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Introduction | Mali

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 coup that ushered in democratic government. 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.

Geography | Mali

Location: | Western Africa, southwest of Algeria
Geographic coordinates: | 17 00 N, 4 00 W
Map references: | Africa
Area: | total: 1.24 million sq km land: 1.22 million sq km water: 20,000 sq km
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
Coastline: | 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: | none (landlocked)
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 extremes: | 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, and copper deposits are known but not exploited
Land use: | arable land: 3.76% permanent crops: 0.03% other: 96.21% (2005)
Irrigated land: | 1,380 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: | hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding
Environment - current issues: | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: | landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan

People | Mali

Population: | 11,716,829 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 48.2% (male 2,857,670/female 2,787,506) 15-64 years: 48.8% (male 2,804,344/female 2,910,097) 65 years and over: 3% (male 146,458/female 210,754) (2006 est.)
Median age: | total: 15.8 years male: 15.4 years female: 16.3 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: | 2.63% (2006 est.)
Birth rate: | 49.82 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: | 16.89 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration rate: | -6.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 107.58 deaths/1,000 live births male: 117.32 deaths/1,000 live births female: 97.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 49 years male: 47.05 years female: 51.01 years (2006 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 7.42 children born/woman (2006 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 1.9% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 140,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 12,000 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: | degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: malaria is a high risk in some locations water contact disease: schistosomiasis respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2005)
Nationality: | noun: Malian(s) adjective: Malian
Ethnic groups: | Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5%
Religions: | Muslim 90%, indigenous beliefs 9%, Christian 1%
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 | Mali

Country name: | conventional long form: Republic of Mali conventional short form: Mali local long form: Republique de Mali local short form: Mali former: French Sudan and Sudanese Republic
Government type: | republic
Capital: | Bamako
Administrative divisions: | 8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou
Independence: | 22 September 1960 (from France)
National holiday: | Independence Day, 22 September (1960)
Constitution: | adopted 12 January 1992
Legal system: | based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court (which was formally established on 9 March 1994); has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Amadou Toumani TOURE (since 8 June 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Ousmane Issoufi MAIGA (since 30 April 2004)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (two-term limit); election last held 12 May 2002 (next to be held May 2007); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Amadou Toumani TOURE elected president; percent of vote - Amadou Toumani TOURE 64.4%, Soumaila CISSE 35.6%

Legislative branch: | unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 14 and 28 July 2002 (next to be held July 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Hope 2002 coalition 66, ADEMA 51, other 30
Judicial branch: | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Political parties and leaders:

Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Diounconda TRAORE, party chairman]; Hope 2002, a coalition of CNID, MPR, RDT, and RPM [leader NA]; National Congress for Democratic Initiative or CNID [Mountaga TALL, chairman]; Party for Democracy and Progress or PDP [Me Idrissa TRAORE]; Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Tiebile DRAME, secretary general]; Patriotic Movement for Renewal or MPR [Choguel MAIGA]; Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT [leader NA]; Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA, chairman]; Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Bamou TOURE, secretary general]; Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Moussa Balla COULIBALY]; Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Soumaila CISSE]

Political pressure groups and leaders: | Patriotic Movement of the Ghanda Koye or MPGK; United Movement and Fronts of Azawad or MFUA
International organization participation: | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, CEMAC, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Abdoulaye DIOP chancery: 2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-2249, 939-8950 FAX: [1] (202) 332-6603
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Vicki HUDDLESTONE embassy: Rue Rochester NY and Rue Mohamed V, Bamako mailing address: B. P. 34, Bamako telephone: [223] (2) 223-833 FAX: [223] (2) 223-712
Flag description: | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia

Economy | Mali

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 sturdy 5% average in 1996-2005. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire.

GDP (purchasing power parity): | $11.86 billion (2005 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): | $5.433 billion (2005 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 5.5% (2005 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): | $1,000 (2005 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 45% industry: 17% services: 38% (2001 est.)
Labor force: | 3.93 million (2001 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture and fishing 80% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate: | 14.6% (2001 est.)
Population below poverty line: | 64% (2001 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 1.8% highest 10%: 40.4% (1994)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 50.5 (1994)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 4.5% (2002 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $764 million expenditures: $828 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.)
Agriculture - products: | cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats
Industries: | food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining
Industrial production growth rate: | NA% (FY96/97)
Electricity - production: | 820 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - production by source: | fossil fuel: 41.7% hydro: 58.3% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - consumption: | 762.6 million kWh (2003)
Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2003)
Electricity - imports: | 0 kWh (2003)
Oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - consumption: | 4,250 bbl/day (2003 est.)
Oil - exports: | NA bbl/day
Oil - imports: | NA bbl/day
Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2003 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: | 0 cu m (2003 est.)
Exports: | $323 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: | cotton, gold, livestock
Exports - partners: | China 31.2%, Pakistan 9.9%, Italy 6.9%, Thailand 6.9%, Germany 5.1%, India 4.7%, Bangladesh 4.4% (2004)
Imports: | $1.858 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: | petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles
Imports - partners: | France 14.5%, Senegal 9.8%, Cote d'Ivoire 7.6% (2004)
Debt - external: | $2.8 billion (2002)
Economic aid - recipient: | $472.1 million (2002)
Currency (code): | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
Currency code: | XOF
Exchange rates: | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001)
Fiscal year: | calendar year

Communications | Mali

Telephones - main lines in use: | 74,900 (2004)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 400,000 (2004)
Telephone system: | general assessment: domestic system unreliable but improving; provides only minimal service domestic: network consists of microwave radio relay, open-wire, and radiotelephone communications stations; expansion of microwave radio relay in progress international: country code - 223; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 1, FM 28, shortwave 1 note: the shortwave station in Bamako has seven frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts for China Radio International (2001)
Radios: | 570,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: | 1 (plus repeaters) (2001)
Televisions: | 45,000 (1997)
Internet country code: | .ml
Internet hosts: | 270 (2005)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): | 13 (2001)
Internet users: | 50,000 (2005)

Transportation | Mali

Airports: | 28 (2005)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2005)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 19 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 8 (2005)
Railways: | total: 729 km narrow gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)
Roadways: | total: 15,100 km paved: 1,827 km unpaved: 13,273 km (1999)
Waterways: | 1,815 km (2005)
Ports and terminals: | Koulikoro

Military | Mali

Military branches: | Army, Air Force, National Guard
Military service age and obligation: | 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - two years (2004)
Manpower available for military service: | males age 18-49: 2,206,728 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: | males age 18-49: 1,231,930 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: | $106.3 million (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 1.9% (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues | Mali

Disputes - international: | none
Refugees and internally displaced persons: | refugees (country of origin): 6,185 (Mauritania) (2005)

This page was last updated on 29 March, 2006