French Sudan

French Sudan (Fr.: Soudan) was a colony in French West Africa in actual Mali.

French Sudan
Soudan français
Colony of French West Africa

 

 

 

1880–1960
 

Flag of French Sudan


Flag

Location of French Sudan
Green: French Sudan
Lime: French West Africa
Gray: Other French possessions
Black: French Republic
Capital city Bamako1
Historical era New Imperialism
 -  Established == French Sudan Media ==

c. 1880

 -  Federated with Senegal 1959
Area
 -  1959 1,241,238 km2 (479,245 sq mi)
Population
 -  1959 4,407,000 
Density Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ",". /km2  (Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character ",". /sq mi)
Today part of Mali
1 Kayes (1892–1899)

[[Category:== French Sudan Media ==

c. 1880 establishments|French Sudan, == French Sudan Media ==

c. 1880]]

Existence

It existed at two separate times. The first time was from 1890 to 1899, and the second was from 1920 to 1960. In 1960 it became the independent nation of Mali.

Beginning

It was created as a French territory on September 9, 1880 and its name was "Upper Senegal".

Name

The name changed to the "French Sudan Territory" on August 18, 1890, and its capital was Kayes. On October 10, 1899, French Sudan was broken into pieces: 11 southern provinces became part of French Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Dahomey. However, two provinces were returned in 1900.

History

In 1902 the parts of the colony which were not organised into military districts became Senegambia and Niger, then the name changed to Upper Senegal and Niger in 1904. Finally, the old name of French Sudan returned in a reorganisation in 1920.

In 1933, Upper Volta stopped existing (It began again in 1947.) and French Sudan gained some of its provinces.

Independence

After the October 4, 1958 French vote about the constitution, the "République Soudanaise" joined the French Community, again with the name French Sudan, and it gained complete domestic control on 25 November, 1958.

On April 4, 1959, French Sudan was joined with Senegal to form the Mali Federation. This became fully independent but still inside the French Community on June 20, 1960. This union finished on August 20, 1960, when Senegal left. On 22 September, French Sudan changed its name to the Republic of Mali and left the French Community.