Bamako is the Capitol of Mali. It was founded on the west bank of the Niger River in the 16th century. The small Bambara village of Bamako experienced little expansion until the arrival of the French in 1883. On becoming the colonial capital in 1908, the city evolved into the crossroads of a region potentially rich in agricultural products and endowed with natural road and river communication outlets.



The city also has an international airport.

Official estimates put the population at 1 million.

It is definitely a crowded city and traffic can become completely to a stand still. Cars, mopeds, trucks, buses, donkey carts, pedestrians, bicycles, goats and sheep all want for their piece of the road. There appear to be no rules of the road and disaster continually imminent, but somehow avoided.

In the Twenties, the train journey between Dakar in Senegal and the Malian capital was one of the greatest and most luxurious in Africa. But what is it like now not good.

Tourist attractions including a park and a zoological garden with several species of fauna and flora. The National Museum with its collection of Malian masks and statues. The Muso Kunda museum with its variety of womens art and handicraft items. The Crafts House that presents to visitors pottery and jewellery varieties.

The Santoro gallery that offers a wide range of internal decoration products, textile and basketwork.

It is the nations administrative centre, as well as a river port and a major regional trade centre. Manufactures include textiles, processed meat, and metal goods.

Bamakos educational institutions include schools of administration, medicine, and engineering.

The American International School of Bamako is an independent, coeducational private day school which offers a full U S educational program from age 3 through to 12 and offers a complete high school program. The School was established in 1977 to serve the needs of American and international community students seeking an English language education. The school year is divided into three trimesters which begin in late August, in November and in March. There are 175 days in the school year.

The landlocked West African country of Mali is one of the worlds poorest nations. Since independence from France in 1960 it has suffered droughts, rebellions, a coup and 23 years of military dictatorship. But since 1992, when its first democratically elected president took power, Mali has had a civilian government, which is good.