Timbuktu

Timbuktu itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — listed since 1988, and known for centuries as "the city of 333 saints" — sitting on the southern edge of the Sahara in Mali, a short distance north of the Niger River. Once a medieval centre of Islamic scholarship and trans-Saharan trade, the city carries that history in its mosques and manuscripts, though it has been on the UNESCO endangered list since 2012 due to ongoing instability in the region.

• Population84,208
• Nearest water from center 2.4 km1.5 mi