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Sikasso
Sikasso
City and urban commune
	Sikasso
	Sikasso Location within Mali
	Coordinates: 11°19′N 5°40′W / 11.317°N 5.667°W
Country	Mali
Region	Sikasso
Cercle	Sikasso Cercle
Settled as a village	c. 1800
Established as the capital of the Kenedougou Kingdom	1876
Founded by	Tieba Traore
Area
• Total	400 km2 (200 sq mi)
Elevation	410 m (1,350 ft)
Population (2009 census)
• Total	225,753
• Density	560/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)

Sikasso (Bambara: ߛߌߞߊߛߏ tr. Sikaso) is a city in the south of Mali and the capital of the Sikasso Cercle and the Sikasso Region. It is Mali's second largest city with 225,753 residents in the 2009 census.

History

The Tata of Sikasso in 1892, drawn by Louis-Gustave Binger

Sikasso was a small village until 1870, when Tieba Traoré, whose mother came from Sikasso, became Faama of the Kénédougou Kingdom and moved the capital there.^[4]^: 93 He established his palace on the sacred Mamelon hill (now home to a water tower) and constructed a massive tata to defend against the attacks of both the Malinke conqueror Samori Ture and the French colonial army. This made Sikasso the largest fortified city ever built in west Africa.^[5]

Sikasso withstood a 15-month siege by Ture from 1887 to 1888 before the French, allies of Kenedougou against Ture, relieved the city.^[6] Despite this, the French contrived a diplomatic crisis to attack in 1898. They began a major artillery barrage against the tata on April 15th 1898, and the city fell on May 1st amid furious house-to-house fighting. Babemba Traore, Tieba's brother who had succeeded him as faama, ordered his bodyguards to kill him rather than let him fall into French hands.^[7]^: 272 He is still remembered for honoring the Bamanankan saying "Saya ka fisa ni maloya ye" (literally: death is preferable to shame). 4000 captives were taken from the sack and parcelled out as slaves among the French and their African auxiliaries. They were marched back west to the Niger, with many too weak or starved to continue dying or being killed along the way.^[7]^: 274–5

In modern-day Sikasso, attractions include the large market, Mamelon hill, the remains of Tieba Traoré's tata, and the nearby Missirikoro Grotto. The festival Triangle du balafon [fr] takes place every June, celebrating the traditional Malian instrument.

Geography

Located 375 kilometres (233 mi) southeast of Bamako, 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Côte d'Ivoire, and 45 kilometres (28 mi) west of Burkina Faso, Sikasso acts as a crossroads between the coastal countries (Togo, Bénin, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire) and the landlocked Mali and Burkina Faso. Sikasso's ethnic groups include the Senufo Bamana,(mainly the Supyire), the Bobo (or Bobo Fing, lit. 'black Bobo'), and the Minianka (Mamara Senufo).

Sikasso has abundant agriculture. Sikasso's fruit and vegetable production guarantees the city's self-sufficiency, sparing it from reliance on international food aid.

Climate

Sikasso features a tropical wet and dry climate under the Köppen climate classification. The city receives just under 1,200 millimetres (47 in) of rain each year, most of which falls between May and October. August is the wettest month, with an average rainfall of 308.8 millimetres (12.16 in). The highest temperatures are reached at the end of the dry season in March and April when the average daily maximum temperatures are just above 37 °C (98.6 °F).^[8]

