[bam-uh-koh; Fr. ba-ma-koh] 
| a city in and the capital of Mali: inland port on the Niger River. 380,000. |
[mah-lee] | Republic of, a republic in W Africa: formerly a territory of France; gained independence 1960. 9,945,383; 463,500 sq. mi. (120,000 sq. km). Capital: Bamako. |
| Ba·ma·ko (bä'mə-kō') The capital and largest city of Mali, in the southwest on the Niger River. It was a leading center of Muslim learning under the Mali empire (c. 11th-15th century). Population: 1,290,000. |
Republic in west Africa bordered by Algeria to the north and east, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast to the south, Guinea to the southwest, Senegal and Mauritania to the west. Its capital is Bamako. It became an independent nation in 1960.
Note: During the Middle Ages, Mali formed a huge territorial empire, noted as a center of Islamic study and as a trade route for gold. Its center was Timbuktu.
əˌkoʊ