Mali is an African nation located in the northwestern part of the continent, between neighboring countries, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Iovire, Guinea, Senegal, and Mauritania.
Mali is a landlocked country partly within the Sahara Desert. Mali has an area of about 1,240,192 square kilometers (478,839 square miles).
Mali is divided into eight regions and one district. The regions of Mali are further divided into cercles and communes, which come from Mali’s French colonial period. The regions of Mali are Kayes, Koulikoro, Sikasso, Segou, Mopti, Tombouctou, Gao, and Kidal. Each of the regions of Mali are governed by the city of the same name as the region.
Tombouctou (also known as Timbuktu) is the largest of the regions, with an area of 496,611 square kilometers. The most populous region of Mali is Sikasso, with about 2.6 million people, followed by Koulikoro, with about 2.4 million, and Segou, with around 2.3 million. The capital district of Mali is called Bamako.
| Region | Population | Area(km.²) | Area(mi.²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bamako | 1,809,106 | 252 | 97 |
| Gao | 544,120 | 170,572 | 65,858 |
| Kayes | 1,996,812 | 119,743 | 46,233 |
| Kidal | 67,638 | 151,430 | 58,467 |
| Koulikoro | 2,418,305 | 95,848 | 37,007 |
| Mopti | 2,037,330 | 79,017 | 30,509 |
| Segou | 2,336,255 | 64,821 | 25,028 |
| Sikasso | 2,625,919 | 70,280 | 27,135 |
| Timbuktu | 681,691 | 496,611 | 191,743 |
| 9 divisions | 14,517,176 | 1,248,574 | 482,077 |