Mali Regions

Mali is a country of 1.24 million square kilometres that runs from the wet savanna around Sikasso to the empty desert on the Algerian border, and its map was redrawn in 2023. The ten regions that atlases printed for years became 19, so one that is more than a few years old is missing nearly half of them. This quiz is the new map.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: The regions before the 2023 reform: Kayes, Koulikoro, Sikasso, Ségou, Mopti, Timbuktu, Gao, Kidal and Bamako
In the game: 20 regions

Start

What you are looking at

The regions (régions) of Mali, the first tier of the country, with the capital district of Bamako counted beside them as the twentieth answer. Nine of them are new: Nioro, Kita, Dioïla, Nara, Bougouni, Koutiala, San, Douentza and Bandiagara were cut from the older regions in 2023, and each takes the name of its chief town. Taoudenni and Ménaka came earlier, in 2016.

The old regions are the groups. They are no longer a tier, but they are still how a new name is placed: Nioro and Kita were part of Kayes, Dioïla and Nara of Koulikoro, Bougouni and Koutiala of Sikasso, San of Ségou, and Douentza and Bandiagara of Mopti. A player who learned the old map finds each new region under its parent, and a player who learns this one learns the old one by the same route. The regions are the Mali Cercles grouped, so the borders of the two maps match exactly.

The size is very uneven. Taoudenni, Kidal and Timbuktu fill the north and are among the largest regions in Africa, while the southern regions are small and packed along the Niger and the border with Guinea and Côte d'Ivoire.

How to place one

Start with the north. Taoudenni, Kidal and Timbuktu are three big shapes on top of the map, and Gao and Ménaka sit under them on the eastern bend of the Niger.
Follow the river. The Niger runs from Koulikoro through Ségou, Mopti, Timbuktu and Gao, so the regions along it come in that order.
Learn the new pairs. Each old region now has one or two neighbours cut from it, so Sikasso, Bougouni and Koutiala make a single block in the south.
Find the capital last. Bamako is a speck inside Koulikoro, and the game gives it a tap area.

Every region, by old region

Kayes3 regions: Kayes, Kita, Nioro
Ségou2 regions: San, Ségou
Sikasso3 regions: Bougouni, Koutiala, Sikasso
Timbuktu2 regions: Taoudenni, Timbuktu
Koulikoro3 regions: Dioïla, Koulikoro, Nara
Mopti3 regions: Bandiagara, Douentza, Mopti
Kidal1 region: Kidal
Bamako1 region: Bamako
Gao2 regions: Gao, Ménaka

Worked examples

Taoudenni

The biggest of them

Taoudenni is the largest region by a distance, almost 293,000 square kilometres of salt flats and desert, larger than the United Kingdom, and it has only been a region since 2016.

Bamako

The smallest of them

Bamako is the capital, on the Niger in the south west, and a region of its own rather than part of Koulikoro. It is a little over 700 square kilometres.

Kita

One of the new ones

Kita was cut from Kayes in 2023, and takes in the south west of the old region, along the road and railway towards Bamako.

Frequently asked questions

How many regions does Mali have?

19 and the capital district of Bamako, 20 on this map. Before the 2023 reform there were ten and Bamako.

Why do older maps show fewer?

Most were drawn before 2023, when nine regions were made. Natural Earth and geoBoundaries still draw the older list.

What is below the region?

The cercles, which number 160 on this map. They are their own quiz.

The tier below this one is Mali Cercles. For another country at this level, see Madagascar Regions.

Sources

OCHA, Mali administrative boundaries (COD-AB), on HDX, the boundaries (2025); the regions are the cercles dissolved, so the two maps share every border
Regions of Mali, the regions and the 2023 reform

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