Koulikoro
 
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Location in Mali
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Koulikoro is a city in Mali . It is the capital of the southwestern region of Koulikoro and the local district of Koulikoro . In 2015 Koulikoro had about 51,000 inhabitants.
geography
Koulikoro is located on the banks of the Niger , about 60 km northeast, downstream of the capital Bamako . The name of the city "Kolo koro" (at the foot of the mountain) comes from the hill that borders it in the north. This mountain, the Nianankoulou , plays an important role in the history of Mali .
The city has the following districts ( coming from Bamako ): Souban, Koulikoro Gare, Koulikoro Ba and Katibougou.
history
| 1204-1205 | the king of Sosso, Soumangourou Kanté, rules with violence and terror in the small kingdom of Mandé, |
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| 1235 | he is defeated by Soundiata, later king of the Mali Empire, at the battle of Kirina. According to legend, he escapes to Koulikoro and disappears into the caves of Nian Koulou, where he still rules. |
| 1785 | Mungo Park (British African explorer in the 17th century) comes by here on his two trips to Mali to explore the Niger. |
| 1800-1808 | Foundation of the village of Koulikoro by Dioba Diarra. |
| 1850 | Arrival of the Fofana and Singaré, who fled here before the Tukulor conqueror, El Hadj Oumar TALL. |
| 1884 | The Capitain de Lanneau and Ouodiou Diarra, village chiefs, sign a protection treaty and a military camp is set up. |
| 1897 | Relocation of the agricultural research station ( IPR / IFRA ) from Kati to Katibougou. |
| 1904 | Arrival of the first train in Koulikoro and establishment of the Koulikoro Gare district. |
| 1907 | Construction of the Buffet and Hôtel de la Gare, now the Municipal House and Prefecture of Koulikoro. |
| 1924 | Flooding the city. |
| 1929 | Locust Invasion. |
| 1940-1941 | Part of the millet harvest is confiscated by the French. |
| 1942 | Construction of the HUICOMA (Huilerie Cotonniere du Mali) for processing cotton and cottonseed. |
| 1950 | Second flood of the city. |
| 1968 | After the coup on November 19 , the elected President Modibo Keïta was arrested in Kayo / Koulikoro. |
| 1979 | Elected the capital of the Koulikoro region and still the seat of the Gouvernorat de Koulikoro. |
traffic
Since the Niger between Bamako and Koulikoro is not navigable, Koulikoro became the terminus of the Dakar – Bamako – Koulikoro railway . Here in the port of Koulikoro, the goods from Ségou , Mopti , Timbuktu and Gao were loaded from the ship onto the train for onward transport to the overseas port of Dakar . After the railroad was privatized by the World Bank in 2003, trains no longer run to Koulikoro.
Although the warehouses of the Office du Niger are mostly unused today and laundry is being washed in the old harbor basin, the river and port still play an important role in passenger and local freight transport. Pinassen start regularly towards Nyamina and Ségou. Pirogues transport goods and people from one side of the Niger to the other.
Between August and October, at the end of the rainy season when the tide is high, the large COMANAV ships (Compagnie malienne de navigation) also sail to Ségou, Mopti, Timbuktu and Gao.
From January, when the hot season begins, the "Plage de Koulikoro" is famous for swimming.
economy
For a long time, Koulikoro was an industrial city thanks to HUICOMA (Hulerie cotonnière du Mali). Up to 800 people worked there. In 2006 the cotton oil producing company was closed after being privatized. The unemployed residents looked for and found new, but poorly paid and often dangerous, work in the sand and gravel extraction from the river bed. Industry only exists on a small scale: INACOM (Industrie de construction navale), Grand Moulin du Mali, a battery-producing factory.
Legend of the Soumangourou Kanté
Even today, the Koulikoro griots tell of the miraculous powers of the Soumangourou Kanté and its mysterious disappearance in 1235.
Soumangourou Kanté was the king of Sossos at the beginning of the 13th century. He ruled with terror and magic over the entire west of what is now Mali. Only Soundiata Keïta dared to take on the ruler of terror. Soundiata will later found the Mali Empire.
Soundiata was the seventh son of a hunter from Kita and a woman from Toron. Born disabled, he could not hunt and bring game home to his mother. The parents were ashamed of this son and cursed him. And Soundiata said to himself, Better to die than this shame. He fled into the woods and met a witch. She applied the art of "des charm" and Soundiata became the best warrior in the whole area. He returned to his parents, still pretending he was disabled and asked for a stick to support himself. After the legendary Battle of Krina Soumangourou had to flee. It is said that he came as far as the hills of Koulikoro, where he found refuge in the Fakoly Fanfa grotto.
Heroes never die in Mali. They disappear and grow beyond themselves into reincarnation. Even today, the initiated celebrate the cult of Nianan in the caves on the hill.
Town twinning
Since 1989 Koulikoro has been twinned with Quetigny in France (near Dijon ) and Bous in Germany ( Saarland ) in a three-town partnership .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ repartition-population-communes-2015-v2.xls , accessed on September 18, 2018
- ↑ http://www.maliweb.net/huicoma HUICOMA: Various newspaper articles from maliweb
- ↑ http://www.jeuneafrique.com/tags/5175/huicoma HUICOMA: Article in JeuneAfrique
Coordinates: 12 ° 52 ′ N , 7 ° 34 ′ W