Timbuktu

Timbuktu (pop. 20,500), city in central Mali, in the southern Sahara. It was settled in the 1100s by the Tuareg and used by merchants of the 14th century as a major trading center for gold, salt, ivory, and slaves. The 15th and 16th centuries saw the rise of the Songhai Empire and Timbuktu became a center of Muslim learning. It was sacked by the Moroccans (1593), and French rule was established in 1894. Today it continues to be an important marketplace (salt, handicrafts) for the nomads of the Sahara.

See also: Mali.