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A 'Cercle' is an administrative unit in Mali. Mali is divided into eight regions and a district. These subdivisions bear the name of their principal city. The regions are divided into 49 Cercles. The Cercles and the district are divided into 703 communes, 19 urban communes and 684 rural communes.
During the French reign of Mali, a Cercle was the smallest unit of French political administration that was headed by an European officer.
A cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages.
Gardes-de-cercle supported the European officer. Gardes-de-cercle were Africans used as auxiliary policemen to support local colonial administrators. Since they were often called upon to arrest people and to compel them to supply forced labor, the French usually recruited them from outside the cercle where they served. As a consequence, they were often disliked and distrusted by the local inhabitants, even though they were Africans.
In 1887 the Cercle of Bafoulabé was the first Cercle to be created in Mali.

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See also

★ Cercles of Mali