Locat­ed in the Niger Riv­er inland delta, the town com­pris­es archae­o­log­i­cal sites and his­toric urban fab­ric. It was a major trad­ing hub on the trans-Saha­ran gold route and became a cen­ter of Islam­ic cul­ture in the 15th–16th cen­turies. Hous­es are built on hillocks (toguere) to pro­tect against sea­son­al flood­ing.