Map of Mali | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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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 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 TOURE who was elected to a second term in 2007 elections that were widely judged to be free and fair. Malian returnees from Libya in 2011 exacerbated tensions in northern Mali and Tuareg ethnic militias started a rebellion 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 three northern regions of the country 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 insecurity in host communities. A 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.


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Location: interior Western Africa southwest of Algeria north of Guinea Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso west of Niger

Geographic coordinates: 17 00 N 4 00 W

Map reference

Area
Rank: 24
Land: 1,220,190 km²
Water: 20,002 km²
Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries
Border countries: (7) Algeria 1376 km; Burkina Faso 1000 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 highest point: Hombori Tondo 1155 m

Natural resources: gold phosphates kaolin salt limestone uranium gypsum granite hydropower

Land use
Permanent crops: 0.1%
Other: 94.37% (2011)

Irrigated land: 2,358 km² (2003)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources: 100 km³ (2011)

Natural hazards: hot dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding

Geography
Note: landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern cultivated Sudanese; the central semiarid Sahelian; and the northern arid Saharan


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Population: 15,968,882 (July 2013 est.)
Rank: 67
Growth rate: 3.01% (2013 est.)
Growth rate rank: 10
Below poverty line: 36.1% (2005 est.)

Nationality
Adjective: Malian

Ethnic groups: Mande 50% (Bambara Malinke Soninke) Peul 17% Voltaic 12% Songhai 6% Tuareg and Moor 10% other 5%

Languages: 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% unspecified 0.6% other 8.5%

Religions: Muslim 94.8% Christian 2.4% Animist 2% none 0.5% unspecified 0.3% (2009 Census)

Demographic profile

Age structure
15-24 years: 19% (male 1,439,032/female 1,587,072)
25-54 years: 26.6% (male 1,980,766/female 2,270,676)
55-64 years: 3.7% (male 297,365/female 295,495)
65 years and over: 3% (male 240,681/female 238,722) (2013 est.)

Dependency ratios
Youth dependency ratio: 95.1 %
Elderly dependency ratio: 5.6 %
Potential support ratio: 17.9 (2013)

Median age
Male: 15.4 years
Female: 16.6 years (2013 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.01% (2013 est.)
Rank: 10

Birth rate: 46.06 births/1000 population (2013 est.)
Rank: 2

Death rate: 13.55 deaths/1000 population (2013 est.)
Rank: 16

Net migration rate: -2.41 migrant(s)/1000 population (2013 est.)
Rank: 170

Population distribution

Urbanization
Rate of urbanization: 4.77% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: BAMAKO (capital) 1.628 million (2009)

Environment
Current issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
0-14 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.88 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.01 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2013 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 18.6 (2006 est.)

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 2
Male: 113.23 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 99.56 deaths/1000 live births (2013 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 204
Male: 52.75 years
Female: 56.41 years (2013 est.)

Total fertility rate: 6.25 children born/woman (2013 est.)
Rank: 2

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 8.2% (2006)

Drinking water source:

Current health expenditure

Physicians density: 0.08 physicians/1000 population (2010)

Hospital bed density: 0.1 beds/1000 population (2010)

Sanitation facility access:

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 1% (2009 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 46
People living with hivaids: 76,000 (2009 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 47
Deaths: 4,400 (2009 est.)
Deaths rank: 41

Major infectious diseases
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 (2013)

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 4.3% (2008)
Rank: 166

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 27.9% (2006)
Rank: 22

Education expenditures: 4.8% of GDP (2011)
Rank: 82

Literacy
Total population: 33.4%
Male: 43.1%
Female: 24.6% (2011 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Male: 8 years
Female: 7 years (2011)

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional short form: Mali
Local long form: Republique de Mali
Local short form: Mali
Former: French Sudan and Sudanese Republic

Government type: republic

Capital
Geographic coordinates: 12 39 N 8 00 W
Time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: 8 regions (regions singular - region) 1 district*; District de Bamako* Gao Kayes Kidal Koulikoro Mopti Segou Sikasso Tombouctou (Timbuktu)

Dependent areas

Independence: 22 September 1960 (from France)

National holiday: Independence Day 22 September (1960)

Constitution: several previous; latest drafted August 1991 approved by referendum 12 January 1992 effective 25 February 1992; amended 1999; note - suspended briefly in 2012 (2011)

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

International law organization participation: has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Head of government: Prime Minister Oumar Tatum LY (since 5 September 2013)
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); the election scheduled for 29 April 2012 and delayed following the March 2012 coup took place 28 July 2013 and a runoff election was held on 11 August 2013; prime minister appointed by the president
Election results: Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA elected president in a runoff election; percent of vote Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA 77.6% Soumaila CISSE 22.4%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held on 1 and 22 July 2007 (July 2012 election delayed following the military coup and now scheduled for 24 November 2013)
Election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ADP coalition 113 (ADEMA 51 URD 34 MPR 8 CNID 7 UDD 3 and other 10) FDR coalition 15 (RPM 11 PARENA 4) SADI 4 independent 15

Judicial branch
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: High Court of Justice (jurisdiction limited to cases of high treason or criminal offenses by the president or ministers while in office)

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: ACP AfDB AU CD ECOWAS EITI (compliant country) FAO FZ G-77 IAEA IBRD ICAO 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 UNMIL UNMISS UNWTO UPU WADB (regional) WAEMU WCO WFTU (NGOs) WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chancery: 2,130 R Street NW Washington DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 332-2,249 939-8,950
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 332-6,603
From the us embassy: located just off the Roi Bin Fahad Aziz Bridge just west of the Bamako central district
From the us mailing address: ACI 2000 Rue 243 Porte 297 Bamako
From the us telephone: [223] 2,070-2,300
From the us FAX: [223] 2,070-2,479

Flag description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side) yellow and red

National symbols

National anthem
Lyrics and music: Seydou Badian KOUYATE/Banzoumana SISSOKO

National heritage


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Economy overview: Among the 25 poorest countries in the world Mali is a landlocked country highly dependent on gold mining and agricultural exports for revenue. The country's fiscal status fluctuates with gold and agricultural commodity prices and the harvest. Mali remains dependent on foreign aid. 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. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. The government in 2011 completed an IMF extended credit facility program that has helped the economy grow diversify and attract foreign investment. Mali is developing its cotton and iron ore extraction industries to diversify foreign exchange revenue away from gold. Mali has invested in tourism but security issues are hurting the industry. Mali experienced economic growth of about 5% per year between 1996-2010 but the global recession and a military coup caused a decline in output in 2012. The interim government slashed public spending in the context of a declining state of security and declining international aid.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 137

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 200

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 214

Gross national saving:
Rank: 64

Gdp composition by end use
Government consumption: 12.6%
Investment in fixed capital: 27.8%
Investment in inventories: 0.6%
Exports of goods and services: 26.5%
Imports of goods and services: -33.8%: (2012 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Industry: 23.9%
Services: 37.4% (2012 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%

Labor force: 3.241 million (2007 est.)
Rank: 102
By occupation industry and services: 20% (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate: 30% (2004 est.)
Rank: 181

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 36.1% (2005 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Highest 10: 25.8% (2010 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 50.5 (1994)
Rank: 59

Budget
Expenditures: $1.948 billion (2012 est.)
Surplus or deficit: -1.2% of GDP (2012 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 68

Taxes and other revenues: 17.9% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 178

Public debt: 27.7% of GDP (2011 est.)
Rank: 120

Revenue

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.9% (2011 est.)
Rank: 153

Central bank discount rate: 4.25% (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 83

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 9% (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 100

Stock of narrow money: $2.156 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 120

Stock of broad money: $2.929 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 141

Stock of domestic credit: $1.669 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 132

Market value of publicly traded shares: $N/A

Current account balance: $-1.122 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 111

Exports: $2.373 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 132
Commodities: cotton gold livestock
Partners: China 52.9% Malaysia 11% Indonesia 5.3% India 4.1% (2012)

Imports: $2.78 billion (2011 est.)
Rank: 147
Commodities: petroleum machinery and equipment construction materials foodstuffs textiles
Partners: France 11.2% Senegal 9.9% Cote dIvoire 8.7% China 8.6% (2012)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

Debt external: $2.931 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 136

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $2.34 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 95

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $503 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Rank: 80

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Production: 520 million kWh (2010 est.)
Production rank: 163
Consumption: 483.6 million kWh (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 170
Exports: 0 kWh (2012 est.)
Exports rank: 101
Imports: 0 kWh (2012 est.)
Imports rank: 213
Installed generating capacity: 304,000 kW (2010 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 149
Generation sources fossil fuels: 48.4% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 159
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 137
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 51.6% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 41
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 203

Coal

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 0 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 193
Crude oil exports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 154
Crude oil imports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 92
Crude oil proven reserves: 0 bbl (1 January 2013 es)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 163

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products production rank: 205
Products consumption: 4,994 bbl/day (2011 est.)
Products consumption rank: 169
Products exports: 0 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products exports rank: 196
Products imports: 4,698 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Products imports rank: 157

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Production rank: 166
Consumption: 0 m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 171
Exports: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Exports rank: 146
Imports: 0 m³ (2011 est.)
Imports rank: 96
Proven reserves: 0 m³ (1 January 2013 es)
Proven reserves rank: 170

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 742,300 Mt (2011 est.)
From consumption of energy rank: 173

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 112,000 (2012)
Main lines in use rank: 142
Mobile cellular: 14.613 million (2012)
Mobile cellular rank: 59

Telephone system
Domestic: fixed-line subscribership remains less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership has increased sharply to about 70 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) (2010)

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 (2007)

Internet
Country code: .ml
Hosts: 437 (2012)
Hosts rank: 186
Users: 249,800 (2009)
Users rank: 135

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures: 1.3% of GDP (2012)
Rank: 113

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for selective compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2012)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 25 (2013)
Rank: 129
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 2
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1 (2013)
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 3
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 9
With unpaved runways: 5 (2013)

Heliports: 2 (2013)

Pipelines

Railways
Rank: 109
Narrow gauge: 593 km 1.000-m gauge (2008)

Roadways
Rank: 102
Paved: 5,522 km
Unpaved: 16,952 km (2009)

Waterways: 1800 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)
Rank: 44

Merchant marine

Ports and terminals: Koulikoro


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Disputes international: demarcation is underway with Burkina Faso

Refugees and internally displaced persons
IDPs: 283,726 (Tuareg rebellion since 2012) (2013)

Illicit drugs