  french sudan (, ) was a french colonial territory in the federation of french west africa from around 1880 until 1960, when it became the independent state of mali. the colony was formally called french sudan from 1890 until 1899 and then again from 1920 until 1958, and had a variety of different names over the course of its existence. the colony was initially established largely as a military project led by french troops, but in the mid-1890s it came under civilian administration. a number of administrative reorganizations in the early 1900s brought increasing french administration over issues like agriculture, religion, and slavery. following world war ii, the african democratic rally (rda) under modibo keita became the most significant political force pushing for independence. mali initially retained close connections with france and joined in a short-lived federation with senegal in 1959, but ties to both countries quickly weakened. in 1960, the french sudan colony formally became the republic of mali and began to distance itself further from senegal and france. ==colonial establishment==  french sudan originally formed as a set of military outposts as an extension of the french colony in senegal. though the area offered france little economic or strategic gain, the mili
Former_colonies_in_Africa French_West_Africa History_of_Azawad Political_history_of_Mali States_and_territories_disestablished_in_1960 States_and_territories_established_in_1890