town, northwestern Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), at the intersection of roads from Mali, Guinea, and the Ivoirian towns of Korhogo and Man. A traditional trading centre (yams, cassava, cattle, and sheep) among the Muslim Malinke people, it was part of the greater Mali (Malinke) Empire in the 14th century. The town is the site of a rice-processing plant and still the chief agricultural market centre for a hilly savanna region that produces manganese and dah (a jute substitute used for making sacks) for export. Pop. (latest est.) 28,266.