Mopti Region

Mopti Region
Region
Location within Mali
Location within Mali
Coordinates: 14°29′54″N 3°11′9″W / 14.49833°N 3.18583°W / 14.49833; -3.18583
Country Mali
CapitalMopti
Area
 • Total
26,550 km2 (10,250 sq mi)
Population
 (2023)
 • Total
1,087,526
 • Density40.96/km2 (106.1/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC±0 (UTC)
HDI (2017)0.335
low · 7th

Mopti (Fulfulde: 𞤁𞤭𞥅𞤱𞤢𞤤 𞤃𞤮𞥅𞤩𞤼𞤭𞥅, transliterated Diiwal Moobti) is the fifth administrative region of Mali, covering 26,550 km2. Its capital is the city of Mopti. During the 2012 Northern Mali conflict, the frontier between Southern Mali which is controlled by the central government and the rebel-held North ran through Mopti Region.

Geography

Mopti Region borders Tombouctou Region to the north; the Bandiagara and Douentza Regions to the east; San Region to the south; and the Ségou Region to the west.

The population in the 2009 census was 2,037,330. The region contains a number of ethnic groups including Fulani, Malinke, and Bambara.

The Niger River crosses the region and is joined by the Bani, an important tributary, at the city of Mopti.

The region is separated into several areas: the Inland Niger Delta around Mopti, the Bandiagara cliffs and the plain of Bankass along the Burkina Faso frontier. Mount Hombori, the highest point in Mali at 1153 meters, is in the Mopti Region, near the city of the same name.

In terms of its climate, Mopti Region is considered part of the Sahel.

The largest towns of the region are Mopti, Sévaré (which lies within Mopti Commune), Djenné, and Youwarou.

Transportation and economy

The Great Mosque of Djenné, an example of Sudano-Sahelian architecture

An airport at Mopti provides air service for the region, while the Niger River provides transportation to Koulikoro and Ségou to the west and Tombouctou and Gao to the east.

The region is well-irrigated and its agriculture is well-developed, with particularly successful fishing. Mopti serves as an important commercial crossroads between Mali's north, south and bordering nations. Tourism is also well-developed, notably in the cities of Djenné and Mopti (the former of which boasts the Great Mosque of Djenné, the largest mud structure in the world) and in Dogon country.

History

A copper-alloy bracelet from Djenné, dating between the 11th-16th centuries

Though Mopti's location, once a Bozo village named Sanga, had long been inhabited, rapid expansion began under Seku Amadu's Massina Empire around 1820. Expansion continued under the Toucouleur Empire of El Hadj Umar Tall as well as the French colonial administration.

Culture

The region is a melting pot, made up of various ethnic groups, which live in harmony with one another. Common languages of the area include Fulani, Dogon, Songhai, Bozo, Bambara and Tamashek.

World Heritage Sites

The city of Djenné in the region has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 1988, being one of four such sites in Mali. In 2009, Mali placed several prominent regional sites on its UNESCO tentative list for future World Heritage nomination, including the Komoguel Mosque of Mopti and the Hamdullahi Historic City. The Bandiagara Escarpment has also been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1989 but now lies in the neighboring Bandiagara Region.

Administrative subdivisions

Cercles of the Mopti Region prior to the formation of the Douentza Region and Bandiagara Region.

Mopti is divided into 8 Cercles encompassing 108 communes:

Cercle nameArea (km2)Population
Census 1998		Population
Census 2009
Bandiagara10,520237,139317,965
Bankass9,054195,582263,446
Djenné4,563155,551207,260
Douentza23,481155,831247,794
Koro10,937267,579361,944
Mopti7,262263,719368,512
Ténenkou11,297127,237163,641
Youwarou7,13981,963106,768

There are more than 1,000 villages in Mopti Region occupied by ethnic Dogon, Songhay, Fula, and other peoples.

