Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
10
Development
Field Note
Geography, Trade, and Development
ALGERIA
MAURITANIA
Timbuktu
MALI
Bamako
NIGER
BURKINA
FAS0
GUINEA
GHANA
IVORY
COAST
Figure 10.1
Central Square, Timbuktu, Mali.
Sited along the Niger River on the edge of the Sahara
Desert, Timbuktu was once a major trade center. Goods from the north carried on camels were
traded with goods from the south brought in on boats. The development of sea trade routes in
the sixteenth century allowed traders to circumvent Timbuktu. In turn, the city's central trade
role declined.
© Alexander B. Murphy.
Walking down one of the major streets of Timbuktu, Mali (Fig. 10.1), I could hardly
believe I was in the renowned intellectual, spiritual, and economic center of the
thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. At that time, the place had a great reputation
for wealth, which spurred the fi rst European explorations along the African coast.
What survives is a relatively impoverished town of some 35,000 people providing
central place functions for the surrounding area and seeking to attract some tour-
ist business based on its legendary name.
What happened to Timbuktu? The city's wealth many centuries ago derived
from its ability to control the trans-Sahara trade in gold, salt, ivory, kola nuts, and
slaves. But when trade patterns shifted with the development of sea trade routes
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