Home of the prestigious Koranic Sankore University and other madrasas, Timbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual capital and a centre for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its three great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia, recall Timbuktu's golden age. Although continuously restored, these monuments are today under threat from desertification.
Timbuktu is an ancient city in Mali, situated 20 kilometres north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the 19 administrative regions of Mali, having a population of around one million people in the 2022 census.
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