from
CIA World Factbook 2006
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.
Geography
Location: Western Africa, southwest of Algeria
Geographic 17 00 N, 4 00 W
coordinates:
Map Africa
references:
Area: total: 1.24 million sq km
land: 1.22 million sq km
water: 20,000 sq km
Area - slightly less than twice the size of Texas
comparative:
Land total: 7,243 km
boundaries: 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 none (landlocked)
claims:
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 lowest point: Senegal River 23 m
extremes: highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m
Natural gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium,
resources: 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 2,360 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry
hazards: seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River
flooding
Environment - deforestation; soil erosion; desertification;
current inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching
issues:
Environment - party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
international Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered
agreements: Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements
Geography - landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the
note: southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid
Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan
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 2.63% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 49.82 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 16.89 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration -6.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
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 total: 107.58 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 117.32 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 97.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 49 years
expectancy at male: 47.05 years
birth: female: 51.01 years (2006 est.)
Total 7.42 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 1.9% (2003 est.)
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 140,000 (2003 est.)
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - 12,000 (2003 est.)
deaths:
Major degree of risk: very high
infectious food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal
diseases: 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.)
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 republic
type:
Capital: name: Bamako
geographic coordinates: 12 39 N, 8 00 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC
during Standard Time)
Administrative 8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes,
divisions: Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou
Independence: 22 September 1960 (from France)
National Independence Day, 22 September (1960)
holiday:
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 chief of state: President Amadou Toumani TOURE (since 8
branch: 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 (eligible for a second term); 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 unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale
branch: (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 Supreme Court or Cour Supreme
branch:
Political Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Diounconda TRAORE,
parties and party chairman]; Hope 2002 (a coalition of CNID, MPR,
leaders: RDT, and RPM); 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; 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 Patriotic Movement of the Ghanda Koye or MPGK; United
pressure Movement and Fronts of Azawad or MFUA
groups and
leaders:
International ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD,
organization ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
participation: ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent),
ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, UN,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UPU, WADB
(regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Abdoulaye DIOP
representation chancery: 2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
in the US: telephone: [1] (202) 332-2249, 939-8950
FAX: [1] (202) 332-6603
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Terrence P. MCCULLEY
representation embassy: Rue Rochester NY and Rue Mohamed V, Bamako
from the US: mailing address: B. P. 34, Bamako
telephone: [223] 222-5470
FAX: [223] 222-3712
Flag three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side),
description: yellow, and red; uses the popular pan-African colors of
Ethiopia
Economy
Economy - Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with
overview: 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 $13.61 billion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $5.434 billion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 6.1% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $1,200 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 45%
composition by industry: 17%
sector: services: 38% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 3.93 million (2001 est.)
Labor force - agriculture: 80%
by occupation: industry and services: 20% (2001 est.)
Unemployment 14.6% (2001 est.)
rate:
Population 64% (2001 est.)
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 1.8%
income or highest 10%: 40.4% (1994)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 50.5 (1994)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 4.5% (2002 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Budget: revenues: $764 million
expenditures: $828 million; including capital
expenditures of $NA (2002 est.)
Agriculture - cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts;
products: cattle, sheep, goats
Industries: food processing; construction; phosphate and gold
mining
Industrial NA%
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 820 million kWh (2003)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 41.7%
production by hydro: 58.3%
source: nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
Electricity - 762.6 million kWh (2003)
consumption:
Electricity - 0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be
exports: providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2003)
Electricity - 0 kWh (2003)
imports:
Oil - 0 bbl/day (2003 est.)
production:
Oil - 4,250 bbl/day (2003 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: NA bbl/day
Oil - imports: NA bbl/day
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2003 est.)
consumption:
Exports: $323 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - cotton, gold, livestock
commodities:
Exports - China 25.2%, Pakistan 12.8%, Thailand 8.7%, Taiwan
partners: 6.7%, Italy 4.5% (2005)
Imports: $1.858 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction
commodities: materials, foodstuffs, textiles
Imports - France 13.1%, Senegal 13.1%, Cote d'Ivoire 8.5% (2005)
partners:
Debt - $2.8 billion (2002)
external:
Economic aid - $472.1 million (2002)
recipient:
Currency Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note -
(code): responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West
African States
Currency code: XOF
Exchange Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US
rates: dollar - 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003),
696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - 75,000 (2005)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 869,600 (2005)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: domestic system unreliable but
system: 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 AM 1, FM 28, shortwave 1
broadcast note: the shortwave station in Bamako has seven
stations: frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts
for China Radio International (2001)
Radios: 570,000 (1997)
Television 1 (plus repeaters) (2001)
broadcast
stations:
Televisions: 45,000 (1997)
Internet .ml
country code:
Internet 278 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 13 (2001)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 60,000 (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 29 (2006)
Airports - total: 9
with paved 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
runways: 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006)
Airports - total: 20
with unpaved 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
runways: 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 6
under 914 m: 8 (2006)
Railways: total: 729 km
narrow gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge (2005)
Roadways: total: 15,100 km
paved: 1,827 km
unpaved: 13,273 km (1999)
Waterways: 1,815 km (2005)
Ports and Koulikoro
terminals:
Military
Military Army, Air Force, National Guard
branches:
Military 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military
service age service; conscript service obligation - two years
and (2004)
obligation:
Manpower males age 18-49: 2,094,432
available for females age 18-49: 2,027,352 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 18-49: 1,244,176
for military females age 18-49: 1,226,226 (2005 est.)
service:
Military $106.3 million (2005 est.)
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military 1.9% (2005 est.)
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - none
international:
Refugees and refugees (country of origin): 6,185 (Mauritania) (2005)
internally
displaced
persons: