A
commune is the third-level administrative unit in
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
. Mali is divided into ten
regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
and one capital district (
Bamako
Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country.
Bamak ...
). These subdivisions bear the name of their principal city. The regions are divided into 56
cercles. The cercles and the district are divided into 703 communes, with 36 urban communes and 667 rural communes, while some larger cercles still contain
arrondissements above the commune level, these are organisational areas with no independent power or office. Rural communes are subdivided into villages, while urban communes are subdivided into ''quartier'' (wards or quarters). Communes usually bear the name of their principal town. The capital,
Bamako
Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country.
Bamak ...
, consists of six urban communes. There were initially 701 communes until Law ''No. 01-043'' of 7 June 2001 created two new rural communes in the desert region in the north east of the country:
Alata,
Ménaka Cercle in the
Gao Region and
Intadjedite,
Tin-Essako Cercle in the
Kidal Region.
[.]
Not every built up area (which might be described as a town) is a commune, and not every commune (especially rural communes) contains a large town. In most cases where towns and communes coincide, commune borders extend beyond built up areas and are, like the
communes of France
A () is a level of administrative divisions of France, administrative division in the France, French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipality, municipalities in Canada and the United States; ' in Ger ...
on which they were based during the colonial period, an administrative structure. Unlike French communes, they are not the lowest level administrative structure of the nation.
Legally, the commune structure was created by Law ''No. 96-059/AN-RM of 4 November 1996''. The communes generally retain the same boundaries as the former
arrondissements. Commune affairs are directed by a commune council (''conseil communal'') of elected members and a commune executive (''bureau communal'') of the elected mayor and three adjutants. The executive is tasked with carrying out the directives voted by the council. National policies are carried out by a sub-prefect (''sous préfet''), who also carries out certain of the council's directives over the local arms or national bodies.
[Presidency of the Republic of Mali, Project on Food Security.]
Plan De Securite Alimentaire Commune Rurale De Bafoulabe 2007- 2011
. Projet de Mobilisation des Initiatives en matière de Sécurité Alimentaire au Mali (PROMISAM), l'USAID/Mali (December 2006)
The communes are listed below:
See also
*
List of cities in Mali
*
List of Arrondissements of Mali
References
External links
*. Includes GIS data files for Mali.
Statsoid.com : MaliMATCL - MINISTERE DE L'ADMINISTRATION TERRITORIALE ET DES COLLECTIVITES LOCALES
Government of the Republic of Mali.
Maplibrary: vector maps of national subdivisions of Mali
{{Mali topics
Subdivisions of Mali
Mali 3
Communes, Mali