Sikasso

Sikasso, city, southern Mali, West Africa. Sikasso was a small village before becoming the capital of the Kingdom of Kénédougou in the late 19th century. Today it constitutes a centre for cotton ginning and textile manufacturing. A road links Sikasso with Bamako, the national capital. The surrounding region is a mixture of lowland valleys in the central area and flat-topped sandstone plateaus in the east and west. Much of the area is devoted to subsistence agriculture (sorghum, corn [maize], and rice); cash crops grown include cotton and tea. Large numbers of cattle are exported to Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), and gold is mined near the town of Kalana. The Bambara and Senufo peoples are the region’s main inhabitants. Pop. (2009) 225,753.