Demographics

The Mopti Region is the eighth most populated region in Mali, with a population of 935,579 in 2022. With a total fertility rate at 5.1 births per woman, Mopti has a lower TFR than the Malian national average of 6.1 births per woman.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity in Mopti (2022)
  1. Fula (28.3%)
  2. Bambara (20.0%)
  3. Bozo (18.2%)
  4. Songhai (9.27%)
  5. Dogon (7.81%)
  6. Soninke (4.02%)
  7. Tuareg (3.65%)
  8. Malinké (2.40%)
  9. Mossi (1.07%)
  10. Other (5.31%)


Mother tongues in Mopti region (2022 census)
  1. Fula (29.08%)
  2. Bambara (27.10%)
  3. Bozo (18.71%)
  4. Songhai (9.09%)
  5. Dogon (6.54%)
  6. Tuareg (3.31%)
  7. Maraka / Soninké (1.38%)
  8. Malinke (1.32%)
  9. Mossi (1.26%)
  10. Other Malian (2.09%)
  11. Other African (0.08%)
  12. Other foreign (0.04%)

In 2022, the Fula, Bambara, and Bozo represented the three largest ethnic groups in the region. Mopti has the highest concentration of Fula and Bozo people in Mali. Minorities in Mopti include the Songhai, Dogon, Soninke, Tuareg, Mandinka, and Mossi.

Religion

The 2022 census found that 99.10% of the population in Mopti was Muslim, 0.84% was Christian, 0.01% were adherents of traditional faiths, 0.01% practiced other religions, and 0.04% had no religion.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mali: Regions, Cities & Urban Localities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". Citypopulation.de. Retrieved 8 May 2026.
  2. ↑ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  3. ↑ Mali: Mopti, the last frontier before Sharia law, France 24, 4 October 2012{{citation}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ↑ "Carte de Référence - Région de Mopti - Nouveau Découpage administratif du Mali (août 2025) - Mali". ReliefWeb (in French). Archived from the original on 24 May 2026. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  5. ↑ "Middle Niger artist - Bracelet - Middle Niger civilization - The Metropolitan Museum of Art". Met Museum. Archived from the original on 18 February 2026. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  6. ↑ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Old Towns of Djenné". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  7. ↑ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Mali - UNESCO World Heritage Convention". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  8. ↑ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 22 June 2026.
  9. ↑ Hantgan, Abbie (2024-05-24). "Layers of Lexical Borrowing in Long-Term Contact Rooted among Ancient Crops from Mali's Bandiagara Region". Journal of Language Contact. 16 (4): 494–564. doi:10.1163/19552629-01604003. ISSN 1877-4091. The Bandiagara Region where this study takes place is located in the West African Sahel. The Bandiagara Region is defined here as encompassing the Bandiagara Escarpment, including its Plateau, as well as the valleys formed from tributaries of the Niger River that traverse the cliffs, and the sandy plains surrounding the mountain range.
  10. ↑ Communes de la Région de Mopti (PDF) (in French), Ministère de l’administration territoriale et des collectivités locales, République du Mali, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-09.
  11. ↑ Moran, Steven; Forkel, Robert; Heath, Jeffrey, eds. (2016). "Villages". dogonlanguages.org. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  12. ↑ Institut National de la Statistique (INSTAT) (December 2024). "CINQUIEME RECENSEMENT GENERAL DE LA POPULATION ET DE L'HABITAT (RGPH5)" (PDF). Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  13. ↑ Institut National de la Statistique (INSTAT) (December 2024). "RAPPORT D'ANALYSE DES DONNEES DU RGPH5 THÈME : NATALITE ET FECONDITE (RGPH5)". Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Institut National de la Statistique (INSTAT) (December 2024). "RAPPORT D'ANALYSE DES DONNEES DU RGPH5 THÈME : CARACTERISTIQUES CULTURELLES DE LA POPULATION". Retrieved 13 June 2026.

This article was significantly expanded from the corresponding article from the French Wikipedia, retrieved on July 10, 2005.