Niono
| Niono | |
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| Commune and town | |
A woman walks down a side street in Niono, during the dry season, January 2003.
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 Niono
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| Coordinates: 14°15′0″N 5°59′10″W / 14.25000°N 5.98611°WCoordinates: 14°15′0″N 5°59′10″W / 14.25000°N 5.98611°W | |
| Country |
 Mali
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| Region | Segou |
| Cercle | Niono Cercle |
| Area | |
| • Total | 491 km2 (190 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 277 m (909 ft) |
| Population (2009 census) | |
| • Total | 91,554 |
| • Density | 190/km2 (480/sq mi) |
| (commune) | |
| Time zone | GMT (UTC+0) |
Niono is a town and commune located in the Ségou Region of Mali. The commune has an area of approximately 491 square kilometers and includes the town and 20 of the surrounding villages. In the 2009 census it had a population of 91,554. The town is the capital of the Niono Cercle, one of seven subdivisions (cercles) of the Ségou Region. It lies on the northwest edge of the Inner Niger Delta, near the main channel of the Niger River.
Niono is an important town of the Office du Niger irrigation scheme which was established during the last decades of French colonial rule and continued after independence by the Malian state. Water from the Niger River is diverted into a system of canals at the Markala dam 35 km downstream of Ségou. The water flows north for 65 km in the Canal du Sahel and is then used to irrigate the flat alluvial plains around Niono that form part of the 'Delta Mort' (Dead Delta). Although the French colonial administration constructed the system to produce cotton for the textile industry, the main agricultural product is now rice. Each year around 2.7 km3 of water are diverted from the Niger corresponding to 8.3 percent of the total flow. The water is used to irrigate about 750 square kilometers of farmland which in 1999/2000 produced 320,000 tonnes of rice representing 40 percent of the total Malian production.
The Great Mosque of Niono is perhaps the most internationally recognized site in the town having received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1983. A mosque on the site was constructed in 1945 and then subsequently enlarged. The present building dates from 1973. The mosques of Djenné and Mopti served as models.
At least two major humanitarian projects have attempted to ameliorate the lives of people in Niono and the outlying areas. Led by American and Malian Rotary Clubs and Engineers Without Borders (USA) Chapters, the groups surveyed in February 2008 a rainwater drainage channel. The drainage channel, known as a "collecteur de pluies" in French, runs 2 kilometers through the city center. During the rainy season, flooding causes havoc, and during the rest of the year, the drainage channel becomes a breeding ground for disease. The intent of the project is to minimize both the flooding and the unsanitary stagnant water in the drainage channel.
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Wikipedia