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Discover MALI : 10 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THIS WEST AFRICAN COUNTRY
Mali is a West African landlocked country subdivided into 10 regions.. Officially, it is referred to as the Republic of Mali. Bamako is its capital city. According to the World Bank in 2020, the population of Mali stood at 20.25 million people. Its currency is the West African CFA Franc and the country’s official languages are Bambara and French. It is the eighth largest country in Africa with an area of over 1,240,000 square kilometres.
One of the world’s hottest deserts, the Sahara Desert, covers an area of 3.6 million square miles. The desert covers a large area of North Africa accounting for approximately 31% of the total area of the continent. For many years, this arid area has received annual rainfall of below 200mm. Some of the countries within the desert include; Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Morocco, Niger Republic, Chad, Algeria and small portions of Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Sudan.
Mali is one of the hottest countries in Africa. 65% of the total area of the country is covered by the Sahara. It is referred to as the pressure cooker of Africa because it is generally hot especially during hot seasons like April where temperatures can rise to 46 degrees Celsius or even higher!
Located on the floodplains of the River Bani in the city of Djenne, the previous structure built on the site was constructed in the 13th Century. The current building dates back to 1907. It is one of the most popular landmarks in Africa and is part of the ancient city of Djenne. The Great Mosque of Djenne is a large banco or adobe building in the Sudano-Sahelian architecture style.
It is said that the original Great mosque was erected when King Koi Konboro, who was Djenne’s 26th ruler and its 1st sultan, decided to use traditional design techniques and local materials to build a place of Muslim worship in town. He had his palace destroyed and the mosque built in its place as an expression of his new found faith.
Constructed using clay mortar and sun-baked bricks, it is the world’s largest man made clay/mud structure. Every April, residents of Djenne maintain the walls of the mosque during a one-day festival called Crepissage. They reconstruct the walls with mud. The original mosque presided over one of the most important Islamic learning centers in Africa, during the Middle Ages. Thousands of students would come to study the Quran in Djenne’s madrassas. The Grand Mosque of Djenne became a World Heritage Site in 1988.
The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita(1214-1255). It was a monarchy. Its rulers, especially Mansa Musa, were renowned for their wealth. At its peak(1200-1300), the Mali empire was the largest in West Africa. Following the death of Sundiata Keita, the kings of Mali were referred to by the title ‘mansa’. It is said that Mansa Musa inherited a kingdom that was already wealthy, but his work in expanding trade made it the wealthiest in Africa. His riches came from mining salt and gold deposits. After his return from Mecca where he had been between 1324 to 1326, he worked on revitalizing cities in his kingdom.
The Manding languages were spoken in the empire. They include Malinke, Fulani and Mandinka. The empire began in and was centered around the Manding region which is in southern Mali and northeastern Guinea now. Islam was the official religion of the land although in the rural areas, there were traditional African religions. Niani is believed to have been the capital city of the Mali empire. Its population, in the mid 15th Century, stood at 40 to 50 million. The currency of the Mali empire was mostly gold dust but copper, salt, silver and cowries were also commonly used.
Mali empire was preceded by Gao empire and Ghana empire and succeeded by several other empires; Songhai empire, Kaabu empire, Jolof empire and empire of Great Fulo. The Mali empire spanned the modern-day countries of Senegal, southern Mauritania, Mali, northern Burkina Faso, western Niger, Guinea-Bissau, the Gambia, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and northern Ghana. The empire collapsed in the 1460s following civil wars, opening up of trading routes elsewhere and the rise of the Songhai empire. It however continued to control a small part of the western empire into the 17th Century.
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Published Nov 20, 2023
