The name of the Bandiagara Region derives from the archaic Dogon term bàndʒà-gàrá, roughly meaning "'large wooden eating bowl.'" It refers to the eating bowls made by the blacksmithcaste for offering food during ceremonies.
Geography
The region is located in central Mali, south of the Niger Bend, and borders Burkina Faso to the south. It covers an area of 24,850 km². The landscape is shaped by the Dogon Plateau, sandy plains and the escarpments of Bandiagara. UNESCO describes the Cliff of Bandiagara as an extensive cliff and sandstone landscape with traditional Dogon settlements, granaries, sanctuaries and meeting places.
The area of present-day Bandiagara Region belonged to Mopti Region until the administrative reform. The creation of a separate Bandiagara Region had already been envisaged by Mali’s administrative reform of 2012, but was initially not fully implemented. Law No. 2023-006 of 13 March 2023 confirmed the new administrative division and established Bandiagara as one of the country’s regions.
Administrative divisions
The region is divided into nine cercles. In total, it comprises 30 arrondissements, 53 communes and 1,024 villages and fractions.
Historically, the region is closely associated with the settlement area of the Dogon. The Cliff of Bandiagara and the surrounding villages are considered one of Mali’s most important cultural areas. In addition to the traditional architecture and religious customs of the Dogon, the region has also played an important role in archaeological research into older settlement patterns in West Africa. In recent years, the area has also been affected by the security crisis in central Mali, which has severely disrupted agriculture, livestock herding, markets and tourism.
Economy
The economy of the region is predominantly rural. The most important livelihoods include rain-fed agriculture, livestock herding, small-scale vegetable cultivation and local trade. On the Dogon Plateau, the main crops are millet, sorghum and shallots; wild plants, small-scale crafts and, traditionally, tourism also plays a role, although tourism has been restricted by the poor security situation in the country.
Demographics
In 2023, the region had a population of 1,270,224. With a total fertility rate at 6.2 births per woman, Bandiagara has a slightly higher TFR than the Malian national average of 6.1 births per woman.
Bandiagara is one of two Malian regions, alongside Douentza, where the Dogon form the majority of the population. The Dogon comprised over 90% of the region's population in 2022. Minorities in Bandiagara include the Bambara, Mossi, and Fula.
Religion
The 2022 census found that 93.96% of the population in Bandiagara was Muslim, 5.99% was Christian, 0.04% were Animists (Dogon religion), and 0.01% practiced other religions. Most Dogon have converted to Islam but maintain traditional practices and beliefs (syncretism), with a minority being Christian.
↑"Mali - Subnational Administrative Boundaries"(XLSX; GeoJSON; Shape; GDB). The Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) - OCHA Global Subnational Administrative Boundaries. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Field Information Services Section (FISS), Geneva, Switzerland. 2 April 2026. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
↑"Mali's Dogon Face Growing Jihadist Violence". Center for African Security Studies. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2026. Most [Dogon] have converted to Islam, yet continue to adhere to traditional, pagan customs too.
↑Şaul, Mahir (26 April 2018). Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). "Dogon". Encyclopedia of Islam Three. 4: 13–16. ISBN978-90-04-35665-8– via Brill. Ironically, as the publications of the early generation of French ethnologists entrenched the image of Dogon as inveterate traditionalists, the communities they wrote about rapidly acquired a public Muslim character (a minority of them converted to Christianity).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
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