Azawad

Azawad, i Africa, in green. The rest of Mali is shown in dark grey.

The flag of Azawad

Azawad is the name for the northern part of Mali. The name translates to Savannah. The region is mostly desert-like. Between 2012 and 2013 it was independent from Mali. It is split into the regions Timbuktu, Gao, and Kidal. The territory has a size of about 882,000 square kilometres (341,000 sq mi). The biggest cities are Gao with about 87.000 people, and Timbuktu with about 55.000.

Azawad Media

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  Map of Azawad, as claimed by the MNLA. Dark grey dots indicate regions with a Tuareg majority. The west is mainly inhabited by Maures, and the south by sub-Saharan peoples.

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  Tuaregs at the January 2012 Festival au Désert in Timbuktu, just before the MNLA launched the Azawadi rebellion later in the same month

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  Tuareg separatist rebels in Mali, January 2012

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  Azawad separatists, December 2012

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  A guelta in Adrar des Ifoghas

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  The MNLA declared that Azawad consisted of the regions of Gao, Kidal, and Timbuktu, as well as the north-east half of the Mopti Region.

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  Gao (which includes Kidal) census in 1950

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  A pie chart showing ethnic distribution in Mali's Timbuktu region, based on data from the 2009 RGPH census. It uses respondents' reported first language as a proxy for ethnicity.

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  A pie chart showing ethnic distribution in Mali's Gao region, based on data from the 2009 RGPH census. It uses respondents' reported first language as a proxy for ethnicity.