Mali facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Republic of Mali Official names Bambara: Mali ka Fasojamana / ߡߊ߬ߟߌ ߞߊ ߝߊߛߏߖߊߡߊߣߊ Fula: Republik bu Maali / 𞤈𞤫𞤨𞤵𞤦𞤤𞤭𞤳 𞤦𞤵 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 Arabic: جُمْهُورِيَّةْ مَالِي (Jumhūriyyet Māli) Soninke: Mali Tɔgɔbadugu Tamasheq: Tagduda n Mali / ⵜⴰⴳⴷⵓⴷⴰ ⵏ ⵎⴰⵍⵉ Songhai: Mali Laamaa
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Un peuple, un but, une foi" (French) "Mɔgɔ kelen, laɲini kelen, dannaya kelen"  (Bambara) "One people, one goal, one faith"
Anthem: "Le Mali" (French)
Location of  Mali  (green)
Capital and largest city	Bamako 12°39′N 8°0′W / 12.650°N 8.000°W / 12.650; -8.000
Official languages	13 national languages Bambara Bobo Arabic Bozo Dogon, Toro So Fula Kassonke Maninke Minyanka Senufo, Senara Songhay, Koyraboro Senni Soninke Tamasheq
Working language	French (de facto)
Spoken languages	Bambara Fula Arabic Soninke Songhay Mandinka Minyanka Tamasheq Senufo Bobo Bozo Kassonke Samogo Dafing Dogon
Ethnic groups	33.3% Bambara 13.3% Fula 9.6% Soninke 9.6% Senufo / Bwa 8.8% Malinke 8.7% Dogon 5.9% Songhai 3.5% Tuareg 2.1% Bobo 4.5% other
Religion (2021)	95% Islam 5% other
Demonym(s)	Malian
Government	Unitary presidential republic under a military junta
• President	Assimi Goïta (interim)
• Prime Minister	Abdoulaye Maïga (interim)
Legislature	National Assembly
Formation
• Establishment of the Sudanese Republic	24 November 1958
• Merger with Senegal to create the Mali Federation	4 April 1959
• Independence from France	20 June 1960
• Dissolution of the Mali Federation	20 August 1960
• Declaration of the Republic of Mali	22 September 1960
Area
• Total	1,240,192 km2 (478,841 sq mi) (23rd)
• Water (%)	1.6
Population
• 2024 estimate	21,990,607 (61st)
• Density	11.7/km2 (30.3/sq mi) (215th)
GDP (PPP)	2023 estimate
• Total	$61.625 billion (115th)
• Per capita	$2,639 (174th)
GDP (nominal)	2023 estimate
• Total	$21.309 billion (123rd)
• Per capita	$912 (175th)
Gini (2010)	33.0 medium
HDI (2022)	0.410 low · 188th
Currency	West African CFA franc (XOF)
Time zone	UTC (GMT)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+223
ISO 3166 code	ML
Internet TLD	.ml

Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over 1,240,192 square kilometres (478,841 sq mi). The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east by Niger, to the northwest by Mauritania, to the south by Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, and to the west by Guinea and Senegal. The population of Mali is 24,478,595, . Its capital and largest city is Bamako. The country has 13 official languages, of which Bambara is the most commonly spoken.

Etymology

The name Mali is taken from the name of the Mali Empire. It means "the place where the king lives" and carries a connotation of strength.

Fourteenth-century Maghrebi traveller Ibn Battuta reported that the capital of the empire was called Mali. One Mandinka tradition tells that the legendary first emperor Sundiata Keita changed himself into a hippopotamus upon his death in the Sankarani River and that it was possible to find villages in the area of this river called "old Mali". A study of Malian proverbs noted that in old Mali, there is a village called Malikoma, which means "New Mali", and that Mali could have formerly been the name of a city.

Another theory suggests that Mali is a Fulani pronunciation of the name of the Mande peoples. It is suggested that a sound shift led to the change, whereby in Fulani the alveolar segment shifts to and the terminal vowel denasalizes and raises, leading "Manden" to shift to.

