Mali : Ask Biography

General information

Common name

Mali

Local name

République du Mali
Mali ka Fasojamana
(browse)

Name

République du Mali
Mali ka Fasojamana
(browse)

Motto

"Un peuple, un but, une foi"
"One people, one goal, one faith"

Anthem

Le Mali
"Mali"

Capital

Bamako

Largest city

Bamako

Official languages

French

Vernacular languages

Bambara

Demonym

Malian

Government

Government

Semi-presidential republic

President

Amadou Toumani Touré

Prime Minister

Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé

Independence

Independence

from France as the Sudanese Republic, with Senegal as the Mali Federation

4 April 1960

as Mali

22 September 1960

Geography

Total Area

478839 sq mi (1240193 km2) (24th)

Water %

1.6

Demography

Population census

14517176 (67th) (April 2009)

Density (pop.)

11.7/km² (215th) (30.3/sq mi)

Economy

GDP PPP

$16.772 billion (2010)

GDP (PPP) per capita

$1,251

GDP (nominal)

$9.268 billion (2010)

GDP (nominal) per capita

$691

Other information

Gini

50.5 (1994) (high)

HDI

(+) 0.371 (2007) (low) (178th)

Currency

West African CFA franc (XOF)

Time zone

GMT (UTC+0)

- Summer (DST)

not observed (UTC+0)

Drives on the

right

Internet TLD

.ml

Calling code

223

Home | Country | Mali

Mali c-enaudio=En-us-Mali.oggˈmɑːli, officially the Republic of Mali ( , -frmaˈli), is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km2 with a population of 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako.

Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country's southern region, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Sénégal rivers. The country's economic structure centers around agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's natural resources include gold, uranium, and salt.

Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (from which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali making it a part of French Sudan. French Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. About half the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.