Timbuktu - wikipedia Timbuktu For other uses, see Timbuktu ( disambiguation ). City in Tombouctou Region, Mali Timbuktu Tinbuktu ( ⵜⵉⵏⴱⵓⴽⵜⵓ ) / Tombouctou Timbuctoo City transcription ( s ) Koyra Chiini : Tumbutu Sankore Mosque in Timbuktu Map showing the main trans - Saharan caravan routes circa 1400. Also shown are the Ghana Empire ( until the 13th century ) and 13th -- 15th century Mali Empire. Note the western route running from Djenné via Timbuktu to Sijilmassa. Present day Niger in yellow. Timbuktu Location of Timbuktu within Mali Coordinates : 16 ° 46 ′ 33 '' N 3 ° 00 ′ 34 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 16.77583 ° N 3.00944 ° W ﻿ / 16.77583 ; - 3.00944 Coordinates : 16 ° 46 ′ 33 '' N 3 ° 00 ′ 34 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 16.77583 ° N 3.00944 ° W ﻿ / 16.77583 ; - 3.00944 Country Mali Region Tombouctou Region Cercle Timbuktu Cercle Settled 5th century BC Government Mayor Hallé Ousmane Elevation 261 m ( 856 ft ) Population ( 2009 ) Total 54,453 Climate BWh UNESCO World Heritage Site Criteria Cultural : ii, iv, v Reference 119 Inscription 1988 ( 12th Session ) Endangered 1990 - 2005 ; 2012 - present Timbuktu ( / ˌtɪmbʌkˈtuː / ), also spelt Tinbuktu, Timbuctoo and Timbuktoo ( Berber languages : ⵜⵉⵏⴱⵓⴽⵜⵓ ; French : Tombouctou ; Koyra Chiini : Tumbutu ), is an ancient city in Mali, situated 20 km ( 12 mi ) north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali. It had a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census. Starting out as a seasonal settlement, Timbuktu became a permanent settlement early in the 10th century. After a shift in trading routes, Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and slaves. It became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. In the first half of the 15th century, the Tuareg tribes took control of the city for a short period until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the city in 1468. A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591 and made Timbuktu, rather than Gao, their capital. The invaders established a new ruling class, the Arma, who after 1612 became virtually independent of Morocco. However, the golden age of the city, during which it was a major learning and cultural centre of the Mali Empire, was over, and it entered a long period of decline. Different tribes governed until the French took over in 1893, a situation that lasted until it became part of the current Republic of Mali in 1960. Presently, Timbuktu is impoverished and suffers from desertification. In its Golden Age, the town 's numerous Islamic scholars and extensive trading network made possible an important book trade : together with the campuses of the Sankore Madrasah, an Islamic university, this established Timbuktu as a scholarly centre in Africa. Several notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus, have described Timbuktu. These stories fuelled speculation in Europe, where the city 's reputation shifted from being extremely rich to being mysterious. Contents 1 Toponymy 2 Prehistory 3 History 4 Geography 5 Climate 6 Economy 6.1 Salt trade 6.2 Agriculture 6.3 Tourism 6.3. 1 Attacks 7 Legendary tales 7.1 Leo Africanus 7.2 Shabeni 8 Arts and culture 8.1 Cultural events 8.2 World Heritage Site 8.2. 1 Attacks by Muslim fundamentalists 9 Education 9.1 Centre of learning 9.2 Manuscripts and libraries 10 Language 11 Infrastructure 12 In popular culture 13 Twin towns -- sister cities 14 See also 15 Notes 16 References 17 Further reading 18 External links Toponymy Timbuktu looking west, René Caillié ( 1830 ) View of Timbuktu, Heinrich Barth ( 1858 ) Over the centuries, the spelling of Timbuktu has varied a great deal : from Tenbuch on the Catalan Atlas ( 1375 ), to traveller Antonio Malfante 's Thambet, used in a letter he wrote in 1447 and also adopted by Alvise Cadamosto in his Voyages of Cadamosto, to Heinrich Barth 's Timbúktu and Timbu'ktu. French spelling often appears in international reference as `` Tombouctou ''. As well as its spelling, Timbuktu 's toponymy is still open to discussion. At least four possible origins of the name of Timbuktu have been described : Songhay origin : both Leo Africanus and Heinrich Barth believed the name was derived from two Songhay words : Leo Africanus writes the Kingdom of Tombuto was named after a town of the same name, founded in 1213 or 1214 by Mansa Suleyman. The word itself consisted of two parts : tin ( wall ) and butu ( Wall of Butu ). Africanus did not explain the meaning of this Butu. Heinrich Barth wrote : `` The town was probably so called, because it was built originally in a hollow or cavity in the sand - hills. Tùmbutu means hole or womb in the Songhay language : if it were a Temáshight ( Tamashek ) word, it would be written Tinbuktu. The name is generally interpreted by Europeans as well of Buktu ( also same word in Persian is bâkhtàr باختر = where the sun sets, West ), but tin has nothing to do with well. '' Berber origin : Malian historian Sekene Cissoko proposes a different etymology : the Tuareg founders of the city gave it a Berber name, a word composed of two parts : tim, the feminine form of In ( place of ) and bouctou, a small dune. Hence, Timbuktu would mean `` place covered by small dunes ''. Abd al - Sadi offers a third explanation in his 17th - century Tarikh al - Sudan : `` The Tuareg made it a depot for their belongings and provisions, and it grew into a crossroads for travellers coming and going. Looking after their belongings was a slave woman of theirs called Tinbuktu, which in their language means ( the one having a ) ' lump '. The blessed spot where she encamped was named after her. '' The French Orientalist René Basset forwarded another theory : the name derives from the Zenaga root b-k-t, meaning `` to be distant '' or `` hidden '', and the feminine possessive particle tin. The meaning `` hidden '' could point to the city 's location in a slight hollow. The validity of these theories depends on the identity of the original founders of the city : as recently as 2000, archaeological research has not found remains dating from the 11th / 12th century within the limits of the modern city given the difficulty of excavating through metres of sand that have buried the remains over the past centuries. Without consensus, the etymology of Timbuktu remains unclear. Prehistory Like other important Medieval West African towns such as Djenné ( Jenné - Jeno ), Gao, and Dia, Iron Age settlements have been discovered near Timbuktu that predate the traditional foundation date of the town. Although the accumulation of thick layers of sand has