Markala

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Markala is a city in Mali's Ségou Region on the Niger River, 35 km downriver from the city of Ségou. Markala is the site of Mali's primary hydroelectric dam.

French colonial authorities constructed the dam between 1934 and 1945 to irrigate the surrounding farmland, permitting the cultivation of rice and sugarcane; it was inaugurated in 1937. With its attached network of canals, the dam can flood 820 square kilometres of farmland. Today it serves as a hydroelectric dam as well.