Nioro Region

Nioro Region is an administrative region in western Mali, created from parts of the former Kayes Region, with its capital at Nioro du Sahel. It lies on the border with Mauritania, north-east of the city of Kayes, and includes parts of the historical areas of Kaarta and Kingui. The area covers 23,350 square kilometres and has a dry climate, with rainfall concentrated in a short rainy season and annual precipitation of roughly 200 to 500 millimetres, so the vegetation is dry shrubland, grassland and farmland. A separate Nioro Region had been envisaged in the administrative reform of 2012 and was implemented through Law No. 2023-006 of 13 March 2023. The region is divided into six cercles and had a population of 668,831 in 2023, drawn from Soninke, Peul and Fulbe, Bambara and Moorish groups, 99.7 percent of whom are Muslim. The economy is predominantly rural, built on rain-fed farming and livestock raising, and Nioro du Sahel is the administrative, market and transport centre as well as a religious centre of Hamallism.