Djenné facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Djenné
Commune and town
Street market and the Great Mosque of Djenné
Djenné Location in Mali
Country	Mali
Region	Mopti Region
Cercle	Djenné Cercle
Area
• Total	302 km2 (117 sq mi)
Elevation	278 m (912 ft)
Population  (2009)
• Total	32,944
• Density	109.09/km2 (282.5/sq mi)

Djenné (Bambara: ߘߖߋߣߣߋ tr. Djenne; also known as Djénné, Jenné and Jenne) is a town and an urban commune in the Inland Niger Delta region of central Mali. The town is the administrative centre of the Djenné Cercle, one of the eight subdivisions of the Mopti Region. The commune includes ten of the surrounding villages and in 2009 had a population of 32,944.

The history of Djenné is closely linked with that of Timbuktu. Between the 15th and 17th centuries much of the trans-Saharan trade in goods such as salt, gold, and slaves that moved in and out of Timbuktu passed through Djenné. Both towns became centres of Islamic scholarship. Djenné's prosperity depended on this trade and when the Portuguese established trading posts on the African coast, the importance of the trans-Saharan trade and thus of Djenné declined.

The town is famous for its distinctive adobe architecture, most notably the Great Mosque which was built in 1907 on the site of an earlier mosque. To the south of the town is Djenné-Djenno, the site of one of the oldest known towns in sub-Saharan Africa. Djenné together with Djenné-Djeno were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988.

Images for kids

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  Passenger vehicles on the Bani River ferry near Djenné.

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  Houses in Djenné with Toucouleur-style façades from a postcard by Edmond Fortier published in 1906.

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  A street scene in Djenné from Timbuctoo: the Mysterious by Félix Dubois published in 1896.

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  A house in Djenné from Timbuctoo: the Mysterious by Félix Dubois published in 1896.

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  Sudanese-style buildings in the city

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  Market in Djenné.

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  Classic earth-brick house

See also

In Spanish: Djenné para niños