History

Mali was part of three successive powerful and wealthy West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire (for which Ghana is named), the Mali Empire (for which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire was the wealthiest country in Africa with its 14th-century emperor Mansa Musa believed to be one of the wealthiest individuals in history. Besides being a hub of trade and mining, medieval Mali was a centre of Islam, culture and knowledge, with Timbuktu becoming a renowned place of learning with its university, one of the oldest in the world and still active. The expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the empire in 1468, followed by a Saadian army which defeated the Songhai in 1591. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, making it a part of French Sudan; as the Sudanese Republic, a brief federation with Senegal was formed, achieving independence in 1960. After Senegal's withdrawal, the Republic of Mali was established. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state.

In January 2012, an armed conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of a territory in the north, and in April declared the secession of a new state, Azawad. The conflict was complicated by a military coup in March 2012 and later fighting between Tuareg and other rebel factions. In response to territorial gains, the French military launched Operation Serval in January 2013. A month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north, although the conflict continued. Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2013, with a second-round run-off held on 11 August, and legislative elections were held on 24 November and 15 December 2013. In the early 2020s, Mali experienced two military takeovers by Assimi Goïta.

Geography

Satellite image of Mali

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa, located southwest of Algeria. It lies between latitudes 10° and 25°N, and longitudes 13°W and 5°E. Mali borders Algeria to the north-northeast, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso to the south-east, Ivory Coast to the south, Guinea to the south-west, and Senegal to the west and Mauritania to the north-west.

Landscape in Hombori

Mali map of Köppen climate classification

At 1,240,192 square kilometres (478,841 sq mi), Mali is the 24th-largest country in the world and the eighth-largest country in Africa. It is comparable in size to South Africa or Angola. Most of the country lies in the southern Sahara Desert, which produces an extremely hot, dust-laden Sudanian savanna zone. Mali is mostly flat, rising to rolling northern plains covered by sand. The Adrar des Ifoghas massif lies in the northeast.

Mali lies in the torrid zone and is among the hottest countries in the world. The thermal equator, which matches the hottest spots year-round on the planet based on the mean daily annual temperature, crosses the country. Most of Mali receives negligible rainfall and droughts are very frequent. Late April to early October is the rainy season in the southernmost area. During this time, flooding of the Niger River is common, creating the Inner Niger Delta. The vast northern desert part of Mali has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification BWh) with long, extremely hot summers and scarce rainfall which decreases northwards. The central area has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh) with very high temperatures year-round, a long, intense dry season and a brief, irregular rainy season. The southern areas have a tropical wet and dry climate. (Köppen climate classification Aw) In review, Mali's climate is tropical, with March to May being the hot, dry season. June to October is rainy, humid and mild. November to February is the cool, dry season.

Mali has considerable natural resources, with gold, uranium, phosphates, kaolinite, salt and limestone being most widely exploited. Mali is estimated to have in excess of 17,400 tonnes of uranium (measured + indicated + inferred). In 2012, a further uranium mineralized north zone was identified. Mali faces numerous environmental challenges, including desertification, deforestation, soil erosion, and inadequate supplies of potable water.

Biodiversity

Five terrestrial ecoregions lie within Mali's borders: Sahelian Acacia savanna, West Sudanian savanna, Inner Niger Delta flooded savanna, South Saharan steppe and woodlands, and West Saharan montane xeric woodlands. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 7.16/10, ranking it 51st globally out of 172 countries.

Politics and government

Until the military coup of 22 March 2012, Mali was a constitutional democracy governed by the Constitution of 12 January 1992, which was amended in 1999. The constitution provides for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The system of government can be described as "semi-presidential". Executive power is vested in a president, who is elected to a five-year term by universal suffrage and is limited to two terms.

The president serves as a chief of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. A prime minister appointed by the president serves as head of government and in turn appoints the Council of Ministers. The unicameral National Assembly is Mali's sole legislative body, consisting of deputies elected to five-year terms. Following the 2007 elections, the Alliance for Democracy and Progress held 113 of 160 seats in the assembly. The assembly holds two regular sessions each year, during which it debates and votes on legislation that has been submitted by a member or by the government.