thwarted archaeological excavations in the town itself, some of the surrounding landscape is deflating and exposing pottery shards on the surface. A survey of the area by Susan and Roderick McIntosh in 1984 identified several Iron Age sites along the el - Ahmar, an ancient wadi system that passes a few kilometres to the east of the modern town. An Iron Age tell complex located 9 kilometres ( 6 miles ) southeast of the Timbuktu near the Wadi el - Ahmar was excavated between 2008 and 2010 by archaeologists from Yale University and the Mission Culturelle de Tombouctou. The results suggest that the site was first occupied during the 5th century BC, thrived throughout the second half of the 1st millennium AD and eventually collapsed sometime during the late 10th or early 11th century AD. History Main article : History of Timbuktu This section should include a better summary of History of Timbuktu. See Wikipedia : Summary style for information on how to properly incorporate it into this article 's main text. ( July 2017 ) Timbuktu was a regional trade centre in medieval times, where caravans met to exchange salt from the Sahara Desert for gold, ivory, and slaves from the Sahel, which could be reached via the nearby Niger River. The population swelled from 10,000 in the 13th century to about 50,000 in the 16th century after the establishment of a major Islamic university, which attracted scholars from throughout the Muslim world. In the 1600s, a combination of a purge by a monarch who accused the scholars of `` disloyalty '' and a decline in trade caused by increased competition from newly available trans - Atlantic sailing routes caused the city to decline. The first European to reach Timbuktu, Alexander Gordon Laing, did not arrive until 1826, and it was not until the 1890s that Timbuktu was formally incorporated into the French colony of Mali. Today, the city is still inhabited, but it plays little role on the world stage. Geography Timbuktu is located on the southern edge of the Sahara 15 km ( 9 mi ) north of the main channel of the River Niger. The town is surrounded by sand dunes and the streets are covered in sand. The port of Kabara is 8 km ( 5 mi ) to the south of the town and is connected to an arm of the river by a 3 km ( 2 mi ) canal. The canal had become heavily silted but in 2007 it was dredged as part of a Libyan financed project. The annual flood of the Niger River is a result of the heavy rainfall in the headwaters of the Niger and Bani rivers in Guinea and northern Ivory Coast. The rainfall in these areas peaks in August but the flood water takes time to pass down the river system and through the Inner Niger Delta. At Koulikoro, 60 km ( 37 mi ) downstream from Bamako, the flood peaks in September, while in Timbuktu the flood lasts longer and usually reaches a maximum at the end of December. In the past, the area flooded by the river was more extensive and in years with high rainfall, floodwater would reach the western outskirts of Timbuktu itself. A small navigable creek to the west of the town is shown on the maps published by Heinrich Barth in 1857 and Félix Dubois in 1896. Between 1917 and 1921, during the colonial period, the French used slave labour to dig a narrow canal linking Timbuktu with Kabara. Over the following decades this became silted and filled with sand, but in 2007 as part of the dredging project, the canal was re-excavated so that now when the River Niger floods, Timbuktu is again connected to Kabara. The Malian government has promised to address problems with the design of the canal as it currently lacks footbridges and the steep, unstable banks make access to the water difficult. Kabara can only function as a port in December to January when the river is in full flood. When the water levels are lower, boats dock at Korioumé which is linked to Timbuktu by 18 km ( 11 mi ) of paved road. Climate Timbuktu features a hot desert climate according to the Köppen Climate Classification. The weather is hot and dry throughout much of the year. Average daily maximum temperatures in the hottest months of the year -- April, May and June -- exceed 40 ° C ( 104 ° F ). Lowest temperatures occur during the Northern hemisphere winter -- December, January and February. However, average maximum temperatures do not drop below 30 ° C ( 86 ° F ). These winter months are characterized by a dry, dusty trade wind blowing from the Saharan Tibesti Region southward to the Gulf of Guinea : picking up dust particles on their way, these winds limit visibility in what has been dubbed the ' Harmattan Haze '. Additionally, when the dust settles in the city, sand builds up and desertification looms. hide Climate data for Timbuktu ( 1950 -- 2000, extremes 1897 -- present ) Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Record high ° C ( ° F ) 41.6 ( 106.9 ) 43.5 ( 110.3 ) 46.1 ( 115 ) 48.9 ( 120 ) 49.0 ( 120.2 ) 49.0 ( 120.2 ) 46.0 ( 114.8 ) 46.5 ( 115.7 ) 45.0 ( 113 ) 48.0 ( 118.4 ) 42.5 ( 108.5 ) 40.0 ( 104 ) 49.0 ( 120.2 ) Average high ° C ( ° F ) 30.0 ( 86 ) 33.2 ( 91.8 ) 36.6 ( 97.9 ) 40.0 ( 104 ) 42.2 ( 108 ) 41.6 ( 106.9 ) 38.5 ( 101.3 ) 36.5 ( 97.7 ) 38.3 ( 100.9 ) 39.1 ( 102.4 ) 35.2 ( 95.4 ) 30.4 ( 86.7 ) 36.8 ( 98.2 ) Average low ° C ( ° F ) 13.0 ( 55.4 ) 15.2 ( 59.4 ) 18.5 ( 65.3 ) 22.5 ( 72.5 ) 26.0 ( 78.8 ) 27.3 ( 81.1 ) 25.8 ( 78.4 ) 24.8 ( 76.6 ) 24.8 ( 76.6 ) 22.7 ( 72.9 ) 17.7 ( 63.9 ) 13.5 ( 56.3 ) 21.0 ( 69.8 ) Record low ° C ( ° F ) 1.7 ( 35.1 ) 7.5 ( 45.5 ) 7.0 ( 44.6 ) 8.0 ( 46.4 ) 18.5 ( 65.3 ) 17.4 ( 63.3 ) 18.0 ( 64.4 ) 20.0 ( 68 ) 18.9 ( 66 ) 13.0 ( 55.4 ) 11.0 ( 51.8 ) 3.5 ( 38.3 ) 1.7 ( 35.1 ) Average rainfall mm ( inches ) 0.6 ( 0.024 ) 0.1 ( 0.004 ) 0.1 ( 0.004 ) 1.0 ( 0.039 ) 4.0 ( 0.157 ) 16.4 ( 0.646 ) 53.5 ( 2.106 ) 73.6 ( 2.898 ) 29.4 ( 1.157 ) 3.8 ( 0.15 ) 0.1 ( 0.004 ) 0.2 ( 0.008 ) 182.8 ( 7.197 ) Average rainy days ( ≥ 0.1 mm ) 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.6 0.9 3.2 6.6 8.1 4.7 0.8 0.0 0.1 25.3 Mean monthly sunshine hours 263.9 249.6 269.9 254.6 275.3 234.7 248.6 255.3 248.9 273.0 274.0 258.7 3,106.5 Source # 1 : World Meteorological Organization, NOAA ( sun 1961 -- 1990 ) Source # 2 : Meteo Climat ( record highs and lows ) Economy Salt trade Azalai salt caravan, mid-December 1985. The wealth and very existence of Timbuktu depended on its position as the southern terminus of an important trans - Saharan trade route ; nowadays, the only goods that are routinely transported across the desert are slabs of rock salt brought from the Taoudenni mining centre in the central Sahara 664 km ( 413 mi ) north of Timbuktu. Until the second half of the 20th century most of the slabs were transported by large salt caravans or azalai, one leaving Timbuktu in early November and the other in late March. The caravans of several thousand camels took three weeks each way, transporting food to the miners and returning with each camel loaded with four or five 30 kg ( 66 lb ) slabs of salt. The salt transport was largely controlled by the desert nomads of the Arabic - speaking Berabich ( or Barabish ) tribe. Although there are no roads, the slabs of salt are now usually transported from Taoudenni by truck. From Timbuktu the salt is transported by boat to other towns in Mali. