Badialan I — Bamako Neighborhood

Badialan I is one of three sectors making up Badialan, together with Badialan II and Badialan III, in Bamako's Commune III.

One of the historic downtown neighborhoods

Badialan I, II, and III are counted among Bamako's historic neighborhoods, located at the heart of Commune III, the commune that holds the capital's administrative and commercial center. This central location places Badialan I close to the main traffic arteries and business areas of downtown Bamako.

From Farako to Badialan: a colonial-era origin

According to research on Bamako's urban toponymy, the area that would become Badialan was first known as Farako, named for a river that once ran through it. The neighborhood is said to have been created around 1945, on the initiative of Governor Louveau, as part of the colonial-era development of central Bamako. The name is then said to have evolved into "Bajalan," meaning "the dry river," after drainage canals were built that dried up the watercourse. The current name Badialan was reportedly chosen around 1962 by activists of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA), who could not agree on naming the neighborhood after Governor Louveau amid the political divisions of the time. This same period of political reorganization is also said to have affected the separation of the neighboring areas of Ouolofobougou and Bolibana.

The split into three sectors

The division of Badialan into three distinct sectors — Badialan I, II, and III — is dated to 1972, as part of the organization of consumer cooperatives under President Modibo Keïta. Residents of Badialan II are said to have requested independence in food supply matters, since the cooperative based in Badialan III then controlled distribution for the whole area.

A residential sector at the heart of the city

Like the other Badialan sectors, this neighborhood combines a residential function with immediate proximity to the institutions and businesses that make Commune III Bamako's central hub. Commune III covers roughly 20.70 km² and had 128,666 residents in 2009, with a density of 6,216 people per km² — among the highest of the district's communes outside the historic downtown core.

Population in 2023

According to the 2023 edition of the Directory of Localities of Mali by the national statistics institute (INSTAT), Badialan I has 4,757 inhabitants in 2023: 2,292 men and 2,465 women. These are 2023 projections based on the 2022 general census (RGPH5).

In the 2023 administrative division used by INSTAT, the Bamako district has seven arrondissements. Badialan I belongs to arrondissement 3 (180,815 inhabitants), where it ranks 15th by population out of 22 neighbourhoods.

Frequently asked questions

Which commune of Bamako is Badialan I in?

Since law no. 2023-005, the Bamako district has been divided into seven arrondissements, which replaced the six communes. Badialan I is in the 3rd arrondissement. Before that reform, the neighbourhood was part of Commune III, which corresponds to this arrondissement.

How many people live in Badialan I?

4,757 inhabitants in 2023 (2,292 men and 2,465 women) according to INSTAT's Directory of Localities, making it the 15th most populous neighbourhood of its arrondissement, out of 22.

Sources: Wikipedia — Commune III, Bamako, ADR Bamako — Présentation CIII, OpenEdition — Dynamiques urbaines, composition toponymique : le cas de Bamako, INSTAT — Directory of Localities of Mali, 2023 edition (French)