Kita, 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 center 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 the 2018 census the urban commune had a population of 463,787.
Kita | |
|---|---|
Commune and town | |
Kita Location in Mali | |
| Coordinates: 13°2′20″N 9°29′15″W | |
| Country | Mali |
| Region | Kayes Region |
| Cercle | Kita Cercle |
| Elevation | 330 m (1,080 ft) |
| Population (2018 census) | |
| • Total | 463,787 |
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).