Climate data for Sikasso (1991-2020, extremes 1940-1994)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	40.5 (104.9)	41.2 (106.2)	42.2 (108.0)	42.0 (107.6)	44.0 (111.2)	39.2 (102.6)	42.2 (108.0)	36.7 (98.1)	38.9 (102.0)	38.9 (102.0)	40.0 (104.0)	39.2 (102.6)	44.0 (111.2)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	32.8 (91.0)	35.7 (96.3)	37.6 (99.7)	37.4 (99.3)	35.6 (96.1)	33.0 (91.4)	30.6 (87.1)	29.8 (85.6)	31.0 (87.8)	33.3 (91.9)	34.6 (94.3)	33.2 (91.8)	33.7 (92.7)
Daily mean °C (°F)	25.2 (77.4)	28.2 (82.8)	31.0 (87.8)	31.6 (88.9)	30.2 (86.4)	28.1 (82.6)	26.4 (79.5)	25.9 (78.6)	26.4 (79.5)	27.8 (82.0)	27.3 (81.1)	25.3 (77.5)	27.8 (82.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	17.5 (63.5)	20.8 (69.4)	24.3 (75.7)	25.7 (78.3)	24.7 (76.5)	23.1 (73.6)	22.1 (71.8)	21.8 (71.2)	21.7 (71.1)	22.3 (72.1)	20.1 (68.2)	17.4 (63.3)	21.8 (71.2)
Record low °C (°F)	8.2 (46.8)	10.0 (50.0)	13.0 (55.4)	16.8 (62.2)	17.1 (62.8)	17.7 (63.9)	17.2 (63.0)	17.0 (62.6)	18.0 (64.4)	14.0 (57.2)	10.0 (50.0)	8.0 (46.4)	8.0 (46.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	3.2 (0.13)	3.8 (0.15)	10.5 (0.41)	49.7 (1.96)	98.8 (3.89)	158.5 (6.24)	237.8 (9.36)	313.9 (12.36)	231.2 (9.10)	91.3 (3.59)	8.5 (0.33)	0.0 (0.0)	1,207.2 (47.52)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	0.4	0.5	1.8	6.3	10.2	13.5	17.7	20.2	18.7	10.2	1.1	0.0	100.6
Average relative humidity (%)	31	27	33	48	61	72	79	82	80	71	52	38	56
Mean monthly sunshine hours	263.1	242.3	237.6	217.5	242.0	220.8	203.2	176.6	190.7	243.0	257.6	261.6	2,756
Source 1: World Meteorological Organization^[9]
Source 2: NOAA (sun 1961–1990),^[10] Deutscher Wetterdienst (extremes and humidity)^[11]

Places of worship

Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Muslim mosques.^[12] There are also Christian churches and temples : Roman Catholic Diocese of Sikasso (Catholic Church), Église Chrétienne Évangélique du Mali (Alliance World Fellowship), Assemblies of God.

Sister Cities

Sikasso's sister city is Brive-la-Gaillarde, in France.

References

^ "Common and Fundamental Operational Datasets Registry: Mali", Mali | COD-FOD Registry, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, archived from the original on 2012-01-06. commune_mali.zip (Originally from the Direction Nationale des Collectivités Territoriales, République du Mali)
^ Maps, Weather, and Airports for Sikasso, Mali Archived 2008-02-21 at the Wayback Machine
^ Resultats Provisoires RGPH 2009 (Région de Sikasso) (PDF) (in French), République de Mali: Institut National de la Statistique, archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-07-27.
^ Imperato, James Pascal (1977). Historical Dictionary of Mali. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
^ Solomana Kante, History of Samory Touré (ߛߊ߬ߡߘߎ߬ߜߍ߫ ߕߎ߬ߙߋ߫ ߟߊ߫ ߘߐ߬ߝߐ), A4, p.34
^ L-G. Binger, Du Niger au golfe de Guinée, Hachette, 1892, p. 88
^ ^a ^b Suret-Canale, Jean (1968). Afrique noire : occidentale et centrale (in French). Paris: Editions Sociales. p. 251. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
^ "World Weather Information Service – Sikasso". World Meteorological Organization. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020: Sikasso" (CSV). NOAA. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
^ "Sikasso Climate Normals 1961-1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
^ "Klimatafel von Sikasso / Mali" (PDF). Baseline climate means (1961-1990) from stations all over the world (in German). Deutscher Wetterdienst. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
^ J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ‘‘Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices’’, ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 1793

External links

Portions of this article were translated from French language Wikipedia's Sikasso.
Plan de Sécurité Alimentaire Commune Urbaine de Sikasso 2007-2011 (PDF) (in French), Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire, République du Mali, USAID-Mali, 2007.
L'économie locale de Sikasso, Mali. Ecoloc - Gérer l'économie localement en Afrique - Evaluation et prospective, Volume 1, Number 2, Décembre 2002, pp. 1–18 (18).