Mali's constitution provides for an independent judiciary, but the executive continues to exercise influence over the judiciary by virtue of power to appoint judges and oversee both judicial functions and law enforcement. Mali's highest courts are the Supreme Court, which has both judicial and administrative powers, and a separate Constitutional Court that provides judicial review of legislative acts and serves as an election arbiter. Various lower courts exist, though village chiefs and elders resolve most local disputes in rural areas.

Regions

Regions of Mali since 2023

Since 2016, Mali has been divided into ten regions and the District of Bamako. Each region has a governor. The implementation of the two newest regions, Taoudénit (formerly part of Tombouctou Region) and Ménaka (formerly Ménaka Cercle in Gao Region), has been ongoing since January 2016; a governor and transitional council has been appointed for both regions.

Since 2023, Mali has added nine new regions to its administrative structure, bringing the total to 19 regions plus the district of Bamako. This reorganization aims to improve governance and bring public services closer to local populations. This initiative continues the decentralization efforts that began with the creation of the Taoudénit and Ménaka regions in 2016. The nineteen regions in turn are subdivided into 159 cercles and 815 communes.

The régions and Capital District are:

Economy

A market scene in Djenné

A proportional representation of Mali exports, 2019

Kalabougou potters

Cotton processing at CMDT

Mali's key industry is agriculture. Cotton is the country's largest crop export and is exported west throughout Senegal and Ivory Coast. In addition to cotton, Mali produces rice, millet, corn, vegetables, tobacco, and tree crops. Gold, livestock, and agriculture amount to 80% of Mali's exports.

Eighty percent of Malian workers are employed in agriculture. 15% of Malian workers are employed in the service sector.

Gold is mined in the southern region and Mali has the third highest gold production in Africa (after South Africa and Ghana). In 2015, the country has produced 41 metric tonnes of gold.

The emergence of gold as Mali's leading export product since 1999 has helped mitigate some of the negative impact of the cotton and Ivory Coast crises. Other natural resources include kaolin, salt, phosphate, and limestone.

Mali has made efficient use of hydroelectricity, consisting of over half of Mali's electrical power.

Transport infrastructure

In Mali, there is a railway that connects to bordering countries. There are also approximately 29 airports, of which 8 have paved runways. Urban areas are known for their large quantity of green and white taxicabs. A significant sum of the population is dependent on public transportation.

Demographics

In 2018, Mali's population was an estimated 19.1 million . The population is predominantly rural (68% in 2002), and 5%–10% of Malians are nomadic. More than 90% of the population lives in the southern part of the country, especially in Bamako, which has over 2 million residents.

Largest cities in Mali

Ethnic groups

A Bambara wedding in Mali, observed by a tourist.

Fulani children in Mali.

The Tuareg are nomadic inhabitants of northern Mali.

Mali's population encompasses a number of sub-Saharan ethnic groups. The Bambara are by far the largest single ethnic group, making up a third of the population. The largest ethnic groups are Bambara (33.3%), Fulani (Peuhl) (13.3%), Sarakole/Soninke/Marka (9.8%), Senufo/Manianka (9.6%), Malinke (8.8%), Dogon (8.7%), Sonrai (5.9%), Bobo (2.1%), Tuareg/Bella (1.7%), other Malian (6%), from members of Economic Community of West Africa (0.4%), other (0.3%) (2018 est.). In Mali and in Niger, the Moors are also known as Azawagh Arabs, named after the Azawagh region of the Sahara. They speak mainly Hassaniya Arabic, one of the regional varieties of Arabic.

Languages

In January 2022, due to deteriorating relations between Mali and the French government, the Mali government announced making Bambara the official language. In July 2023, French was dropped as an official language, becoming instead a working language. At the same time, the 13 national languages, namely Bambara, Bobo, Bozo, Dogon, Fula, Hassaniya Arabic, Kassonke, Maninke, Minyanka, Senufo, the Songhay languages, Soninke and Tamasheq, became official languages. The lingua franca in Mali is mainly Bambara, which about 80 percent of the population can communicate in. Over 40 other African languages are spoken by the various ethnic groups of Mali.

Religion

An entrance to the Djinguereber mosque

An estimated 90% of Malians are Muslim (mostly Sunni), approximately 5% are Christian (about two-thirds Roman Catholic and one-third Protestant) and the remaining 5% adhere to traditional African religions such as the Dogon religion. Atheism and agnosticism are believed to be rare among Malians, most of whom practice their religion daily.

Culture

Konoguel Mosque tower

The varied everyday culture of Malians reflects the country's ethnic and geographic diversity. Most Malians wear flowing, colorful robes called boubous that are typical of West Africa. Malians frequently participate in traditional festivals, dances, and ceremonies.

Music

Mali Dogon Dance

Malian musical traditions are derived from the griots, who are known as "Keepers of Memories". Malian music is diverse and has several different genres. Some famous Malian influences in music are kora virtuoso musician Toumani Diabaté, the ngoni with Bassekou Kouyate the virtuoso of the electric jeli ngoni, the late roots and blues guitarist Ali Farka Touré, the Tuareg band Tinariwen, Khaira Arby, and several Afro-pop artists such as Salif Keita, the duo Amadou et Mariam, Oumou Sangare, Fatoumata Diawara, Rokia Traore, and Habib Koité. Dance also plays a large role in Malian culture. Dance parties are common events among friends, and traditional mask dances are performed at ceremonial events.

Literature

Though Mali's literature is less famous than its music, Mali has always been one of Africa's liveliest intellectual centers. Mali's literary tradition is passed mainly by word of mouth, with jalis reciting or singing histories and stories known by heart. Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Mali's best-known historian, spent much of his life writing these oral traditions down for the world to remember.

The best-known novel by a Malian writer is Yambo Ouologuem's Le devoir de violence, which won the 1968 Prix Renaudot but whose legacy was marred by accusations of plagiarism. Other well-known Malian writers include Baba Traoré, Modibo Sounkalo Keita, Massa Makan Diabaté, Moussa Konaté, and Fily Dabo Sissoko.

Sport

Malian children playing football in a Dogon village

The most popular sport in Mali is association football, which became more prominent after Mali hosted the 2002 African Cup of Nations. Most towns and cities have regular games; the most popular teams nationally are Djoliba AC, Stade Malien, and Real Bamako, all based in the capital. Informal games are often played by youths using a bundle of rags as a ball.

Basketball is another major sport; the Mali women's national basketball team, led by Hamchetou Maiga, competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Traditional wrestling (la lutte) is also somewhat common, though popularity has declined in recent years. The game wari, a mancala variant, is a common pastime.

Mali featured a men's national team in beach volleyball that competed at the 2018–2020 CAVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.

Cuisine

Malian tea

Rice and millet are the staples of Malian cuisine, which is heavily based on cereal grains. Grains are generally prepared with sauces made from edible leaves, such as spinach or baobab, with tomato peanut sauce, and may be accompanied by pieces of grilled meat (typically chicken, mutton, beef, or goat). Malian cuisine varies regionally. Other popular dishes include fufu, jollof rice, and maafe.

Images for kids

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  The extent of the Mali Empire's peak

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  The pages above are from Timbuktu Manuscripts written in Sudani script (a form of Arabic) from the Mali Empire showing established knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Today there are close to a million of these manuscripts found in Timbuktu alone.

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  Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (Fula people, Mali), 1890

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  WWI Commemorative Monument to the "Armée Noire"

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  Members of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, directory of the ruling junta in Mali

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  Satellite image of Mali

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  Landscape in Hombori

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  A market scene in Djenné

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  Kalabougou potters

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  Cotton processing at CMDT

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  A Bozo girl in Bamako

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  High school students in Kati

See also

In Spanish: Malí para niños