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, Timbuktu 's population grew immensely due to an influx of Tuaregs, Fulanis, and Songhais seeking trade, security, or to study. By 1300, the population increased to 10,000 and kept increasing until it reached about 50,000 in the 1500s. Agriculture There is insufficient rainfall in the Timbuktu region for purely rain - fed agriculture and crops are therefore irrigated using water from the River Niger. The main agricultural crop is rice. African floating rice ( Oryza glaberrima ) has traditionally been grown in regions near the river that are inundated during the annual flood. Seed is sown at the beginning of the rainy season ( June -- July ) so that when the flood water arrives plants are already 30 to 40 cm ( 12 to 16 in ) in height. The plants grow up to three metres ( 9.8 feet ) in height as the water level rises. The rice is harvested by canoe in December. The procedure is very precarious and the yields are low but the method has the advantage that little capital investment is required. A successful crop depends critically on the amount and timing of the rain in the wet season and the height of the flood. To a limited extent the arrival of the flood water can be controlled by the construction of small mud dikes that become submerged as the water rises. Although floating rice is still cultivated in the Timbuktu Cercle, most of the rice is now grown in three relatively large irrigated areas that lie to the south of the town : Daye ( 392 ha ), Koriomé ( 550 ha ) and Hamadja ( 623 ha ). Water is pumped from the river using ten large Archimedes ' screws which were first installed in the 1990s. The irrigated areas are run as cooperatives with approximately 2,100 families cultivating small plots. Nearly all the rice produced is consumed by the families themselves. The yields are still relatively low and the farmers are being encouraged to change their agricultural practices. Tourism Most tourists visit Timbuktu between November and February when the air temperature is lower. In the 1980s, accommodation for the small number of tourists was provided by two small hotels : Hotel Bouctou and Hotel Azalaï. Over the following decades the tourist numbers increased so that by 2006 there were seven small hotels and guest houses. The town benefited by the revenue from the CFA 5000 tourist tax, by the sale of handicrafts and by the employment for the guides. Attacks Starting in 2008 the Al - Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb began kidnapping groups of tourists in the Sahel region. In January 2009, four tourists were kidnapped near the Mali -- Niger border after attending a cultural festival at Anderamboukané. One of these tourists was subsequently murdered. As a result of this and various other incidents a number of states including France, Britain and the US, began advising their citizens to avoid travelling far from Bamako. The number of tourists visiting Timbuktu dropped precipitously from around 6000 in 2009 to only 492 in the first four months of 2011. Because of the security concerns, the Malian government moved the 2010 Festival in the Desert from Essakane to the outskirts of Timbuktu. In November 2011, gunmen attacked tourists staying at a hotel in Timbuktu, killing one of them and kidnapping three others. This was the first terrorist incident in Timbuktu itself. On 1 April 2012, one day after the capture of Gao, Timbuktu was captured from the Malian military by the Tuareg rebels of the MNLA and Ansar Dine. Five days later, the MNLA declared the region independent of Mali as the nation of Azawad. The declared political entity was not recognized by any regional nations or the international community and it collapsed three months later on 12 July. On 28 January 2013, French and Malian government troops began retaking Timbuktu from the Islamist rebels. The force of 1,000 French troops with 200 Malian soldiers retook Timbuktu without a fight. The Islamist groups had already fled north a few days earlier, having set fire to the Ahmed Baba Institute, which housed many important manuscripts. The building housing the Ahmed Baba Institute was funded by South Africa, and held 30,000 manuscripts. BBC World Service radio news reported on 29 January 2013 that approximately 28,000 of the manuscripts in the Institute had been removed to safety from the premises before the attack by the Islamist groups, and that the whereabouts of about 2,000 manuscripts remained unknown. It was intended to be a resource for Islamic research. On 30 March 2013, jihadist rebels infiltrated into Timbuktu nine days before a suicide bombing on a Malian army checkpoint at the international airport killing a soldier. Fighting lasted until 1 April, when French warplanes helped Malian ground forces chase the remaining rebels out of the city center. Legendary tales Tales of Timbuktu 's fabulous wealth helped prompt European exploration of the west coast of Africa. Among the most famous descriptions of Timbuktu are those of Leo Africanus and Shabeni. Leo Africanus The rich king of Tombuto hath many plates and sceptres of gold, some whereof weigh 1300 pounds... He hath always 3000 horsemen... ( and ) a great store of doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men, that are bountifully maintained at the king 's cost and charges. Leo Africanus, Descrittione dell ' Africa The inhabitants are very rich, especially the strangers who have settled in the country (... ) But salt is in very short supply because it is carried here from Tegaza, some 500 miles ( 805 km ) from Timbuktu. I happened to be in this city at a time when a load of salt sold for eighty ducats. The king has a rich treasure of coins and gold ingots. Leo Africanus, Descrittione dell ' Africa in Paul Brians ' Reading About the World, Volume 2 Perhaps most famous among the accounts written about Timbuktu is that by Leo Africanus. Born El Hasan ben Muhammed el - Wazzan - ez - Zayyati in Granada in 1485, his family was among the thousands of Muslims expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella after their reconquest of Spain in 1492. They settled in Morocco, where he studied in Fes and accompanied his uncle on diplomatic missions throughout North Africa. During these travels, he visited Timbuktu. As a young man he was captured by pirates and presented as an exceptionally learned slave to Pope Leo X, who freed him, baptized him under the name `` Johannis Leo de Medici '', and commissioned him to write, in Italian, a detailed survey of Africa. His accounts provided most of what Europeans knew about the continent for the next several centuries. Describing Timbuktu when the Songhai empire was at its height, the English edition of his book includes the description : According to Leo Africanus, there were abundant supplies of locally produced corn, cattle, milk and butter, though there were neither gardens nor orchards surrounding the city. In another passage dedicated to describing the wealth of both the environment and the king, Africanus touches upon the rarity of some of Timbuktu 's trade commodities : salt. These descriptions and passages alike caught the attention of European explorers. Africanus, though, also described the more mundane aspects of the city, such as the `` cottages built of chalk, and covered with thatch '' -- although these went largely unheeded. Shabeni The natives of the town of Timbuctoo may be computed at 40,000, exclusive of slaves and foreigners... The natives are all blacks : almost every stranger marries a female of the town, who are so beautiful that travellers often fall in love with them at first sight. -- Shabeni in James Grey Jackson 's An Account of Timbuctoo and Hausa, 1820 Roughly 250 years after Leo Africanus ' visit to Timbuktu, the city had seen many rulers. The end of the 18th century saw the grip of the Moroccan rulers on the city wane, resulting in a period of unstable government by quickly changing tribes. During the rule of one of those tribes, the Hausa, a 14 - year - old child from Tétouan accompanied his father on a visit to Timbuktu. Growing up a merchant, he was captured and eventually brought to England. Shabeni, or Asseed El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny stayed in Timbuktu for three years before moving to Housa. Two years later, he returned to Timbuktu to live there for another seven years -- one of a population that was even centuries after its peak and excluding slaves, double the size of the 21st - century town. By the time Shabeni was 27, he was an established merchant in his hometown. Returning from a trade mission to Hamburg, his English ship was captured and brought to Ostend by a ship under Russian colours in December 1789. He was subsequently set free by the British consulate, but his ship set him ashore in Dover for fear of being captured again. Here, his story was recorded. Shabeeni gave an indication of the size of the city in the second half of the 18th century. In an earlier passage, he described an environment that was characterized by forest, as opposed to nowadays ' arid surroundings. Arts and culture Reconstruction of the Ben Essayouti Library, Timbuktu Cultural Events The most well - known cultural event is the Festival au Désert. When the Tuareg rebellion ended in 1996 under the Konaré administration, 3,000 weapons were burned in a ceremony dubbed the Flame of Peace on 29 March 2007 -- to commemorate the ceremony, a monument was built. The Festival au Désert, to celebrate the peace treaty, is held near the city in January. World Heritage site During its twelfth session, in December 1988, the World Heritage Committee ( WHC ) selected parts of Timbuktu 's historic centre for inscription on its World Heritage list. The selection was based on three criteria : Criterion II : Timbuktu 's holy places were vital to early Islamization in Africa. Criterion IV : Timbuktu 's mosques show a cultural and scholarly Golden Age during the Songhay Empire. Criterion V : The construction of the mosques, still mostly original, shows the use of traditional building techniques. An earlier nomination in 1979 failed the following year as it lacked proper demarcation : the Malian government included the town of Timbuktu as a whole in the wish for inclusion. Close to a decade later, three mosques and 16 mausoleums or cemeteries were selected from the Old Town for World Heritage status : with this conclusion came the call for protection of the buildings ' conditions, an exclusion of new construction works near the sites and measures against the encroaching sand. Shortly afterwards, the monuments were placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger by the Malian government, as by the selection committee at the time of nomination. The first period on the Danger List lasted from 1990 until 2005, when a range of measures including restoration work and the compilation of an inventory warranted `` its removal from the Danger List ''. In 2008 the WHC placed the protected area under increased scrutiny dubbed `` reinforced monitoring '', a measure made possible in 2007, as the impact of planned construction work was unclear. Special attention was given to the build of a cultural centre. During a session in June 2009, UNESCO decided to cease its increased monitoring program as it felt sufficient progress had been made to address the initial concerns. Following the takeover of Timbuktu by MNLA and the Islamist group Ansar Dine, it was returned to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2012. Attacks by Muslim fundamentalists Further information : Islamist destruction of Timbuktu heritage sites In May 2012, Ansar Dine destroyed a shrine in the city and in June 2012, in the aftermath of the Battle of Gao and Timbuktu, other shrines, including the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud, were destroyed when attacked with shovels and pickaxes by members of the same group. An Ansar Dine spokesman said that all shrines in the city, including the 13 remaining World Heritage sites, would be destroyed because they consider them to be examples of idolatry, a sin in Islam. These acts have been described as crimes against humanity and war crimes. After the destruction of the tombs, UNESCO created a special fund to safeguard Mali 's World Heritage Sites, vowing to carry out reconstruction and rehabilitation projects once the security situation allows. Education If the University of Sankore... had survived the ravages of foreign invasions, the academic and cultural history of Africa might have been different from what it is today. -- Kwame Nkrumah at the University of Ghana