Kidal ⴾⴸⵍ
Commune and town
A craftsmen's house
Kidal Location in Mali
Coordinates: 18°26′20″N 1°24′30″E / 18.43889°N 1.40833°E / 18.43889; 1.40833
Country	Mali
Region	Kidal Region
Cercle (district):	Kidal Cercle
Area
• Total	9,913 km2 (3,827 sq mi)
Population  (2009)[1]
• Total	25,617
• Density	2.6/km2 (6.7/sq mi)

Kidal (Tuareg Berber: ⴾⴸⵍ, KDL, Kidal) is a town and commune in the desert region of northern Mali. The town lies 285 km (177 mi) northeast of Gao and is the capital of the Kidal Cercle and the Kidal Region. The commune has an area of about 9,910 km² (3,830 sq mi) and includes the town of Kidal and 31 other settlements.^[2]

On 30 March 2012, Kidal and its military base were captured by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad as part of the Tuareg rebellion for the independence of Azawad. A spokesman for the Malian military junta said "To preserve the life of the people of Kidal, the military command decided not to prolong the battle".^[3] Gao and Timbuktu were captured within the next 48 hours, and on 6 April, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad declared the independence of Azawad from Mali.^[4][5] In the course of the conflict the MNLA lost their control to Islamist militias.^[6] On 30 January 2013 French and Malian forces moved into the town to bring it back under government control.^[7]

On 14 December 2013, a car bombing in Kidal killed two United Nations peacekeepers.^[8]

On 21 May 2014, MNLA forced government troops in Kidal to retreat after heavy fighting, capturing the military base.^[9]

On 13 February 2020 Mali government forces returned to Kidal after six years.^[10]

The population of the city of Kidal has grown from 11,159 in 1998 to 25,969 in 2009, raising its percentage in the Kidal Region from 26.3% to 38.3%.

Kidal city is mainly Tamasheq speaking with 79.13% of the city speaking it in 2009. The second most spoken language in Kidal city is Songhai with 7.18% of the city speaking it. Other minority languages include Bambara spoken by 5.51% of the city, Arabic spoken by 3.78% of the city, and other minority languages spoken by 4.4%.

Musician Ahmed Ag Kaedy comes originally from Kidal.

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies it climate as hot desert (BWh), with extremely hot weather most of the year.

• 
  Entry to the town
• 
  French colonial fortress at Kidal

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• Plan de Sécurité Alimentaire Commune Urbaine de Kidal 2007–2011 (PDF) (in French), Commissariat à la Sécurité Alimentaire, République du Mali, USAID-Mali, 2007, archived from the original (PDF) on 26 August 2012, retrieved 30 March 2012.
• Programme de renforcement des capacités nationales pour une gestion stratégique du développement (PRECAGED): Schéma d'aménagement et de développement de la commune urbaine de Kidal (PDF) (in French), République du Mali: Ministère de l'économie programme des nations unies et des finances, March 2002.