Mali
Present-day Mali is named for the Mali Empire that at its peak in the 14th century covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, France seized control of Mali. The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a military coup that ushered in a period of democratic rule. President Alpha Oumar KONARE won Mali's first two democratic presidential elections in 1992 and 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, he stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou Toumani TOURE, who was elected to a second term in a 2007 election that was widely judged to be free and fair. Malian returnees from Libya in 2011 exacerbated tensions in northern Mali, and Tuareg ethnic militias rebelled in January 2012. Low- and mid-level soldiers, frustrated with the poor handling of the rebellion, overthrew TOURE on 22 March. Intensive mediation efforts led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) returned power to a civilian administration in April with the appointment of Interim President Dioncounda TRAORE. The post-coup chaos led to rebels expelling the Malian military from the country's three northern regions and allowed Islamic militants to set up strongholds. Hundreds of thousands of northern Malians fled the violence to southern Mali and neighboring countries, exacerbating regional food shortages in host communities. A French-led international military intervention to retake the three northern regions began in January 2013 and within a month, most of the north had been retaken. In a democratic presidential election conducted in July and August of 2013, Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA was elected president. The Malian Government and northern armed groups signed an internationally mediated peace accord in June 2015, however, the parties to the peace accord have made little progress in the accord's implementation, despite a June 2017 target for its completion. Furthermore, extremist groups outside the peace process made steady inroads into rural areas of central Mali following the consolidation of three major terrorist organizations in March 2017. In central and northern Mali, terrorist groups have exploited age-old ethnic rivalries between pastoralists and sedentary communities and inflicted serious losses on the Malian military. Intercommunal violence incidents such as targeted killings occur with increasing regularity. KEITA was reelected president in 2018 in an election that was deemed credible by international observers, despite some security and logistic shortfalls.

geography

location

17.0° N, 4. 0° W
interior Western Africa, southwest of Algeria, north of Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, west of Niger

area

1,240,192 sq km
land
1,220,190 sq km
water
20,002 sq km

land boundaries

7,908 km

coastline

0 km

climate

subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February)

terrain

mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast

elevation

343 m
lowest point
Senegal River
23 m
highest point
Hombori Tondo
1,155 m

natural resources

  • gold
  • phosphates
  • kaolin
  • salt
  • limestone
  • uranium
  • gypsum
  • granite
  • hydropower
  • note
  • bauxite
  • iron ore
  • manganese
  • tin
  • copper deposits are known but not exploited

land use

arable land
5.6 %
permanent crops
0.1 %
permanent pasture
28.4 %
forest
10.2 %
other
55.7 %

population distribution

the overwhelming majority of the population lives in the southern half of the country, with greater density along the border with Burkina Faso

people

population

  • 19,553,397
  • 62
    global rank

nationality

  • Malian(s)
    noun
  • Malian
    adjective

ethnic groups

Bambara
33.3 %
Fulani
13.3 %
Sarakole/Soninke/Marka
9.8 %
Senufo/Manianka
9.6 %
Malinke
8.8 %
Dogon
8.7 %
Sonrai
5.9 %
Bobo
2.1 %
Tuareg/Bella
1.7 %
other Malian
6 %
from members of Economic Community of West Africa .4%
%
other .3%
%

languages

  • French
    official
  • Bambara
  • Peuhl/Foulfoulbe
  • Dogon
  • Maraka/Soninke
  • Malinke
  • Sonrhai/Djerma
  • Minianka
  • Tamacheq
  • Senoufo
  • Bobo
  • unspecified
  • other

religions

Muslim
93.9 %
Christian
2.8 %
animist .7%
%
none
2.5 %

birth rate

  • 42.2
    per 1,000 population
  • 4
    global rank

death rate

  • 9
    per 1,000 population
  • 63
    global rank

urban population

43.9 %

major urban areas

  • Bamako
    pop. 2,618,000

life expectancy

  • 61.6
    total population
  • 211
    global rank
59.4
male
63.9
female

adult obesity rate

  • 8.6%
    percent of adults
  • 149
    global rank

government

country name

    conventional

  • Republic of Mali
    long form
  • Mali
    short form

    local

  • Republique de Mali
    long form
  • Mali
    short form

government type

semi-presidential republic

capital

Bamako
12.39 N, 8.0 W

independence

national holidays

  • Independence Day
    22 September

legal system

civil law system based on the French civil law model and influenced by customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Constitutional Court

age of suffrage

18

flag description

three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red

national colors

  • green
  • yellow
  • red

national anthem

"Le Mali" (Mali)

economy

overview

Among the 25 poorest countries in the world, landlocked Mali depends on gold mining and agricultural exports for revenue. The country's fiscal status fluctuates with gold and agricultural commodity prices and the harvest; cotton and gold exports make up around 80% of export earnings. Mali remains dependent on foreign aid. Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger River; about 65% of Mali’s land area is desert or semidesert. About 10% of the population is nomadic and about 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. The government subsidizes the production of cereals to decrease the country’s dependence on imported foodstuffs and to reduce its vulnerability to food price shocks. Mali is developing its iron ore extraction industry to diversify foreign exchange earnings away from gold, but the pace will depend on global price trends. Although the political coup in 2012 slowed Mali’s growth, the economy has since bounced back, with GDP growth above 5% in 2014-17, although physical insecurity, high population growth, corruption, weak infrastructure, and low levels of human capital continue to constrain economic development. Higher rainfall helped to boost cotton output in 2017, and the country’s 2017 budget increased spending more than 10%, much of which was devoted to infrastructure and agriculture. Corruption and political turmoil are strong downside risks in 2018 and beyond.

GDP

41,220,000,000 USD
2017

agriculture products

  • cotton
  • millet
  • rice
  • corn
  • vegetables
  • peanuts
  • cattle
  • sheep
  • goats

poverty level

36.1%
2005

budget

  • 3,075,000,000
    revenue (USD)
  • 3,513,000,000
    expenditures (USD)

communications

telephones

    fixed lines

  • 228,097
    total subscriptions
  • 123
    global rank

    mobile cellular

  • 21,955,565
    total subscriptions
  • 54
    global rank

broadcast media

national public TV broadcaster; 2 privately owned companies provide subscription services to foreign multi-channel TV packages; national public radio broadcaster supplemented by a large number of privately owned and community broadcast stations; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2019)

internet

.ml
country code

    users

  • 2,395,886
    total
  • 13
    % of population
  • 111
    global rank

energy

electricity access

35.1%
2017

transportation

air transport

    airports

  • 25
    total
  • 8
    paved

railways

593 km
total length

roadways

139,107 km
total length

waterways

1,800 km
total length

military

expenditures

expenditures here

service age

18