Taoudenni

Taoudenni Berber languages: Tawdenni Arabic: تودني Tawdenni
Taoudenni Location within Mali
Coordinates: 22°40′N 3°59′W / 22.667°N 3.983°W / 22.667; -3.983
Country	Mali
Region	Taoudénit
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)

Taoudenni (also Taoudeni, Taoudénit, Taudeni, Berber languages: Tawdenni, Arabic: تودني) is a remote salt mining center in the desert region of northern Mali, 664 km (413 mi) north of Timbuktu. It is the capital of Taoudénit Region.^[1] The salt is dug by hand from the bed of an ancient salt lake, cut into slabs, and transported either by truck or by camel to Timbuktu. The camel caravans (azalai) from Taoudenni are some of the last that still operate in the Sahara Desert. In the late 1960s, during the regime of Moussa Traoré, a prison was built at the site and the inmates were forced to work in the mines. The prison was closed in 1988.