Kita, Kayes Region, Mali

🇲🇱 Kita is a town and urban commune in western Mali. The town is the capital of the Kita Cercle in the Kayes Region. It lies on the eastern slope of Mount Kita (Bambara: "Kita-kulu"), known for its caves and rock paintings. Today, the town is known for its music, its annual Roman Catholic pilgrimage and its role as a processing centre for the surrounding cotton- and peanut-growing region. Kita lies on the Dakar-Niger Railway and is the largest transit hub between Bamako (112 miles) and Kayes (205 miles).

In November 1955, Kita became a commune of average exercise. On March 2, 1966, Kita became a commune of full exercise. The town grew in the 1990s around the cotton industry, but this has since declined.

A fictionalized version of Kita features as the setting for Malian author Massa Makan Diabaté's "Kouta Trilogy" (Le lieutenant de Kouta, Le coiffeur de Kouta, and Le boucher de Kouta).

Name Kita proper has been called with different names throughout history. One of its earliest names was "Guénou Kourou".

However, a second name "Sediousaba" had been used for the small village, or rather an area in the town.

History Two major settlements have been considered the birth of the town of Kita, however the order of these settlements are still subjects to debate. One of the settlements was attributed to the Tounkara traders from Ouagadou, the Ghana empire. Their chief, Diouna Tounkara, created "Sediousaba", which means "Three shea trees" as mentioned above. The second settlement was attributed to a Guinea trader, Siema Toloba Kamara, who created a village called "Fatali. Later, Siema Toloba Kamara and Diouna Tounkara allied with each other to form a new village called "Linguékoto".

Kita Cercle Kita Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Kayes Region of Mali. The administrative centre (chef-lieu) is the town of Kita. The cercle is divided into 33 communes: • Badia • Bendougouba • Benkadi Founia • Boudofo • Bougaribaya • Didenko or Dindanko • Djidian • Djougoun • Gadougou I • Gadougou II • Guémoucouraba • Kassaro • Kita (an urban commune) • Kita Nord • Kita Ouest • Kobri • Kokofata • Kotouba • Koulou • Kourouninkoto (an urban commune) • Madina • Makano • Namala Guimba • Niantanso • Saboula • Sébékoro • Séféto Nord • Séféto Ouest • Senko • Sirakoro • Souransan-Tomoto • Tambaga • Toukoto.