Bougouni is a commune

Communes of Mali

A Commune is the third level administrative unit in Mali. Mali is divided into eight regions and one capital district . These subdivisions bear the name of their principal city. The regions are divided into 49 Cercles...

 and city in Mali

Mali

Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...

, the administrative center of Bougouni Cercle

Bougouni Cercle

Bougouni Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Sikasso Region of Mali. The administrative center is the town of Bougouni.The cercle is divided into 26 communes:*Bladié-Tiémala*Bougouni*Danou*Débélin*Défina*Dogo*Domba*Faradiélé...

, which is in turn found in the administrative region of Sikasso. Bougouni is located 170 km south of Bamako

Bamako

Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...

 and 210 km west of the city of Sikasso. It covers an area of 7 square kilometres and as of 1998 the commune had a population of 23,535, mostly Fulas

Fula people

Fula people or Fulani or Fulbe are an ethnic group spread over many countries, predominantly in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa...

  and Bambaras .

History

Bougouni was the fourteenth commune created by the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 colonial

Colonialism

Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

 authorities of French Sudan

French Sudan

French Sudan was a colony in French West Africa that had two separate periods of existence, first from 1890 to 1899, then from 1920 to 1960, when the territory became the independent nation of Mali.-Colonial establishment:...

. 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

Moussa Traoré

General Moussa Traoré is a Malian soldier and politician. As a Lieutenant, he led the military ouster of President Modibo Keïta in 1968. Thereafter he served as Head of State from 1968-1979, and President of Mali from 1979 to 1991, when he was overthrown by popular protests and military coup...

.

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.

Bougouni has been a sister city of Aurillac

Aurillac

Aurillac is a commune in the Auvergne region in south-central France, capital of the Cantal department.Aurillac's inhabitants are called Aurillacois, and are also Cantaliens or Cantalous in Occitan....

, France, since 1985.

The Cercle of Bougouni includes the communes of Bladié-Tiemela, Bougouni, Chantoula, Danou, Debelin, Defina, Dogo, Domba, Faradielé, Faragouaran, Garolo, Keleya, Kokelé, Kola, Koumantou

Koumantou

Koumantou is a commune and town in Mali, in the Cercle of Bougouni in the Sikasso Region. It is located near the Ivorian border.The commune includes 38 villages spread over 1268 km². As of 1998 the commune had a population of 30,529. The commune's economy is heavily agricultural, relying...

, Kouroulamini, Meridiela, Ouroun, Sanso, Sibirila, Sido, Tiémala-Banimonotié, Wola, Yinindougou, Yiridougou and Zantiebougou, for a total population of 251,987.