niger River Valley provided the people with an abundant food supply and early chiefdoms in the area grew wealthy as they established trade routes linking across west Africa, the Sahara, and leading to northern Africa and Europe as early as 600s BCE. The early inhabitants traded gold, ivory, kola nuts, and salt. By the 11th century, the Empire of Ghana became the first kingdom to dominate the area, later succeeded by the Mali Empire.
The kafu of Bamako was founded around 1650 by the Niare family, perhaps associated with a Soninke man named Bamba Sanogo. The Toure and Drave families, mostly clerics and merchants, were also prominent in early Bamako. It was a client state of the Segou Empire. The Scottish explorer Mungo Park visited Bamako in 1806 during his exploration of the Niger River. He estimated that the city at the time held 6000 inhabitants, similar to many other commercial settlements across West Africa at the time.
In February 1882, Samory Toure defeated the French at the Battle of Samaya outside Kinieran. Faced with Toure's expanding Wassoulou Empire, some of the leaders of the Dyula community in Bamako began making overtures to join the anti-French alliance. The French commander Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes, eager to possess this key strategic location on the Niger, rushed a force to establish a fort there on 1 February 1883. Kebe Brema, Samory's brother, led a force to Bamako to lure the French out of their defenses. They fought two battles at Woyo Wayanko creek in early April, with Kebe Brema winning the first but eventually being forced to retreat.
In 1904 a railroad was built connecting Bamako to Kayes, and the city began growing quickly upon being named the capital of French Sudan in 1908. The cercle of Mali at this time had around 160 000 inhabitants living in 4-500 villages. A railroad connecting Bamako to Dakar was completed in 1923.
Mali gained independence from France in April 1960, and the Republic of Mali was later established. At this time, Bamako had a population of around 160,000. During the 1960s, the country became socialist and Bamako was subject to Soviet investment and influence. However, the economy declined as state enterprises collapsed and unrest was widespread. Eventually, Moussa Traoré led a successful coup and ruled Mali for 23 years. However his rule was characterised by severe droughts and poor government management and problems of food shortages.
In the late 1980s the people of Bamako and Mali campaigned for a free-market economy and multiparty democracy. In 1990, the National Congress for Democratic Initiative was set up by the lawyer Mountaga Tall, and the Alliance for Democracy in Mali by Abdramane Baba and historian Alpha Oumar Konaré. These with the Association des élèves et étudiants du Mali and the Association Malienne des Droits de l'Homme aimed to oust Moussa Traoré. Under the old constitution, all labor unions had to belong to one confederation, the National Union of Malian Workers. When the leadership of the UNTM broke from the government in 1990, the opposition grew. Groups were driven by paycuts and layoffs in the government sector, and the Malian government acceding to pressure from international donors to privatise large swathes of the economy that had remained in public hands even after the overthrow of the socialist government in 1968. Students, even children, played an increasing role in the protest marches in Bamako, and homes and businesses of those associated with the regime were ransacked by crowds.
On 22 March 1991, a large-scale protest march in central Bamako was violently suppressed, with estimates of those killed reaching 300. Four days later, a military coup deposed Traoré. The Comité de Transition pour le Salut du Peuple was set up, headed by General Amadou Toumani Touré. Alpha Oumar Konari officially became president on 26 April 1992.
Bamako had been the target of numerous jihadist terrorist attacks during the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel. On 20 November 2015, two gunmen took 170 people hostage in the Radisson Blu hotel. Twenty-one people were killed along with the two gunmen during the seven-hour siege. In a series of attacks on 17 September 2024, a group of gunmen from Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an al-Qaeda affiliate, attacked a military training school, killing many gendarme and trainees, and set aircraft ablaze at the international airport. At least 77 people were killed. This was the first jihadist attack on Bamako since 2016. JNIM is a successor to some of the organizations responsible for the 2015 attack. The 2024 attack was downplayed by the Malian military junta, which seized control over the country in a 2021 coup d'état.

Geography

Bamako is situated on the Niger River floodplain, which hampers development along the riverfront and the Niger's tributaries. Bamako is relatively flat, except to the immediate north where an escarpment is found, being what remains of an extinct volcano. The Presidential Palace and main hospital are located here.
Originally, the city developed on the northern side of the river, but as it grew, bridges were developed to connect the north with the south. The first of these was the Pont des Martyrs and the King Fahd Bridge. Additionally, a seasonal causeway between the eastern neighborhoods of Sotuba and Misabugu was inherited from colonial times. The Sotuba Causeway is typically under water from July to January. A third bridge is being built at the same location to reduce downtown congestion, notably by trucks.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Bamako features a tropical savanna climate. Located in the Sudano-Sahelian zone, Bamako is very hot on average all year round with the hottest months being between March and May. The mildest months are between November and February. During the dry season, rainfall is scarce: virtually none falls between November and April due to the dominance of the Saharan anticyclone and the dry trade winds. The rainy season occurs in the summer with the peak occurring with a few storms beginning in May, then transitioning to the monsoon from June to October.

Environment

Waste Management Controversy

In 2015, the Bamako city government privatized waste collection in the city. Before the introduction of this program there was a long standing informal waste collection system carried out by "Economic interest groups." Before the privatization these independent groups collected waste throughout the city. After privatization, not only did many waste collectors become unemployed but the corporation that they enlisted to do the job was collecting only 30% of Bamako's waste. The garbage build up creates toxic living conditions and it only worsens when it rains. Due to the prevalence of waste in Bamako's streets, including informal dumping sites near a school, citizens have taken to protesting, marching and it has even escalated to the point of property damage.

Administration

The District of Bamako has been divided into six communes since Ordinance No. 78-34/CNLM of 18 August 1978, and amended by a law in February 1982 establishing the new boundaries of Communes III and IV. Each commune is administered by the municipal council and a mayor elected from among its members. The last elections were held on 26 April 2009 and the Alliance for Democracy in Mali hold the majority of representatives for the communes.

Communes and neighborhoods

has a population of 335,407 people and covers. It is bounded to the north by the rural commune of Djalakorodji, west by the Commune II, north-east by the rural commune of Sangarebougou, on the east by the rural commune of Gabakourou and south by the Niger River. Nine neighborhoods comprise this commune: Banconi, Boulkassombougou, Djelibougou, Doumanzana Fadjiguila, Sotuba Korofina North, and South Korofina Sikoroni.
Commune II has a population of 159,805 people and covers. It is bounded to the east by the backwater of Korofina at the west foot of the Point G hill, and to the south by Niger River. The municipality has eleven neighborhoods: Niaréla, Bagadadji, Medina-Coura, Bozola, Missira, Hippodrome, Quinzambougou, Bakaribougou, TSF, Industrial Area, and Bougouba. The new Cité du Niger island is also located in the Commune II. The area is the most important in the industry sector in Bamako.
Commune III has a population of 128,872 people and covers. It is bounded on the north by the Kati, east by the Boulevard du Peuple, which separates it from the Commune II, south by the portion of the Niger River, between the Pont des Martyrs and the Motel de Bamako, and west by the Farako River and Avenue Cheick Zayed El Mahyan Ben Sultan with the neighborhood of ACI-2000. Commune III is the administrative and commercial center of Bamako. It accommodates in particular the two largest markets in the capital, the Grand Market and Dibida. Twenty neighborhoods make up this commune and the villages of Koulouninko and Sirakorodounfing were attached to the Commune III.
Commune IV has a population of 300,085 people and covers. It is bounded to the east by Commune III, north, west by Kati Cercle and south by the left bank of the Niger River. Commune IV consists of eight neighborhoods: Taliko, Lassa, Sibiribougou, Djikoroni Para, Sébénikoro, Hamdallaye, Lafiabougou and Kalabambougou.
Commune V has a population of 414,668 people and covers. It is bounded to the north by the Niger River, south by the airport and the commune of Kalabancoro, and to the east by the Commune VI and Niger. It consists of eight neighborhoods: Badalabougou, Sema I, Quartier Mali, Torokorobougou, Baco-Djicoroni, Sabalibougou, Daoudabougou and Kalaban-Coura.
Commune VI has a population of 470,269 people and covers. This is the largest of the communes that make up Bamako. It consists of ten neighborhoods: Banankabougou, Djanékéla, Faladié, Magnambougou, Missabougou, Niamakoro, Sénou, Sogoniko, Sokorodji and Yrimadio.
Bamako contains the following neighborhoods : ACI-2000, Badalabugu, Bajalan I, Bajalan II, Bako Jikoroni, Bagadaji, Bamako Kura, Bankoni, Bolibana, Bozola, Bugudani, Bulkasumbugu, Dar Salam, N'tomikorobougou, Dawdabugu, Dravela, Fajigila, Falaje, Garantigibugu, Jalakoroji, Janekela, Janjigila, Jelibugu, Jikoroni Para, Jumanzana, Hamdallaye, Hippodrome, Kalaban Koro, Kalaban Kura, Korofina, Kuluba, Kulubleni, Lafiabugu, Madina Kura, Magnambugu, Misabugu, Misira, Niarela, Ntomikorobugu, Point G, Quartier du Fleuve, Quartier Mali, Quinzanbugu, Sabalibugu I, Sabalibugu II, Safo, Same, Sangarebugu, Saranbugu, Sebeninkoro, Sikoroni, Sirakoro, Senu, Sibiribugu, Sokoniko, Sokoroji, Sotuba, Titibugu, Torokorobugu, TSF-Sans Fil, Wolofobugu, Yirimanjo, Zone Industrielle