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 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. An 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.
interior Western Africa, southwest of Algeria, north of Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso, west of Niger
17 00 N, 4 00 W
Africa
total: 1,240,192 sq km
land: 1,220,190 sq km
water: 20,002 sq km
slightly less than twice the size of Texas
total: 7,908 km
border countries (7): Algeria 1,359 km, Burkina Faso 1,325 km, Cote d'Ivoire 599 km, Guinea 1,062 km, Mauritania 2,236 km, Niger 838 km, Senegal 489 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
mean elevation: 343 m
elevation extremes: 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
agricultural land: 34.1%
arable land 5.6%; permanent crops 0.1%; permanent pasture 28.4%
forest: 10.2%
other: 55.7% (2011 est.)
3,780 sq km (2012)
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
2.96% (2016 est.)
Muslim 94.8%, Christian 2.4%, Animist 2%, none 0.5%, unspecified 0.3% (2009 est.)
17,467,108 (July 2016 est.)
noun: Malian(s)
adjective: Malian
Bambara 34.1%, Fulani (Peul) 14.7%, Sarakole 10.8%, Senufo 10.5%, Dogon 8.9%, Malinke 8.7%, Bobo 2.9%, Songhai 1.6%, Tuareg 0.9%, other Malian 6.1%, from member of Economic Community of West African States 0.3%, other 0.4% (2012-13 est.)
French (official), Bambara 46.3%, Peul/Foulfoulbe 9.4%, Dogon 7.2%, Maraka/Soninke 6.4%, Malinke 5.6%, Sonrhai/Djerma 5.6%, Minianka 4.3%, Tamacheq 3.5%, Senoufo 2.6%, Bobo 2.1%, unspecified 0.7%, other 6.3%
note: Mali has 13 national languages in addition to its official language (2009 est.)
Mali’s total population is expected to double by 2035; its capital Bamako is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa. A young age structure, a declining mortality rate, and a sustained high total fertility rate of 6 children per woman – the third highest in the world – ensure continued rapid population growth for the foreseeable future. Significant outmigration only marginally tempers this growth. Despite decreases, Mali’s infant, child, and maternal mortality rates remain among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa because of limited access to and adoption of family planning, early childbearing, short birth intervals, the prevalence of female genital cutting, infrequent use of skilled birth attendants, and a lack of emergency obstetrical and neonatal care.
Mali’s high total fertility rate has been virtually unchanged for decades, as a result of the ongoing preference for large families, early childbearing, the lack of female education and empowerment, poverty, and extremely low contraceptive use. Slowing Mali’s population growth by lowering its birth rate will be essential for poverty reduction, improving food security, and developing human capital and the economy.
Mali has a long history of seasonal migration and emigration driven by poverty, conflict, demographic pressure, unemployment, food insecurity, and droughts. Many Malians from rural areas migrate during the dry period to nearby villages and towns to do odd jobs or to adjoining countries to work in agriculture or mining. Pastoralists and nomads move seasonally to southern Mali or nearby coastal states. Others migrate long term to Mali’s urban areas, Cote d’Ivoire, other neighboring countries, and in smaller numbers to France, Mali’s former colonial ruler. Since the early 1990s, Mali’s role has grown as a transit country for regional migration flows and illegal migration to Europe. Human smugglers and traffickers exploit the same regional routes used for moving contraband drugs, arms, and cigarettes.
Between early 2012 and 2013, renewed fighting in northern Mali between government forces and Tuareg secessionists and their Islamist allies, a French-led international military intervention, as well as chronic food shortages, caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Malians. Most of those displaced domestically sought shelter in urban areas of southern Mali, except for pastoralist and nomadic groups, who abandoned their traditional routes, gave away or sold their livestock, and dispersed into the deserts of northern Mali or crossed into neighboring countries. Almost all Malians who took refuge abroad (mostly Tuareg and Maure pastoralists) stayed in the region, largely in Mauritania, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
0-14 years: 47.27% (male 4,145,290/female 4,110,642)
15-24 years: 19.19% (male 1,601,474/female 1,751,161)
25-54 years: 26.82% (male 2,173,415/female 2,511,844)
55-64 years: 3.76% (male 327,923/female 329,296)
65 years and over: 2.95% (male 257,519/female 258,544) (2016 est.)
total dependency ratio: 100.2%
youth dependency ratio: 95.1%
elderly dependency ratio: 5%
potential support ratio: 19.8% (2015 est.)
total: 16.2 years
male: 15.5 years
female: 16.8 years (2016 est.)
