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Mali

Mali

Mali officially the Republic of Mali is a landlocked nation in Western Africa. Mali is the seventh largest country in Africa, bordering Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Cote d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west.

Country name:

  • conventional long form: Republic of Mali
  • conventional short form: Mali
  • local long form: Republique de Mali
  • local short form: Mali

Nationality:

  • noun: Malian(s)
  • adjective: Malian

Capital:

  • name: Bamako
  • geographic coordinates: 12 39 N, 8 00 W
  • time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Independence:

  • 22 September 1960 (from France)

Population:

  • 12,324,029 (July 2008 est.)
  • Population growth rate: 2.725% (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

  • 1.9% (2003 est.)

Ethnic groups:

  • Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke)
  • Peul 17%
  • Voltaic 12%
  • Songhai 6%
  • Tuareg and Moor 10%
  • Other 5%

Religions:

  • Muslim 90%
  • Christian 1%
  • indigenous beliefs 9%

Languages:

  • French (official)
  • Bambara 80%
  • Numerous African languages

Literacy:

  • definition: age 15 and over can read and write
  • total population: 46.4%
  • male: 53.5%
  • female: 39.6% (2003 est.)

Government type:

  • republic

Economy - overview:

Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert and with a highly unequal distribution of income. Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10% of the population is nomadic and some 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. Mali is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for cotton, its main export, along with gold. The government has continued its successful implementation of an IMF-recommended structural adjustment program that is helping the economy grow, diversify, and attract foreign investment. Mali's adherence to economic reform and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a 5% average in 1996-2007. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire.

GDP - real growth rate:

  • 2.5% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):

  • $1,000 (2007 est.)

Location:

  • Western Africa, southwest of Algeria

Area - comparative:

  • slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries:

  • total: 7,243 km
  • border countries: Algeria 1,376 km, Burkina Faso 1,000 km, Guinea 858 km, Cote d'Ivoire 532 km, Mauritania 2,237 km, Niger 821 km, Senegal 419 km

Climate:

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

Natural resources:

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

Background:

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 - led by the current president Amadou TOURE - enabling Mali's emergence as one of the strongest democracies on the continent. President Alpha KONARE won Mali's first democratic presidential election in 1992 and was reelected in 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, KONARE stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE, who was subsequently elected to a second term in 2007. The elections were widely judged to be free and fair.

Environment - current issues:

  • deforestation
  • soil erosion
  • desertification
  • inadequate supplies of potable water
  • poaching

For more info please contact:
African Studies
(310) 825-3686
africa@international.ucla.edu