French Sudan

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Flag of French Sudan
Soudan Français as one of the seven colonies that formed French West Africa (1936)

French Sudan ( French Soudan français ) was a French colony in West Africa that had two periods of existence. The first ran from 1890 to 1902 and the second from 1920 to 1960. Subsequently, the area became independent under the name Mali .

Time as a colony

On September 9, 1880, a French territory was established as Upper Senegal in what would later become French Sudan and renamed to French Sudan on August 18, 1890 , the capital of which was Kayes . After being incorporated into French West Africa in 1895, French Sudan was partitioned on October 10, 1899; eleven southern provinces went to French Guinea , Ivory Coast and Dahomey , although two were returned the following year. From October 17, 1899 Bamako was the capital of the area. In 1894 the French conquered Timbuktu , in 1898 by Sikasso .

In 1902 the parts of the colony that were not organized in military districts became Senegambia and Niger , in 1904 Upper Senegal and Niger . In 1920 there was a reorganization and the old name came back. From 1920 onwards, French Sudan had the borders of what is now Mali.

When Upper Volta was first dissolved in 1933 (re-established in 1947), some provinces were assigned to French Sudan.

independence

After the French constitutional referendum of October 4, 1958, the " République Soudanaise " became a member of the French community ; on November 25, 1958, the former colony gained internal independence.

On April 4, 1959, French Sudan was combined with Senegal to form the Mali Federation , which on June 20, 1960 became fully independent within the French community. The federation broke up on August 20, 1960 when Senegal separated from it. On September 22nd, 1960, the Republic of Mali was proclaimed in the former French Sudan and withdrew from the French community.

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