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.

Western Africa, southwest of Algeria
17 00 N, 4 00 W
Africa
total: 1.24 million sq km ; land: 1.22 million sq km ; water: 20,000 sq km
slightly less than twice the size of Texas
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
0 km (landlocked)
none (landlocked)
subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February)
mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast
lowest point: Senegal River 23 m ; highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m
gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, hydropower ; note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited
arable land: 3.76% ; permanent crops: 0.03% ; other: 96.21% (2005)
2,360 sq km (2003)
100 cu km (2001)
Total: 6.55 cu km/yr (9%/1%/90%) ; Per capita: 484 cu m/yr (2000)
hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding
deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling ; signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan
11,995,402 (July 2007 est.)
0-14 years: 48.2% (male 2,921,914/female 2,853,976) ; 15-64 years: 48.8% (male 2,891,494/female 2,959,142) ; 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 149,301/female 219,575) (2007 est.)
total: 15.9 years ; male: 15.4 years ; female: 16.3 years (2007 est.)
2.681% (2007 est.)
49.61 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
16.51 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
-6.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female ; under 15 years: 1.024 male(s)/female ; 15-64 years: 0.977 male(s)/female ; 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female ; total population: 0.988 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
total: 105.65 deaths/1,000 live births ; male: 115.29 deaths/1,000 live births ; female: 95.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
total population: 49.51 years ; male: 47.6 years ; female: 51.46 years (2007 est.)
7.38 children born/woman (2007 est.)
1.9% (2003 est.)
140,000 (2003 est.)
12,000 (2003 est.)
noun: Malian(s) ; adjective: Malian
Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5%
Muslim 90%, Christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9%
French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages
definition: age 15 and over can read and write ; total population: 46.4% ; male: 53.5% ; female: 39.6% (2003 est.)
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 (2007)

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
republic
name: Bamako ; geographic coordinates: 12 39 N, 8 00 W ; time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou

22 September 1960 (from France)
Independence Day, 22 September (1960)
adopted 12 January 1992
based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Amadou Toumani TOURE (since 8 June 2002) ; head of government: Prime Minister Modibo SIDIBE (since 28 September 2007) ; cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister ; elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 29 April 2007 (next to be held April in 2012); prime minister appointed by the president ; election results: Amadou Toumani TOURE reelected president; percent of vote - Amadou Toumani TOURE 71.2%, Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA 19.2%, other 9.6%
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) ; elections: last held 1 and 22 July 2007 (next to be held in July 2012) ; election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ADP coalition 113 (including ADEMA 51, URD 34, MPR 8, CNID 7, UDD 3, and other 10), FDR coalition 15 (including RPM 11, PARENA 4), SADI 4, independent 15
Supreme Court or Cour Supreme
Alliance for Democratic Change (political group comprised mainly of Tuareg from Mali's northern region); African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence or SADI [Oumar MARIKO, secretary general]; Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP (a coalition of political parties including ADEMA and URD formed in December 2006 to support the presidential candidacy of Amadou TOURE); Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Diounconda TRAORE]; Convergence 2007 [Soumeylou Boubeye MAIGA]; Front for Democracy and the Republic or FDR (a coalition of political parties including RPM and PARENA formed to oppose the presidential candidacy of Amadou TOURE); National Congress for Democratic Initiative or CNID [Mountaga TALL]; Party for Democracy and Progress or PDP [Me Idrissa TRAORE]; Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Tiebile DRAME]; Patriotic Movement for Renewal or MPR [Choguel MAIGA]; Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT; Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA]; Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Bamou TOURE]; Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Moussa Balla COULIBALY]; Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Soumaila CISSE]

ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia
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
chief of mission: Ambassador Terrence P. MCCULLEY ; embassy: located just off the Roi Bin Fahad Aziz Bridge just west of the Bamako central district ; mailing address: ACI 2000, Rue 243, Porte 297, Bamako ; telephone: [223] 270-2300 ; FAX: [223] 270-2479





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.
$14.18 billion (2007 est.)
$6.256 billion (2007 est.)
4.3% (2007 est.)
$1,200 (2007 est.)
agriculture: 45% ; industry: 17% ; services: 38% (2001 est.)
3.93 million (2001 est.)
agriculture: 80% ; industry and services: 20% (2001 est.)
14.6% (2001 est.)
64% (2001 est.)
lowest 10%: 2.4% ; highest 10%: 30.2% (2001)
40.1 (2001)
4.5% (2002 est.)

revenues: $764 million ; expenditures: $828 million (2002 est.)

cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats
food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining
NA%
444 million kWh (2005)
fossil fuel: 41.7% ; hydro: 58.3% ; nuclear: 0% ; other: 0% (2001)
412.9 million kWh (2005)
0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2005)
0 kWh (2005)
0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
4,500 bbl/day (2005 est.)
0 bbl/day (2004)
4,369 bbl/day (2004)
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005 est.)
0 cu m (2005)
0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

$294 million f.o.b. (2006)
cotton, gold, livestock
China 35.2%, Thailand 9.3%, Taiwan 6.5%, Bangladesh 5.3%, Australia 5% (2006)
$2.358 billion f.o.b. (2006)
France 12.8%, Senegal 12.1%, Cote d'Ivoire 10.4% (2006)


$2.8 billion (2002)


$NA
Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States
XOF
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003)
calendar year
$691.5 million (2005)
82,500 (2006)
1.513 million (2006)
general assessment: domestic system unreliable but improving; provides only minimal service ; domestic: fixed-line availability is gradually increasing, but subscribership remains less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership has increased sharply to 13 per 100 persons ; international: country code - 223; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Indian Ocean)
AM 1, FM 28, shortwave 1 (the shortwave station in Bamako has seven frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts for China Radio International) (2001)
570,000 (1997)
1 (plus repeaters) (2001)
45,000 (1997)
.ml
28 (2007)
13 (2001)
70,000 (2006)

29 (2007)
total: 8 ; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2007)
total: 21 ; 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 ; 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 ; 914 to 1,523 m: 7 ; under 914 m: 8 (2007)


total: 729 km ; narrow gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)
total: 18,709 km ; paved: 3,368 km ; unpaved: 15,341 km (2004)
1,800 km (2007)

Koulikoro

Malian Armed Forces: Army, Republic of Mali Air Force (Force Aerienne de la Republique du Mali, FARM), National Guard (2007)
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004)
males age 18-49: 2,094,432 ; females age 18-49: 2,027,352 (2005 est.)
males age 18-49: 1,244,176 ; females age 18-49: 1,226,226 (2005 est.)

1.9% (2006)

none
refugees (country of origin): 6,165 (Mauritania) (2006)


