Mali was very fortunate climate-wise, because it didn't have too much desert and was built on the Niger River. The Niger River is a 2,500 mile long river which created fertile soil and gave water. Mali is located on the West Coast of Africa and when it was first founded by Sundiata Keita, it's capital was Niani. An accomplished city is Timbuktu, which was found by a sheep herder named Buktu who found an oasis. This was almost like the California Gold Rush, just screaming ''Come and live here". The first part of the word ''tim'' means ''water well'' and the second, Buktu was the woman's name. Three very important cities were Gao, Jenne and of course Timbuktu,which were important centers of trade and education that were visited by Muslims. It is told that Mali is ''the place of peace, power and vast wealth'' which was told because of it's great location, climate and being along the Niger River.
Picture URL: http://www.countryreports.org/images/crimage.aspx?image=ML&imagetype=-area