44.4 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)
12.6 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
-2.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
the overwhelming majority of the population lives in the southern half of the country, with greater density along the border with Burkina Faso
urban population: 39.9% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 5.08% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
BAMAKO (capital) 2.515 million (2015)
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.87 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
total number: 1,485,027
percentage: 36% (2010 est.)
587 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
total: 100 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 106.6 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 93.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
total population: 55.8 years
male: 53.9 years
female: 57.7 years (2016 est.)
5.95 children born/woman (2016 est.)
10.3% (2012/13)
6.9% of GDP (2014)
0.08 physicians/1,000 population (2010)
0.1 beds/1,000 population (2010)
improved:
urban: 96.5% of population
rural: 64.1% of population
total: 77% of population
unimproved:
urban: 3.5% of population
rural: 35.9% of population
total: 23% of population (2015 est.)
improved:
urban: 37.5% of population
rural: 16.1% of population
total: 24.7% of population
unimproved:
urban: 62.5% of population
rural: 83.9% of population
total: 75.3% of population (2015 est.)
1.25% (2015 est.)
124,200 (2015 est.)
6,500 (2015 est.)
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis
animal contact disease: rabies (2016)
5.7% (2014)
27.9% (2006)
3.6% of GDP (2014)
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 38.7%
male: 48.2%
female: 29.2% (2015 est.)
total: 8 years
male: 9 years
female: 7 years (2011)
18.8
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2012/13 est.)
total: 11.1%
male: NA
female: NA (2014 est.)
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
note: name derives from the West African Mali Empire of the 13th to 16th centuries A.D.
semi-presidential 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), 1 district*; District de Bamako*, Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou (Timbuktu); note - two new regions, Menaka and Taoudenni, were reportedly created in early 2016, but these have not yet been vetted by the US Board on Geographic Names
22 September 1960 (from France)
Independence Day, 22 September (1960)
several previous; latest drafted August 1991, approved by referendum 12 January 1992, effective 25 February 1992; amended 1999, suspended briefly in 2012 (2016)
civil law system based on the French civil law model and influenced by customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Mali
dual citizenship recognized: yes
residency requirement for naturalization: 5 years
18 years of age; universal
chief of state: President Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA (since 4 September 2013)
head of government: Prime Minister Modibo KEITA (since 8 January 2015)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
elections/appointments: president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 28 July 2013 with a runoff on 11 August 2013 (election delayed from April 2012 due to a coup in March 2012); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA elected president in runoff; percent of vote - Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA (RPM) 77.6%, Soumaila CISSE (URD) 22.4%
description: unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in two rounds if needed; members serve 5-year terms)
elections: last held in two rounds on 24 November and 15 December 2013 (next to be held in 2018); note - the scheduled July 2012 election was canceled due to a coup d'etat and the Tuareg Rebellion
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - FDR coalition 69 (RPM 66, PARENA 3), ADP coalition 37 (ADEMA-PASG 16, URD 17, CNID 4), FARE 6, CODEM 5, SADI 5, ASMA-CFP 3, PDES 3, MPR 3, independent 4, other 12; note - 13 seats were from voters abroad
highest court(s): Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of 19 members organized into 3 civil chambers and a criminal chamber); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members)
judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court members appointed by the Ministry of Justice to serve 5-year terms; Constitutional Court members selected - 3 each by the president, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Council of the Magistracy; members serve single renewable 7-year terms
subordinate courts: subordinate courts: Court of Appeal; High Court of Justice (jurisdiction limited to cases of high treason or criminal offenses by the president or ministers while in office); magistrate courts; first instance courts; labor dispute courts; special court of state security
