Bafoulabé

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Coordinates: 13°48′0″N 10°49′60″W / 13.8, -10.83333
Bafoulabé
Cercle of Bafoulabé
Bafoulabé Location in Mali
Country	Mali
Region	Kayes Region
Cercle (district):	Bafoulabé Cercle
Government
- Mayor	Makan Diakité (CNID)
Elevation	272 ft (83 m)
Population (2008)
- Total	24,870

Bafoulabé is a town in Mali. It is located in the Region of Kayes. Bafoulabé is the capital of the Cercle of Bafoulabé, which in 1887 was the first Cercle to be created in Mali.

1 Geography
2 Population and culture
3 Sister cities
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Geography

At Bafoulabé the Bafing and Bakoy rivers meet to form the Sénégal River. In Bambara, Bafoulabé means "meeting of two rivers". The Manantali hydroelectric dam and its reservoir, Lake Manantali, the largest in Mali, is located 90 km to the south-east of Bafoulabé.

[edit] Population and culture

Bafoulabé had a population of 16,670 in 1998, with a 2008 estimated population of 24,870.^[1] Prior to colonialism, Bafoulabé had been a thriving commercial center. The construction of the Dakar Bamako railway in the early 20th century bypassed the river trade, making Kayes the center of commercial activity in the area.^[2] The town's population consists primarily of Khassonkés, Malinkés, Soninkés and Fulas. Fily Dabo Sissoko, writer and one of the founding fathers of independent Mali, was a native of Bafoulabé. The Festival dansa/diawoura, a festival of traditional dance, took place in Bafoulabé from April 8 to April 10, 2005.