Located on the Niger River’s flood plain, Bamako serves as the capital city for the landlocked West African country formally named the Republic of Mali (previously French Sudan).

The name Bamako means “crocodile tail” in native Bambara terminology, a moniker suggestive of its wildlife. This is fitting even though Bamako is now a strategic location for commercial fishing on the Niger River.

Bamako first occupied the Niger River’s northern side which remains as the city’s historical nucleus. Today, the Niger River’s southern bank is home to the bulk of Bamako’s population and is a hotspot for the city’s urbanization.

In fact, Bamako ranks sixth among the world’s fastest-growing cities and urban areas from 2006 to 2020, according to statistics from the City Mayors web portal.

Illustrative of its progress on the urbanization front, key sites in Bamako include the University of Bamako, National Museum of Mali, Grand Mosque of Bamako, Mali National Zoo and the Bamako-Senou International Airport.

Bamako’s tallest building is the BCEAO Tower, which rises 20 stories and is 262 feet (80 meters) high. One occupant of the BCEAO Tower is the Mali branch for the Central Bank of West African States, providing development banking services as well as government financial and currency services for several Francophone West African nations such as Niger, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mauritania.

The Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook lists Mali in fourth place for countries with the youngest populations, given Mali’s median age of 16 years old.

From an international trade perspective, Mali exported an estimated US$1.7 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2019. Its most valuable exports from are gold (76.7% of Mali’s global total), uncombed cotton (6.3%), miscellaneous oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (3.9%), rough wood (3.5%), oilcake and other solid residues (1.7%), mangos and dates (1.1%) then nitrogen-containing fertilizers (0.9%), according to the International Trade Centre.

Capital Facts for Bamako, Mali: Quick Reference

 

Mali gained independence from France on September 22, 1960. Residents celebrate Independence Day as a public holiday each September 22.

Bamako’s city limits plus its surrounding built-up urban area extends over 6,618.41 square miles (17,141.61 square kilometers). The population count for Bamako’s urbanized area is 2.6 million inhabitants.

At the country level, Mali’s land area covers 471,118 square miles (1,220,190 square kilometers). The nation’s population count was 20.3 million residents as of July 2020.

Population density for Mali’s capital city averages 396 people per square mile (153 per square kilometer) for Bamako’s city limits plus its urbanized land area.

Zooming out to Mali’s overall land boundaries, population density further dilutes to an average 43 people per square mile (17 per square kilometer). This places Mali among World Atlas’s 35 least densely populated places.