African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence or SADI [Oumar MARIKO]
Alliance for Democracy in Mali-Pan-African Party for Liberty, Solidarity, and Justice or ADEMA-PASJ [Dionconda TRAORE]
Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP (coalition including ADEMA and URD formed in December 2006 to support the presidential candidacy of Amadou TOURE)
Alliance for the Solidarity of Mali-Convergence of Patriotic Forces or ASMA-CFP [Soumeylou Boubeye MAIGA]
Alternative Forces for Renewal and Emergence or FARE [Modibo SIDIBE]
Convergence for the Development of Mali or CODEM [Housseyni Amion GUINDO]
Economic and Social Development Party or PDES [Jamille BITTAR]
Front for Democracy and the Republic or FDR (coalition including RPM and PARENA formed to oppose the presidential candidacy of Amadou TOURE)
National Congress for Democratic Initiative or CNID [Mountaga TALL]
Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Tiebile DRAME]
Patriotic Movement for Renewal or MPR [Choguel Kokalla MAIGA]
Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA] (ruling party)
Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Younoussi TOURE]
other: the army; Islamic authorities; state-run cotton company CMDT
ACP, AfDB, AU, CD, ECOWAS, EITI (compliant country), FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MONUSCO, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNISFA, UNMISS, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
chief of mission: Ambassador Tiena COULIBALY (since 18 November 2014)
chancery: 2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 332-2249, 939-8950
FAX: [1] (202) 332-6603
chief of mission: Ambassador Paul A. FOLMSBEE (since 2015)
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] 2070-2300
FAX: [223] 2070-2479
three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red
note: uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia; the colors from left to right are the same as those of neighboring Senegal (which has an additional green central star) and the reverse of those on the flag of neighboring Guinea
Great Mosque of Djenne; national colors: green, yellow, red
name: "Le Mali" (Mali)
lyrics/music: Seydou Badian KOUYATE/Banzoumana SISSOKO
note: adopted 1962; also known as "Pour L'Afrique et pour toi, Mali" (For Africa and for You, Mali) and "A ton appel Mali" (At Your Call, Mali)
1.5% (2016 est.)
Among the 25 poorest countries in the world, Mali is a landlocked country that 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
Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger River and about 65% of its 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. Indu
Mali is developing its iron ore extraction industry to diversify foreign exchange earnings away from gold, but the pace will largely depend on global price trends. Mali’s economic performance has improved since 2013 although physical insecurity, high popu
$38.09 billion (2016 est.)
$36.16 billion (2015 est.)
$34.13 billion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
$14.1 billion (2015 est.)
5.3% (2016 est.)
6% (2015 est.)
7% (2014 est.)
$2,300 (2016 est.)
$2,200 (2015 est.)
$2,200 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
13.4% of GDP (2016 est.)
20.8% of GDP (2015 est.)
19.7% of GDP (2014 est.)
household consumption: 71.1%
government consumption: 17.6%
investment in fixed capital: 17.3%
investment in inventories: 0.1%
exports of goods and services: 23.5%
imports of goods and services: -29.6% (2016 est.)
agriculture: 41%
industry: 18.6%
services: 40.4% (2016 est.)
cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats
food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining
6.283 million (2016 est.)
agriculture: 80%
industry and services: 20% (2005 est.)
30% (2015 est.)
8.1% (2014 est.)
36.1% (2005 est.)
lowest 10%: 3.5%
highest 10%: 25.8% (2010 est.)
40.1 (2001)
50.5 (1994)
revenues: $2.571 billion
expenditures: $3.112 billion (2016 est.)
18.2% of GDP (2016 est.)
-3.8% of GDP (2016 est.)
27.3% of GDP (2016 est.)
25.9% of GDP (2015 est.)
calendar year
-0.3% (2016 est.)
1.4% (2015 est.)
16% (31 December 2010)
4.25% (31 December 2009)
9.3% (31 December 2016 est.)
9.3% (31 December 2015 est.)
$2.755 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$2.573 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$4.132 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$3.715 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$3.267 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$2.822 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$NA
-$848 million (2016 est.)
-$668 million (2015 est.)
$2.79 billion (2016 est.)
$2.513 billion (2015 est.)
cotton, gold, livestock
Switzerland 48.5%, China 9.4%, India 9.1%, Bangladesh 8%, Thailand 4.5%, Indonesia 4.4% (2015)
$2.904 billion (2016 est.)