inauguration, 1961 Centre of learning The Timbuktu Manuscripts showing both mathematics and a heritage of astronomy in medieval Islam. Timbuktu was a world centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th century, especially under the Mali Empire and Askia Mohammad I 's rule. The Malian government and NGOs have been working to catalog and restore the remnants of this scholarly legacy : Timbuktu 's manuscripts. Timbuktu 's rapid economic growth in the 13th and 14th centuries drew many scholars from nearby Walata ( today in Mauretania ), leading up to the city 's golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries that proved fertile ground for scholarship of religions, arts and sciences. To the people of Timbuktu, literacy and books were symbols of wealth, power, and blessings and the acquisition of books became a primary concern for scholars. An active trade in books between Timbuktu and other parts of the Islamic world and emperor Askia Mohammed 's strong support led to the writing of thousands of manuscripts. Knowledge was gathered in a manner similar to the early, informal European Medieval university model. Lecturing was presented through a range of informal institutions called madrasahs. Nowadays known as the University of Timbuktu, three madrasahs facilitated 25,000 students : Djinguereber, Sidi Yahya and Sankore. These institutions were explicitly religious, as opposed to the more secular curricula of modern European universities and more similar to the medieval Europe model. However, where universities in the European sense started as associations of students and teachers, West - African education was patronized by families or lineages, with the Aqit and Bunu al - Qadi al - Hajj families being two of the most prominent in Timbuktu -- these families also facilitated students is set - aside rooms in their housings. Although the basis of Islamic law and its teaching were brought to Timbuktu from North Africa with the spread of Islam, Western African scholarship developed : Ahmad Baba al Massufi is regarded as the city 's greatest scholar. Timbuktu served in this process as a distribution centre of scholars and scholarship. Its reliance on trade meant intensive movement of scholars between the city and its extensive network of trade partners. In 1468 -- 1469 though, many scholars left for Walata when Sunni Ali 's Songhay Empire absorbed Timbuktu and again in 1591 with the Moroccan occupation. This system of education survived until the late 19th century, while the 18th century saw the institution of itinerant Quranic school as a form of universal education, where scholars would travel throughout the region with their students, begging for food part of the day. Islamic education came under pressure after the French occupation, droughts in the 70s and 80s and by Mali 's civil war in the early 90s. Manuscripts and libraries Main article : Timbuktu Manuscripts Moorish marabout of the Kuntua tribe, an ethnic Kounta clan, from which the Al Kounti manuscript collection derives its name. Dated 1898. Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts were collected in Timbuktu over the course of centuries : some were written in the town itself, others -- including exclusive copies of the Qur'an for wealthy families -- imported through the lively booktrade. Hidden in cellars or buried, hid between the mosque 's mud walls and safeguarded by their patrons, many of these manuscripts survived the city 's decline. They now form the collection of several libraries in Timbuktu, holding up to 700,000 manuscripts : In late January 2013 it was reported that rebel forces destroyed many of the manuscripts before leaving the city. However, there was no malicious destruction of any library or collection as most of the manuscripts were safely hidden away. One librarian in particular, Abdel Kader Haidara, organized to have 350,000 medieval manuscripts smuggled out of Timbuktu for safekeeping. Ahmed Baba Institute Mamma Haidara Library Fondo Kati Al - Wangari Library Mohamed Tahar Library Maigala Library Boularaf Collection Al Kounti Collections Manuscripts of the Ahmed Baba Centre These libraries are the largest among up to 60 private or public libraries that are estimated to exist in Timbuktu today, although some comprise little more than a row of books on a shelf or a bookchest. Under these circumstances, the manuscripts are vulnerable to damage and theft, as well as long term climate damage, despite Timbuktu 's arid climate. Two Timbuktu Manuscripts Projects funded by independent universities have aimed to preserve them. During the occupation by Islamic extremists the citizens of the city embarked on a drive to save the `` best written accounts of African History. '' Interviewed by the Times the local residents claimed to have safeguarded the three hundred thousand manuscripts for generations. Many of these documents are still in the safe keeping of the local residents who are reluctant to give them overs to the government - run Ahmed Baba Institute housed in a modern digitalization building built by the South African government in 2009. The institute houses only 10 % of the manuscripts It was later confirmed by Jean - Michel Djian to the New Yorker that `` the great majority of the manuscripts, about fifty thousand, are actually housed in the thirty - two family libraries of the ' City of 333 Saints ' ''. He added, `` Those are to this day protected. '' He also added that due to the massive efforts of one individual two hundred thousand other manuscripts were successfully transported to safety Language Although French is Mali 's official language, today the large majority of Timbuktu 's inhabitants speaks Koyra Chiini, a Songhay language that also functions as the lingua franca. Before the 1990 -- 1994 Tuareg rebellion, both Hassaniya Arabic and Tamashek were represented by 10 % each to an 80 % dominance of the Koyra Chiini language. With Tamashek spoken by both Ikelan and ethnic Tuaregs, its use declined with the expulsion of many Tuaregs following the rebellion, increasing the dominance of Koyra Chiini. Arabic, introduced together with Islam during the 11th century, has mainly been the language of scholars and religion, comparable to Latin in Western Christianity. Although Bambara is spoken by the most numerous ethnic group in Mali, the Bambara people, it is mainly confined to the south of the country. With an improving infrastructure granting Timbuktu access to larger cities in Mali 's South, use of Bambara was increasing in the city at least until Azawad independence. Infrastructure With no railroads in Mali except