Timbuktu

:This article is about Timbuktu, the Mali city. For the artist, see Timbuktu. For the region, see Tombouctou Region

Timbuktu Today

Today, Timbuktu is an impoverished town, although its reputation makes it a tourist attraction, and it has an airport. It is one of the eight regions of Mali, home to the local governor. It is the sister city to Djenne (also in Mali).

Related Topics:
Airport - Regions of Mali - Djenne

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Timbuktu is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988. In 1990, it was added to the list of world heritage sites in danger due to the threat of desert sands. A program was set up to preserve the site and in 2005, it was taken off the list of endangered sites.

Related Topics:
UNESCO - World Heritage Site - World heritage sites in danger - Desert

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It was one of the major stops during Henry Louis Gates' PBS special "Wonders of the African World". Gates visited with Abdel Kadir Haidara, curator of the Mamma Haidara Library together with Ali Ould Sidi from the Cultural Mission of Mali. It is thanks to Gates that an Andrew Mellon Foundation Grant was obtained to finance the construction of the library's facilities, later inspiring the work of the Timbuktu Libraries Project. Unfortunately, no practicing book artists exist in Timbuktu although cultural memory of book artisans is still alive, catering to the tourist trade. It is also home to an institute dedicated to preserving historic documents from the region.

Related Topics:
Henry Louis Gates - PBS - Timbuktu Libraries Project

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Attractions

Timbuktu's vernacular architecture is marked by mud mosques, which are said to have inspired Antoni Gaudí. These include

Related Topics:
Vernacular architecture - Mosque - Antoni Gaudí

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• Djinguereber Mosque, built in 1327 by El Saheli
• Sankore Mosque, also known as Sankore University, built in the early fifteenth century
• Sidi Yahya mosque, built in the early fifteenth century.

Other attractions include a museum, terraced gardens and a water tower.

Related Topics:
Museum - Water tower

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Language

The main language of Timbuktu is a Songhay variety termed Koyra Chiini, spoken by over 80% of residents. Smaller groups, numbering 10% each before many were expelled during the Tuareg/Arab rebellion of 1990-1994, speak Hassaniya Arabic and Tamashek.

Related Topics:
Songhay - Koyra Chiini - Hassaniya - Tamashek

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