| Mali |
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Map:
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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 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 and Environmental |
Capital: name: Bamako
geographic coordinates: 12 39 N, 8 00 W
time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
| Area Total: 1.24 million sq km |
| Area Land: 1.22 million sq km |
| Area Water: 20,000 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
| Coastline: 0 km (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 |
| Elevation Extremes 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% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 0.03% |
| Land Use Other: 96.21% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 2,360 sq km (2003) |
| 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 |
| Geography Note: landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan |
| Population |
| Population: 11,995,402 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 48.2% (male 2,921,914/female 2,853,976) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 48.8% (male 2,891,494/female 2,959,142) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 3.1% (male 149,301/female 219,575) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 15.9 years |
| Median Age Male: 15.4 years |
| Median Age Female: 16.3 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: 2.681% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 49.61 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 16.51 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.03 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.024 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 0.977 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.68 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.988 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 105.65 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 115.29 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 95.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 49.51 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 47.6 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 51.46 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 7.38 children born/woman (2007 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.) |
| Religions: Muslim 90%, Christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9% |
| Languages: French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over can read and write |
| Literacy Total Population: 46.4% |
| Literacy Male: 53.5% |
| Literacy Female: 39.6% (2003 est.) |
| Administrative Divisions: 8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou |
| Legal System: based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| 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 1996-2006. 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: $14.59 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 5.1% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 45% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 17% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 38% (2001 est.) |
| Labor Force: 3.93 million (2001 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 80%
industry and services: 20% (2001 est.) |
| Unemployment Rate: 14.6% (2001 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 40.4% (1994) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 4.5% (2002 est.) |
| Industries: food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: NA% |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 410 million kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 41.7% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 58.3% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 0% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 381.3 million kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 0 kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Consumption: 4,300 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Production: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Exports: $323 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: cotton, gold, livestock |
| Exports Partners: China 29.4%, Thailand 10.1%, Taiwan 7.8%, Italy 5.3%, Bangladesh 4.5%, France 4.4% (2005) |
| Imports: $1.858 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles |
| Imports Partners: France 13%, Senegal 13%, Cote d'Ivoire 8.4% (2005) |
| Debt External: $2.8 billion (2002) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $472.1 million (2002) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 75,000 (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 869,600 (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: domestic system unreliable but improving; provides only minimal service |
| Telephone System Domestic: network consists of microwave radio relay, open-wire, and radiotelephone communications stations; expansion of microwave radio relay in progress |
| Telephone System International: country code - 223; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Indian Ocean) |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 1, FM 28, shortwave 1 (the shortwave station in Bamako has seven frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts for China Radio International) (2001) |
| Radios: 570,000 (1997) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 1 (plus repeaters) (2001) |
| Televisions: 45,000 (1997) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 13 (2001) |
| Internet Users: 60,000 (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 729 km |
| Railways Narrow Gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge (2005) |
| Waterways: 1,815 km (2005) |
| Airports: 29 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 1.9% (2006) |
| Disputes International: none |
| Refugees And Internally Displaced Persons: refugees (country of origin): 6,165 (Mauritania) (2006) |