$2.744 billion (2015 est.)
petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles
Cote dIvoire 9.9%, France 9.5%, Senegal 7.7%, China 7% (2015)
$3.626 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$3.334 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$2.645 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
$2.48 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
$57.48 million (31 December 2016 est.)
$49.48 million (31 December 2015 est.)
Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar -
605.7 (2016 est.)
591.16 (2015 est.)
591.16 (2014 est.)
494.42 (2013 est.)
510.53 (2012 est.)
population without electricity: 11,400,000
electrification - total population: 26%
electrification - urban areas: 53%
electrification - rural areas: 9% (2013)
1.5 billion kWh (2014 est.)
1.4 billion kWh (2014 est.)
0 kWh (2013 est.)
0 kWh (2013 est.)
600,000 kW (2014 est.)
48.4% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
51.6% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
0% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
0 bbl/day (2015 est.)
0 bbl/day (2013 est.)
0 bbl/day (2013 est.)
0 bbl (1 January 2016 es)
0 bbl/day (2013 est.)
7,500 bbl/day (2014 est.)
0 bbl/day (2013 est.)
7,486 bbl/day (2013 est.)
0 cu m (2013 est.)
0 cu m (2013 est.)
0 cu m (2013 est.)
0 cu m (2013 est.)
0 cu m (1 January 2014 es)
800,000 Mt (2013 est.)
total subscriptions: 169,006
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1 (July 2015 est.)
total: 22.699 million
subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 134 (July 2015 est.)
general assessment: domestic system improving; increasing use of local radio loops to extend network coverage to remote areas
domestic: fixed-line subscribership remains less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership has increased sharply to over 130 per 100 persons
international: country code - 223; satellite communications center and fiber-optic links to neighboring countries; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Indian Ocean) (2015)
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; transmiss (2007)
.ml
total: 1.753 million
percent of population: 10.3% (July 2015 est.)
number of registered air carriers: 1
inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 2 (2015)
TZ, TT (2016)
25 (2013)
total: 8
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2013)
total: 17
1,524 to 2,437 m: 3
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 5 (2013)
2 (2013)
total: 593 km
narrow gauge: 593 km 1.000-m gauge (2014)
total: 22,474 km
paved: 5,522 km
unpaved: 16,952 km (2009)
1,800 km (downstream of Koulikoro; low water levels on the River Niger cause problems in dry years; in the months before the rainy season the river is not navigable by commercial vessels) (2011)
river port(s): Koulikoro (Niger)
Malian Armed Forces: Army (Armee de Terre), Republic of Mali Air Force (Force Aerienne de la Republique du Mali, FARM), National Guard (Garde National du Mali) (2013)
18 years of age for selective compulsory and voluntary military service; 2-year conscript service obligation (2012)
1.44% of GDP (2012)
1.51% of GDP (2011)
1.44% of GDP (2010)
demarcation is underway with Burkina Faso
refugees (country of origin): 13,539 (Mauritania) (2015)
IDPs: 36,690 (Tuareg rebellion since 2012) (2016)
current situation: Mali is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; internal trafficking is more prevalent than transnational trafficking, but foreign women and girls are forced into domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and support roles in gold mines, as well as subjected to sex trafficking; Malian boys are forced to work in agricultural settings, gold mines, the informal commercial sector and to beg within Mali and neighboring countries; Malians and other Africans who travel through Mali to Mauritania, Algeria, or Libya in hopes of reaching Europe are particularly at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking; men and boys, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, are subjected to debt bondage in the salt mines of Taoudenni in northern Mali; some members of Mali's Tamachek community are subjected to hereditary slavery-related practices; Malian women and girls are victims of sex trafficking in Gabon, Libya, Lebanon, and Tunisia; the recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups in northern Mali decreased
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Mali does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so; in 2014, Mali was granted a waiver from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3 because its government has a written plan that, if implemented would constitute making significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; officials failed to distribute the 2012 anti-trafficking law to judicial and law enforcement personnel, perpetuating a lack of understanding and awareness of the legislation; anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts decreased in 2014, with only one case investigated and no prosecutions or convictions; fewer victims were identified, and the government did not support the privately funded NGOs and international organizations it relied upon to provide victims with services; the government did not conduct any awareness-raising campaigns, workshops, or training sessions (2015)
