Ségou, town, southwestern Mali, on the Niger River. It is a trade center for an irrigated farming region in which cotton, rice, millet, and peanuts are produced. Manufactures of the town include cotton textiles and processed food. Ségou was the capital of a Bambara state in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1861 the town was captured by the Muslim reformer al-Hajj Umar, who made it his capital. Ségou was occupied by the French in 1890. Population (1993 estimate) 85,000.