for the Dakar - Niger Railway up to Koulikoro, access to Timbuktu is by road, boat or, since 1961, aircraft. With high water levels in the Niger from August to December, Compagnie Malienne de Navigation ( COMANAV ) passenger ferries operate a leg between Koulikoro and downstream Gao on a roughly weekly basis. Also requiring high water are pinasses ( large motorized pirogues ), either chartered or public, that travel up and down the river. Both ferries and pinasses arrive at Korioumé, Timbuktu 's port, which is linked to the city centre by an 18 km ( 11 mi ) paved road running through Kabara. In 2007, access to Timbuktu 's traditional port, Kabara, was restored by a Libyan funded project that dredged the 3 km ( 2 mi ) silted canal connecting Kabara to an arm of the Niger River. COMANAV ferries and pinassses are now able to reach the port when the river is in full flood. Timbuktu is poorly connected to the Malian road network with only dirt roads to the neighbouring towns. Although the Niger River can be crossed by ferry at Korioumé, the roads south of the river are no better. However, a new paved road is under construction between Niono and Timbuktu running to the north of the Inland Niger Delta. The 565 km ( 351 mi ) road will pass through Nampala, Léré, Niafunké, Tonka, Diré and Goundam. The completed 81 km ( 50 mi ) section between Niono and the small village of Goma Coura was financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation. This new section will service the Alatona irrigation system development of the Office du Niger. The 484 km ( 301 mi ) section between Goma Coura and Timbuktu is being financed by the European Development Fund. Timbuktu Airport is served by both Air Mali and Mali Air Express, hosting flights to and from Bamako, Gao and Mopti. Its 6,923 ft ( 2,110 m ) runway in a 07 / 25 runway orientation is both lighted and paved. In popular culture In the imagination of Europeans and North Americans, Timbuktu is a place that bears with it a sense of mystery : a 2006 survey of 150 young Britons found 34 % did not believe the town existed, while the other 66 % considered it `` a mythical place ''. This sense has been acknowledged in literature describing African history and African - European relations. Timbuktu is also often considered a far away place, in popular western culture. The origin of this mystification lies in the excitement brought to Europe by the legendary tales, especially those by Leo Africanus : Arabic sources focused mainly on more affluent cities in the Timbuktu region, such as Gao and Walata. In West Africa the city holds an image that has been compared to Europe 's view on Athens. As such, the picture of the city as the epitome of distance and mystery is a European one. Down - to - earth - aspects in Africanus ' descriptions were largely ignored and stories of great riches served as a catalyst for travellers to visit the inaccessible city -- with prominent French explorer René Caillié characterising Timbuktu as `` a mass of ill - looking houses built of earth ''. Now opened up, many travellers acknowledged the unfitting description of an `` African El Dorado ''. This development shifted the city 's reputation -- from being fabled because of its gold to fabled because of its location and mystery : Being used in this sense since at least 1863, English dictionaries now cite Timbuktu as a metaphor for any faraway place. In the original 1932 recording of the popular seaside song `` The Sun Has Got His Hat On '', the second verse contains the lines : `` ( The Sun 's ) been tanning niggers out in Timbuktu / Now he 's coming back to do the same to you ! '' Due to the controversial nature of the racial epithet `` nigger '', controversy has arisen when this song has been played and various replacements, including `` negroes '' and `` roasting peanuts '' have been offered. Similar uses of the city are found in movies, where it is used to indicate a place a person or good can not be traced -- in a Dutch Donald Duck comic subseries situated in Timbuktu, Donald Duck uses the city as a safe haven, and in the 1970 Disney animated feature The Aristocats, Edgar, the villain of the story, threatens the cats with being sent to Timbuktu only for their friends to rescue them and send Edgar there instead. It is mistakenly noted to be in French Equatorial Africa, instead of French West Africa. Ali Farka Touré inverted the stereotype : `` For some people, when you say ' Timbuktu ' it is like the end of the world, but that is not true. I am from Timbuktu, and I can tell you that we are right at the heart of the world. '' Twin towns -- sister cities Timbuktu is a sister city to the following cities : Chemnitz, Germany Hay - on - Wye, Wales, United Kingdom Kairuan, Tunisia Marrakech, Morocco Saintes, France Tempe, Arizona, United States See also Mali portal List of cities in Mali Notes Jump up ^ Resultats Provisoires RGPH 2009 ( Région de Tombouctou ) ( PDF ), République de Mali : Institut National de la Statistique ^ Jump up to : `` Timbuktu '' -- regardless of spelling, has long been used as a metaphor for `` out in the middle of nowhere ''. E.g. `` From here to Timbuktu and back. '' Pelizzo, Riccardo ( 2001 ). `` Timbuktu : A Lesson in Underdevelopment '' ( PDF ). Journal of World - Systems Research. 7 ( 2 ) : 265 -- 283. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010. ^ Jump up to : Leo Africanus 1896, p. 824 Vol. 3. Jump up ^ Barth 1857, p. 284 footnote Vol. 3. Jump up ^ Cissoko, S.M ( 1996 ). l'Empire Songhai. Paris : L'Harmattan. Jump up ^ Hunwick 2003, p. 29. 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Jump up ^ `` Timbuktu ' twins ' make first visit ''. BBC News. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2010. References Abitbol, Michel ( 1979 ), Tombouctou et les Arma : de la conquête marocaine du Soudan nigérien en 1591 à l'hégémonie de l'empire Peulh du Macina en 1833 ( in French ), Paris : Maisonneuve & Larose, ISBN 2 - 7068 - 0770 - 9. Barth, Heinrich ( 1857 ), Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa : Being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M. 's government, in the years 1849 -- 1855. ( 3 Vols ), New York : Harper & Brothers. Google books : Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3. Black, Crofton ( 2002 ), `` Leo Africanus 's `` Descrittione dell'Africa '' and its sixteenth - century translations ``, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, The Warburg Institute, 65 : 262 -- 272, doi : 10.2307 / 4135111, JSTOR 4135111. Caillié, Réné ( 1830 ), Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo ; and across the Great Desert, to Morocco, performed in the years 1824 -- 1828 ( 2 Vols ), London : Colburn & Bentley. Google books : Volume 1, Volume 2. Cleaveland, Timothy ( 2008 ), `` Timbuktu and Walata : lineages and higher education '', in Jeppie, Shamil ; Diagne, Souleymane Bachir, The Meanings of Timbuktu ( PDF ), Cape Town : HSRC Press, pp. 77 -- 91, ISBN 978 - 0 - 7969 - 2204 - 5. Dubois, Felix ( 1896 ), Timbuctoo the mysterious, White, Diana ( trans. ), New York : Longmans. Fage, J.D. ( 1956 ), An Introduction to the History of West Africa, London : Cambridge University Press, p. 22 Hacquard, Augustin ( 1900 ), Monographie de Tombouctou, Paris : Société des études coloniales & maritimes. Also available from Gallica. Heath, Jeffrey ( 1999 ), A Grammar of Koyra Chiini : the Songhay of Timbuktu, Berlin : Walter de Gruyter. Houdas, Octave ( ed. and trans. ) ( 1901 ), Tedzkiret en - nisiān fi Akhbar molouk es - Soudān ( in French ), Paris : E. Laroux. The anonymous 18th century Tadhkirat al - Nisyan is a biographical dictionary of the pashas of Timbuktu from the Moroccan conquest up to 1750. Hunwick, John O. ( 2000 ), `` Timbuktu '', Encyclopaedia of Islam. Volume X ( 2nd ed. ), Leiden : Brill, pp. 508 -- 510, ISBN 90 - 04 - 11211 - 1. Hunwick, John O. ( 2003 ), Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire : Al - Sadi 's Tarikh al - Sudan down to 1613 and other contemporary documents, Leiden : Brill, ISBN 90 - 04 - 12560 - 4. First published in 1999 as ISBN 90 - 04 - 11207 - 3. Imperato, Pascal James ( 1989 ), Mali : A Search for Direction, Boulder CO : Westview Press, ISBN 1 - 85521 - 049 - 5. Insoll, Timothy ( 2002 ), `` The Archaeology of Post Medieval Timbuktu '' ( PDF ), Sahara, 13 : 7 -- 22, archived from the original ( PDF ) on 8 March 2012. Insoll, Timothy ( 2004 ), `` Timbuktu the less Mysterious ? '' ( PDF ), in Mitchell, P. ; Haour, A. ; Hobart, J., Researching Africa 's Past. New Contributions from British Archaeologists, Oxford : Oxbow, pp. 81 -- 88. Jackson, James Grey ( 1820 ), An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa, Territories in the Interior of Africa By El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny, London : Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. Jeppie, Shamil ( 2008 ), `` Re / discovering Timbuktu '', in Jeppie, Shamil ; Diagne, Souleymane Bachir, The Meanings of Timbuktu ( PDF ), Cape Town : HSRC Press, pp. 1 -- 17, ISBN 978 - 0 - 7969 - 2204 - 5. Kaba, Lansine ( 1981 ), `` Archers, Musketeers, and Mosquitoes : The Moroccan Invasion of the Sudan and the Songhay Resistance ( 1591 -- 1612 ) '', Journal of African History, 22 ( 4 ) : 457 -- 475, doi : 10.1017 / S0021853700019861, JSTOR 181298, PMID 11632225. Kâti, Mahmoûd Kâti ben el - Hâdj el - Motaouakkel ( 1913 ), Tarikh el - fettach ou Chronique du chercheur, pour servir à l'histoire des villes, des armées et des principaux personnages du Tekrour ( in French ), Houdas, O., Delafosse, M. ed. and trans., Paris : Ernest Leroux. Also available from Aluka but requires subscription. Leo Africanus ( 1896 ), The History and Description of Africa ( 3 Vols ), Brown, Robert, editor, London : Hakluyt Society. A facsimile of Pory 's English translation of 1600 together with an introduction and notes by the editor. Internet Archive : Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3 Levtzion, Nehemia ( 1973 ), Ancient Ghana and Mali, London : Methuen, doi : 10.5555 / AL. CH. DOCUMENT. sip100013, ISBN 0 - 8419 - 0431 - 6. Link requires subscription to Aluka. Levtzion, Nehemia ; Hopkins, John F.P., eds. ( 2000 ), Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West Africa, New York, NY : Marcus Weiner Press, ISBN 1 - 55876 - 241 - 8. First published in 1981 by Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 - 521 - 22422 - 5. McIntosh, Susan Keech ; McIntosh, Roderick J. ( 1986 ), `` Archaeological reconnaissance in the region of Timbuktu '', National Geographic Research, 2 : 302 -- 319. Miner, Horace ( 1953 ), The primitive city of Timbuctoo, Princeton University Press, doi : 10.5555 / AL. CH. DOCUMENT. sip200008. Link requires subscription to Aluka. Reissued by Anchor Books, New York in 1965. Park, Douglas ( 2010 ), `` Timbuktu and its prehistoric hinterland '', Antiquity, 84 : 1076 -- 1088. Park, Douglas ( 2011 ), Climate Change, Human Response and the Origins of Urbanism at Prehistoric Timbuktu, New Haven : PhD thesis, Yale University, Department of Anthropology. Saad, Elias N. ( 1983 ), Social History of Timbuktu : The Role of Muslim Scholars and Notables 1400 -- 1900, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 - 521 - 24603 - 2. Further reading es - Sadi, Abderrahman ( 1898 -- 1900 ), Tarikh es - Soudan, Houdas, Octave ed. and trans., Paris : E. Leroux. ( Vol. 1 contains the Arabic text, Vol. 2 contains a translation into French ). Internet Archive : Volume 1 ; Volume 2 ; Gallica : Volume 2. Beaumier, Auguste ( 1870 ), `` Premier établissement des israélites à Timbouktou '', Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, 5th series ( in French ), 19 : 345 -- 370. Cisse, Mamadou ( 2011 ), Archaeological Investigations of Early Trade and Urbanism at Gao Saney ( Mali ), PhD Thesis, Rice University, Department of Anthropology. Dunn, Ross E. ( 2005 ), The Adventures of Ibn Battuta, University of California Press, ISBN 0 - 520 - 24385 - 4. Originally published in 1986, ISBN 0 - 520 - 05771 - 6. Gramont, Sanche de ( 1976 ), The Strong Brown God : The story of the Niger River, Boston : Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0 - 395 - 25224 - 5. Hunwick, John O. ; Boye, Alida Jay ; Hunwick, Joseph ( 2008 ), The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu : Historic city of Islamic Africa, London : Thames and Hudson, ISBN 978 - 0 - 500 - 51421 - 4. Joffre, Joseph ( 1895 ), Opérations de la colonne Joffre avant et après l'occupation de Tombouctou ( in French ), Paris : Berger - Levrault. Joffre, Joseph ; Dimnet, Ernest ( ed. and trans. ) ( 1915 ), My March to Timbuctoo, New York City : Druffield. Kryza, Frank T. ( 2006 ), The race for Timbuktu : In search of Africa 's city of gold, New York City : Harper Collins, ISBN 0 - 06 - 056064 - 9. Masonen, Pekka ( 2000 ), The Negroland Revisited : Discovery and Invention of the Sudanese Middle Ages, Helsinki : Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, ISBN 951 - 41 - 0886 - 8. Mauny, Raymond ( 1961 ), Tableau géographique de l'ouest africain au moyen age, d'après les sources écrites, la tradition et l'archéologie ( in French ), Dakar : Institut français d'Afrique Noire. McIntosh, Roderick J. ( 2008 ), `` Before Timbuktu : Cities of the elder world '', in Jeppie, Shamil ; Diagne, Souleymane Bachir, The Meanings of Timbuktu ( PDF ), Cape Town : HSRC Press, pp. 31 -- 43, ISBN 978 - 0 - 7969 - 2204 - 5. Morse, Jedidiah ; Morse, Richard C. ( 1823 ), `` Tombuctou '', A New Universal Gazetteer ( 4th ed. ), New Haven : S. Converse Park, Douglas ; Coutros, Peter ; Abdallahi, Mohamoud ; Ould Sidi, Ali ( 2010 ), Rapport sur la troisiéme champagne de research à Tombouctou préhistorique ( in French ), Field Report to the Direction Nationale du Patrimoine Culturel, Bamako. Park, Douglas ; Coutros, Peter ; Kone, Useman ( 2009 ), Rapport sur la deuxiéme champagne de research à Tombouctou préhistorique ( in French ), Field Report to the Direction Nationale du Patrimoine Culturel, Bamako. Park, Douglas ; Togola, Boubacar ( 2008 ), Rapport sur la première campagne de recherche à Tombouctou préhistorique ( in French ), Field Report to the Direction Nationale du Patrimoine Culturel, Bamako. Staros, Kari A. ( 1996 ), Route to Glory : The Developments of the Trans - Saharan and Trans - Mediterranean Trade Routes, SI University Honor Theses. Trimingham, John Spencer ( 1962 ), A History of Islam in West Africa, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0 - 19 - 285038 - 5. Antonson, Rick ( 2013 ), To Timbuktu for a Haircut, Skyhorsepublishing. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Timbuktu. Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Timbuktu. Wikiquote has quotations related to : Timbuktu `` Timbuktu ''. Encyclopædia Britannica. 26 ( 11th ed. ). 1911. Jeppie, Ahamil `` A Timbuktu book collector between the Mediterranean and Sahel '', Video of a presentation given at the conference The southern shores of the Mediterranean and beyond : 1800 -- to the present held at the University of Minnesota in April 2013. ( 1 ) -- contains information on the archaeological projects targeting the Iron Age occupation of Timbuktu Ancient West Africa 's Megacities -- contains video footage of Timbuktu 's Iron Age occupation Islamic Manuscripts from Mali, Library of Congress -- fuller presentation of the same manuscripts from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library Timbuktu materials in the Aluka digital library Timbuktu manuscripts : Africa 's written history unveiled, The UNESCO Courier, 2007 - 5, pp. 7 -- 9 Ancient chroniclers of West Africa 's past ; journeys of discovery through the ' country of the black people ', The UNESCO Courier, October 1959 Timbuktu on Global Heritage Network -- early warning and threat monitoring system for endangered cultural heritage sites Presentation showing images of Timbuktu ArchNet.org. `` Timbuctu ''. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA : MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Niger River Countries Guinea Mali Niger Benin Nigeria Sections Source of the Niger Middle Niger Inner Niger Delta Lower Niger Niger Delta Tributaries ( list ) and distributaries Tinkisso River Sankarani River Milo River Bani River Mekrou River Alibori River Sokoto River Sota River Kaduna River Benue River Anambra River Forcados River Nun River Brass River Cities Siguiri Bamako Segou Mopti Timbuktu Gao Niamey Lokoja Onitsha Lakes Kainji Lake Lac Debo Dams and bridges King Fahd Bridge Martyrs Bridge Markala Dam Gao Bridge Kennedy Bridge Kainji Dam Jebba Dam River Niger Bridge ( Onitsha ) Protected Areas Niger Basin Authority National Park of Upper Niger W National Park Kainji National Park Communes and towns of Tombouctou Region Capital : Timbuktu Diré Cercle Diré ( Diré ) Binga ( Sarakoira ) Arham ( Arham ) Bourem Sidi Amar ( Bourem Sidi Amar ) Dangha ( Dangha ) Garbakoïra ( Garbakoïra ) Haibongo ( Haibongo ) Kirchamba ( Kirchamba ) Kondi ( Kondi ) Sareyamou ( Sareyamou ) Tienkour ( Tienkour ) Tindirma ( Tindirma ) Tinguereguif ( Gari ) Goundam Cercle Goundam ( Goundam ) Alzounoub ( Sonima ) Bintagoungou ( Bintagoungou ) Douekire ( Douekire ) Adarmalane ( Adarmalane ) Gargando ( Gargando ) Issa Bery ( Toucabangou ) Kaneye ( Kaneye ) Doukouria ( Doukouria ) M'Bouna ( M'Bouna ) Tilemsi ( Kel Malha ) Tele ( Hangabéra ) Essakane ( Essakane ) Raz El Ma ( Raz El Ma ) Tin Aicha ( Tin Aicha ) Tonka ( Tonka ) Gourma - Rharous Cercle Gourma - Rharous ( Gourma - Rharous ) Bambara Maoudé ( Bambara Maoudé ) Banikane ( Banikane ) Gossi ( Gossi ) Haribomo ( Daka Fifo ) Inadiatafane ( Inadiatafane ) Ouinerden ( Adiora ) Hanzakoma ( Minkiri ) Séréré ( Madiakoye ) Niafunké Cercle Soboundou ( Niafunké ) Banikane Narhawa ( Banikane ) Koumaira ( Koumaira ) Léré ( Léré ) Dianke ( Dianke ) N'Gorkou ( N'Gorkou ) Fittouga ( Saraféré ) Soumpi ( Soumpi ) Timbuktu Cercle Tombouctou ( Tombouctou ) Lafia ( Aglal ) Alafia ( Toya ) Ber ( Ber ) Bourem - Inaly ( Bourem - Inaly ) Kabara Salam ( Agouni ) BNE : XX461023 GND : 4119616 - 8 LCCN : n82085135 NDL : 00628823 SUDOC : 027649938 VIAF : 145377145 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Timbuktu&oldid=848386497 '' Categories : Timbuktu Ancient cities Communes of Mali Communities on the Niger River History of the Sahara Mali Empire Massina Empire Populated places in Tombouctou Region Regional capitals in Mali Songhai Empire World Heritage Sites in Mali World Heritage Sites in Danger Hidden categories : CS1 French - language sources ( fr ) All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from July 2018 Articles with permanently dead external links Webarchive template wayback links Use dmy dates from January 2013 Articles with short description Coordinates on Wikidata Articles with text from the Berber languages collective Articles containing French - language text Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Wikivoyage Afrikaans Aragonés Asturianu Azərbaycanca Bamanankan Bân - lâm - gú Български Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Frysk Gaeilge Gàidhlig Galego ગુજરાતી 한국어 हिन्दी Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Interlingue Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ಕನ್ನಡ Kapampangan ქართული Қазақша Kiswahili Ladino Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Magyar മലയാളം मराठी Nāhuatl Nederlands नेपाली 日本 語 Nordfriisk Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Plattdüütsch Polski Português Română Русский Scots Sicilianu Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் Taqbaylit తెలుగు ไทย Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt 文言 Winaray 吴语 ייִדיש Yorùbá 粵語 中文 80 more Edit links This page was last edited on 1 July 2018, at 16 : 13 ( UTC ). 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Question: when did timbuktu become a world heritage site
Answer: in December 1988