Mali flag
Basic facts of MaliOfficial name: Republic of Mali
Capital: Bamako
Area:1,240,192 sq km 478,841 sq mi
Population: 12,324,029 (2008 estimate)
Population growth rate: 2.73 percent (2008 estimate)
Population density: 10 persons per sq km, 26 persons per sq mi (2008 estimate)
Urban/rural distribution:
Share urban 34 percent (2005 estimate)
Share rural 66 percent (2005 estimate)
Largest citie: Bamako, Segou
Languages: French (official); Bambara and numerous other African languages.
Religious affiliations:
Muslim 81 percent
Indigenous beliefs 16 percent
Christian 2 percent
Other 1 percent
Life expectancy:
Total 49.9 years (2008 estimate)
Female 51.9 years (2008 estimate)
Male 48 years (2008 estimate)
Literacy rate:
Total 49.7 percent (2005 estimate)
Female 43.1 percent (2005 estimate)
Male 56.6 percent (2005 estimate)
Form of government: Republic
Total number of military personnel 7,350 (2004)
Introduction:
Mali (country), landlocked country in northwestern Africa. Desert covers much of Mali, and the country is thinly populated. The southern part of the country is well watered by the Niger River, and most of Mali’s people live in valleys along the Niger or the Sénégal rivers. The people in this largely rural country live primarily by farming and fishing. Drought is a recurrent problem, often bringing famine with it. The largest city is Bamako, Mali’s capital, which has about 1 million people.
Although Bamako is the capital, the town of Tombouctou, or Timbuktu, is far more famous. Founded in the 11th century, this trading post on the southern edge of the Sahara was celebrated for centuries for its splendor. Camel caravans, carrying gold and ivory, passed through it. So did slaves. Tombouctou linked the rest of West Africa with the Mediterranean Sea to the north. In time, to Westerners it came to stand for all that was remote, mysterious, and unimaginable.
From the 5th century through the 19th century, Mali was the core of a series of West African empires that sought control of Tombouctou’s lucrative caravan routes and the gold to its south. In the late 19th century Mali became a colony of France. Under French rule the territory was known as the French Sudan. In 1960 Mali gained independence, taking the name of one of the medieval empires that had formed in the region. Mali has struggled economically since independence. In 2007 the United Nations Development Program ranked Mali 175th out of 178 countries on the human development index, a measure of poverty, literacy, life expectancy, and other criteria of a nation’s well-being. The World Bank had previously classified Mali as one of the poorest countries in the world.
French remains the official language of Mali, and Islam is by far the major religion. However, the people of Mali belong to a number of ethnic groups and speak a variety of African languages.
Bamako, Mali
Bamako is the capital of Mali in Africa. It lies in the lower Niger River Valley, an important agricultural region.
Tuareg in the Sahel, Africa
The Sahel, a vast arid region in Africa, is home to groups of nomadic people such as the Tuareg. Here, Tuareg men rest with their camels at an encampment in Mali. The Tuareg have relied on camels for transportation as well as meat, milk, and hides since ancient times.