Mali

§1. Mali Introduction

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.

§2. Mali Geography

Location:
  Western Africa, southwest of Algeria

Geographic coordinates:
  17 00 N, 4 00 W

Map references:
  Africa

Area:
  total: 1.24 million km²
  land: 1.22 million km²
  water: 20,000 km²

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 km² (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

§3. Mali People

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.)

§4. Mali Government

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

§5. Mali Economy

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 - 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 m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  0 m³ (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

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

§6. Mali Communications

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)

Television broadcast stations:
  1 (plus repeaters) (2001)

Internet country code:
  .ml

Internet hosts:
  270 (2005)

Internet users:
  50,000 (2005)

§7. Mali Transportation

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

§8. Mali Military

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.)

§9. Mali Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  none

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
  refugees (country of origin): 6,185 (Mauritania) (2005)


<Factbook 2006>
