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16-574: The start of Sky Mali's service to Timbuktu in February 2021 marked the first commercial flights to the airport since the city was captured by jihadists in 2012. This article about an airport in Mali is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Tombouctou Region location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tombouctou Region Tombouctou Region or Timbuktu Region ( Bambara : ߕߎߡߎߕߎ ߘߌߣߋߖߊ, Tumutu Dineja)

32-602: A small company of troops downriver from the French outpost at Segou to conquer Timbuktu on his own initiative. His advance guard, an even smaller force of two gunboats commanded by Lieutenant H. Gaston Boiteaux, went ahead, but contrary to their orders advanced to Timbuktu themselves, beating out Bonnier. Bonnier pursued him, finding Boiteaux had taken the fabled city prior to the Lt. Col's arrival on 10 January 1894. That day, after arresting his subordinate, Bonnier marched out towards Goundam with

48-497: A small number African troops. They took the town 14 January, but on the way they had seized 500 sheep at a Tuareg encampment, and fought Tuareg raiders at nearby Tacoubao. In the early hours of 15 January, Tuareg warriors attacked Bonnier's camp, killing him, 11 officers, two French NCOs, 68 African Tirailleurs , and their interpreter. A rescue column, commanded by the future Marshal of France Joseph Jacques Joffre , recaptured Goundam on 8 February and Timbuktu four days later. In

64-506: Is approximately 4 metres below the level of the Niger. The Niger river town of Diré lies 35 km to the southeast, while Timbuktu is connected by highway 97 km to the east-northeast. Lac Fatil and Lac Oro lie to the southwest, near the Goundam Airport . Further north lies Lake Faguibine and to the south and west is the vast Niger inland delta , seasonal marshlands which feed

80-627: Is one of the administrative regions of Mali . For administrative purposes, the region is subdivided into five cercles . The region is part of northern Mali that was separated and declared independent by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) during the Tuareg rebellion of 2012 . In the course of the conflict, the MNLA lost control of the territory to Islamist militias. Tombouctou Region

96-576: Is the capital of Goundam Cercle , one of five subdivisions of the Region. In the 2009 census the commune had a population of 16,253. The main ethnic groups are Songhay , Tuareg and Fulani . The town is located on the Tassakan channel which runs west along the southern edge of the town center, draining from the Niger River (between October and January when it is in flood) towards the nearby Lac Télé which

112-502: Is world-famous for its capital, the ancient city Timbuktu ( French : Tombouctou ), synonymous to 19th-century Europeans with an elusive, hard-to-reach destination. The city gained fame in 1390 when its ruler, Mansa Musa I , went on a pilgrimage to Mecca , stopping with his entourage in Egypt and dispensing enough gold to devalue the Egyptian currency. This started the legend of a city in

128-470: The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad and other militant groups opposed to the government of Mali swept through the region, entering Timbuktu without a fight after making a deal with local Arab militias. On 6 April 2012, the region was declared independent from Mali as part of the new country of Azawad . However, Mali refused to acknowledge the Azawadi Declaration of Independence , and

144-520: The Fula of the delta region. Most powerful of these Fula states was the Macina Empire , centered to the southwest. The Toucouleur Empire conquered the area in the mid 19th century, and the French captured the town in 1894. Goundam was the site of a major reverse in the French drive to Timbuktu, known at the time as the " Goundam Massacre ". In December 1893 French lieutenant colonel Eugène Bonnier took

160-455: The city retained an aura of spectacular treasure. When French explorers rediscovered the city in 1815, they were disappointed to find a sand-blown city of low mud buildings. The region was marginalized under French colonial control, which ended in 1960. The French opened up shorter trade routes to the Atlantic, cutting into the trans-Sahara trading economy and people in the city. In early 2012,

176-502: The interior of Africa, where roads were said to be paved with gold and buildings topped with roofs of gold. The city is located at the southern edge of the Sahara , near the Niger River , which has headwaters in the highlands very near the Atlantic coast before its long 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) journey to the north east, before finally turning south to reach the Atlantic. The riches of

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192-459: The international community continues to recognise Bamako 's claim to the region. The region is divided into five cercles : The larger parts of Timbuktu and Goundam cercles (323,326 km² with about 134,000 inhabitants) were separated in 2016 to form the new Taoudenit Region . Goundam Goundam is a commune and town in north central Mali , in the Tombouctou Region . It

208-410: The kingdom were due to Tombouctou's position as the southern terminus of the trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, kola nuts, copper and slaves. Timbuktu's decline began with the capture of the city by Morocco in 1592. Many Islamic scholars were dispersed, some to Morocco. Morocco had difficulty holding onto the city, as the supply lines were long compared to the closer kingdoms vying for dominance of

224-508: The local lakes and rivers along this edge of the Sahara desert . The town has a long history as a center for Songhay farmers and Bozo fishing communities, as well as settled elements of the semi-nomadic Fula , Tuareg and Maure peoples. Goundam was a city of the Songhai Empire , fell to the Moroccan invasion in 1591, and was later seized by Tuareg confederations from the northeast and

240-536: The period following the Sahel droughts of the 1970s, and again following the 1990s Tuareg Rebellion , Goundam became a major relocation center for Tuareg and other refugees from the north of Mali. Many still remain around Goundam town. Among the landmarks in Goundam is the historic mud brick Goundam-Tokossel Mosque. The seasonal wetlands near Goundam are, due to desertification and a low annual rainfall of 150-200mm, one of

256-553: The region. Furthermore, the Moroccans did not establish a proper means of which to govern Timbuktu, and their other holdings along the Niger bend. Ultimately, however, it was the rise of sea trade along the West Africa coast that doomed the overland routes that connected North Africa to sub-Saharan Africa . The city lost its economic base and its fine university was not enough to save Timbuktu from decline. Cut off from major trade routes,

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