The Republic of Mali, formerly known as Sudan and commonly known as Mali, is one of the poorest countries of the world, with 65 % of its territory made up by desert or semi desert land. It is located in Eastern Africa, its geographical coordinates being 17º 00′ North, 4º 00′ West and it covers a surface of 1,240,000 sq km. The capital of Mali is Bamako, on the banks of the Niger River, although the most popular city is Timbuktu, also known as the Pearl of the Desert or the Mysterious, in the old days home to the Tuareg people. Mali is located in a territory the Arabs called Sahel, meaning shore, due to its location in the southern border of the Sahara. With 7,243 km of land frontiers, it borders in the north on Algeria (1,376 km) and Mauritania (2,237 km), in the south on Burkina Faso (1,000 km), Ivory Coast (532 km) and Guinea-Conakry (858 km), in the east on Niger (821 km) and in the west on Mauritania and Senegal (419 km).
The orography of the country is not really mountainous and it is made up by a plateau, the Mandinga Plateau that rises towards southwest, with heights over 600 m. In the northeast there is the high region of Adrar des Iforas, with a height between 500 and 800 metres. The north is part of the Sahara desert while in the south there is steppe and savannah. The main rivers are Niger and Senegal, which are also the two vital thoroughfares of the countrys economy. There are two different weather zones. Desert climate in the north, with temperatures rising up to 60º C, and subtropical weather in the south, with an average temperature of 25º C. There are three types of seasons, from subtropical to arid. From November to February the weather is cold and dry, a fresh season due to the influence of the Hamattan (wind from the Sahara), with average temperatures of 25º C. From March to June, warm and dry, with warmer temperatures, and from June to October, rainy, damp and soft, its the rain season, with temperatures around 30º C and rainfall of up to 400 mm.
Demographically, Mali has a bit over 11 million inhabitants, the yearly growth is of about 3.2 % and the life expectancy is of 46 years. The birth rate is of 51.38 births per 1,000 population and the infant mortality is of 102.7 death per 1,000 born alive, one of the largest of the African continent. The population belongs to the Sudanese black or Mande race (50%), made up by three different ethnic groups, the Bambara, the Malinke and the Sarakole. Other important ethnic groups are the Peul (17%), the Voltaic (12%), the Songhai (6%) and the Tuareg and Moors (10%). The society of Mali is divided into castes. The noblemen are the Griots, which are respected due to their storytelling and somehow feared because of their gossip. The religion professed in Mali is mainly Muslim (90%), although there are also Christians (1%) and other native religions such as the Animism (9%). The official language is French but 80% speak Bambara. Although there have been recorded more than 40 living African languages, the most relevant are Bamanankan, Bomu, Bozo, Dogoso, Fulfulde, Hasanya, Mamara, Maninkakan, Soninke, Sonoy, Syenara, Tamasayt and Xaasongaxanno. The literacy rate is of around 31 %, always higher in case of men.
Mali is one of the poorest countries of the world with a per capita income of 600$ per year. The economic activity is concentrated on the banks of the Niger River, with a 10% of the population dedicated to nomadism and 80 % to fishing and agriculture. It is complemented with an agriculture rich in cotton and peanuts; there are also gold, iron, phosphate and copper reserves. The industry is limited to oils, leather, skins, cotton, and meat preparations. The industrial activity is limited to the processing of farm products. The communications network is quite precarious. Mali has 641 km railways and 15,610 km roads, 1,661 km of which are asphalted. There is also the port of Koulikoro and 1,815 km navigable channels.
The economy is starting to change after the stagnation from 1992-95, where the imports and exports increased to the detriment of the own production, making use of the devaluation of their currency by 50 % on January 12, 1994. The consequent inflation reached 35 % the same year and the government seems to be determined to follow the program established by the IMF with structural adjustments. The foreign debt is of 2.8 thousand million dollars and its GDP (equivalent to the purchasing power) is of 5.4 thousand million dollar. The official currency of the country is the CFA Franc, equivalent to 0,002¬.
The Empire of Mali, founded in the 11th century, reached its zenith during the 13th and 14th century, being one of the dominant states of the Western Africa and one of the main cultural and trade centres of the region. When European seafarers began appearing in the coasts of the Gulf of Guinea, Ghana became the meeting point for tradespeople from Transsaharan caravans and Europe. This privileged position ended in 1850 when French troops occupied the country after winning over Malis resistance, including the country in the colonial administration of French Western Africa. After World War II, pro-independence ideas began rising strongly and on September 22, 1960, together with Senegal, the country reached its independence changing its name from Sudan to Mali.
Malis first president was Modibo Keita, who suffered a coup in 1968 after which the government was taken over by the Military Committee for National Liberation (CMLN), lead by Lieutenant Moussa Traor, who undertook to put an end to corruption and to put the economy back on a sound footing. But the population became dissatisfied and the split within the military took to several failed coups. After 23 years as head of state, Moussa Traor was overthrown by another military coup, this time lead by Lieutenant Colonel Amadou Toumani Touré, who took over the presidency of the National Reconciliation Council (CNR). Under the pressure of France, the new regime organised the National Conference to discuss a new constitution and the formation of a Provisional Government to prepare free elections, as well as the distancing of the military from politics. A new constitution was approved in 1974 that abolished the parliamentary regime, establishing a regime of a single governing party.
Another serious problem to be faced by the Government was the insurrection of the Tuareg in the north and the Moors in the west in 1991. The drought in 1990 put an end to a large part of the Tuareg traditional economy, based on cattle raising, with the consequent marginalization of the people. The problem affected also Niger, Burkina Faso and Algeria, so that the government tried to find common solutions with the other affected governments. The solution came in 1992, by means of agreements between the governments of Algeria and Mali and Tuareg organisations and with agreements between the government of Mauritania and Mali as regards the problem with the Moors.
In April of the same year the presidential elections were held conferring the presidency to the university professor Alpha Oumar Konare. The austerity measures imposed in agreement with the International Monetary Fund generated an increased of the populations impoverishment, and they finally forced the resignation of the Prime Minister. His successors, former Minister of Defence Abdoulaye Sekou Sow and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, were not able to increase the situation and old tensions reappeared, such as the Tuareg problem that raised again with virulence. Since 2002, the head of the Mali Government is Amadou Toumani Touré.
Malis type of government is the republic, where the executive power is held by the president elected by vote of the population aged 21 and older, for a period of five years. The legislative power is made up by one chamber and the legal system is based on French civil law system and customary law; laws are submitted to judicial review o by the Constitutional Court (which was formally established on 9 March 1994). It has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.
