Koutiala

Koutiala is a city in southern Mali, located 140 kilometres north of Sikasso, and the capital of its administrative region and cercle. It had 214,271 residents in 2023. The city lies in Minianka country and was founded in the 16th century by members of the Coulibaly family from the Bambara kingdom of Segou. Koutiala is the heartland of cotton production in Mali and is sometimes called the white gold capital for that reason, although the industry has stagnated since the 1980s. Grain, mainly pearl millet, sorghum and maize, is also grown around it. The city is described as the second most industrial in Mali and hosts the textile company CMDT and the cottonseed oil mill HUICOMA. It has an important hospital for women and children, and its sister city is Alençon in France. Notable people from Koutiala include the president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.