essential traditional farming methods. Ségou produces the major part of Mali's national food, including sedentary cattle farming. The economy is essentially informal as it is oriented towards the population's primary needs, while industrial production is weak and based in the food industry. Large scale agribusiness consists of three factories, COMATEX, CMDT and SUKALA. Commerce consists mostly of the small scale exchange and sale by of products from the primary sector, sold weekly at the large Ségou market, drawing customers from far outside of the city. The main products sold are vegetables, pottery, cotton, gold, leather, fruits, ovens, cattle and cereals. Administrative subdivisions Ségou Region is divided into 7 cercles encompassing 118 communes and 2,166 villages: Towns The major towns are Ségou, San, Niono, Dioro, and Markala, the latter of which has Mali's principal hydroelectric dam. History The region was the home of the Bambara Empire in the early 18th century. It was conquered by the Toucouleur Empire in the 1860s and by France in the 1890s. See also Regions of Mali Cercles of Mali References External links . . . French West Africa Bamana Regions of Mali