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Mali, officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali), is a landlocked nation in Western Africa. Mali is the seventh largest country in Africa, bordering Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west.

Consisting of eight regions, Mali's borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country's southern region, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. The country's economic structure centers around agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's natural resources include gold, uranium, and salt. Mali is considered to be one of the poorest nations in the world.

Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (from which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. In the late 1800s, Mali fell under French control, becoming part of French Sudan. Mali gained independence in 1959 with Senegal, as the Mali Federation in 1959. A year later, the Mali Federation became the independent nation of Mali in 1960. After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state.

History

Main article: History of Mali

Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, and other precious commodities.^[1] These Sahelian kingdoms had neither rigid geopolitical boundaries nor rigid ethnic identities.^[1] The earliest of these empires was the Ghana Empire, which was dominated by the Soninke, a Mande-speaking people.^[1] The nation expanded throughout West Africa from the 8th century until 1078, when it was conquered by the Almoravids.^[2]

The extent of the Mali Empire's peak

The Mali Empire later formed on the upper Niger River, and reached the height of power in the fourteenth century.^[2] Under the Mali Empire, the ancient cities of Djenné and Timbuktu were centers of both trade and Islamic learning.^[2] The empire later declined as a result of internal intrigue, ultimately being supplanted by the Songhai Empire.^[2] The Songhai people originated in current northwestern Nigeria. The Songhai had long been a major power in West Africa subject to the Mali Empire's rule.^[2] In the late 14th century, the Songhai gradually gained independence from the Mali Empire and expanded, ultimately subsuming the entire eastern portion of the Mali Empire.^[2] The Songhai Empire's eventual collapse was largely the result of a Berber invasion in 1591.^[2] The fall of the Songhai Empire marked the end of the region's role as a trading crossroads.^[2] Following the establishment of sea routes by the European powers, the trans-Saharan trade routes lost significance.^[2]

In the colonial era, Mali fell under the control of the French beginning in the late 1800s.^[2] By 1905, most of the area was under firm French control as a part of French Sudan.^[2] In early 1959, Mali (then the Sudanese Republic) and Senegal united to become the Mali Federation. The Mali Federation gained independence from France on June 20, 1960.^[2] Senegal withdrew from the federation in August 1960, which allowed the Sudanese Republic to form the independent nation of Mali on September 22, 1960. Modibo Keïta was elected the first president.^[2] Keïta quickly established a one-party state, adopted an independent African and socialist orientation with close ties to the East, and implemented extensive nationalization of economic resources.^[2]

In November 1968, following progressive economic decline, the Keïta regime was overthrown in a bloodless military coup led by Moussa Traoré.^[3] The subsequent military-led regime, with Traoré as president, attempted to reform the economy. However, his efforts were frustrated by political turmoil and a devastating drought between 1968 to 1974.^[3] The Traoré regime faced student unrest beginning in the late 1970s and three coup attempts. However, the Traoré regime repressed all dissenters until the late 1980s.^[3] The government continued to attempt economic reforms, and the populace became increasingly dissatisfied.^[3] In response to growing demands for multi-party democracy, the Traoré regime allowed some limited political liberalization, but refused to usher in a full-fledged democratic system.^[3] In 1990, cohesive opposition movements began to emerge, and was complicated by the turbulent rise of ethnic violence in the north following the return of many Tuaregs to Mali.^[3]

Anti-government protests in 1991 led to a coup, a transitional government, and a new constitution.^[3] In 1992, Alpha Oumar Konaré won Mali's first democratic, multi-party presidential election. Upon his reelection in 1997, President Konaré pushed through political and economic reforms and fought corruption. In 2002, he was succeeded in democratic elections by Amadou Toumani Touré, a retired general, who had been the leader of the military aspect of the 1991 democratic uprising.^[4] Today, Mali is one of the most politically and socially stable countries in Africa.^[5]

Geography

Satellite image of Mali

Main article: Geography of Mali

See also: List of cities in Mali

Mali is a landlocked nation in West Africa, located southwest of Algeria. At 1,240,000 square kilometres (479,000 sq mi), Mali is the world's 24th-largest country and is comparable in size to South Africa or Peru. Most of the country lies in the southern Sahara, which produces a hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons.^[6] The country extends southwest through the subtropical Sahel to the Sudanian savanna zone.^[6] Mali is mostly flat, rising to rolling northern plains covered by sand. The Adrar des Ifoghas lies in the northeast.

The country's climate ranges from subtropical in the south to arid in the north.^[6] Most of the country receives negligible rainfall; droughts are frequent.^[6] Late June to early December is the rainy season. During this time, flooding of the Niger River is common.^[6] The nation has considerable natural resources, with gold, uranium, phosphates, kaolinite, salt and limestone being most widely exploited. Mali faces numerous environmental challenges, including desertification, deforestation, soil erosion, and inadequate supplies of potable water.^[6]

Regions and cercles

Main articles: Regions of Mali and Cercles of Mali

Mali is divided into eight regions (régions) and one district.^[7] Each region has a governor.^[8] Since Mali's regions are huge, the country is subdivided into 49 cercles, totaling 288 arrondissements.^[9] Mayors and elected members of the city councils officiate the arrondissements.^[8]

The regions and district are:

Politics and government

Main article: Politics of Mali

Mali is a constitutional democracy governed by the constitution of January 12, 1992, which was amended in 1999.^[10] The constitution provides for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.^[10] The system of government can be described as "semi-presidential."^[10]

Mali President Amadou Toumani Touré

Executive power is vested in a president, who is elected to a five-year term by universal suffrage and is limited to two terms.^[10]^[11] The president serves as chief of state and commander in chief of the armed forces.^[10]^[12] A prime minister appointed by the president serves as head of government and in turn appoints the Council of Ministers.^[10]^[13] The unicameral National Assembly is Mali’s sole legislative body, consisting of deputies elected to five-year terms.^[14]^[15] Following the 2007 elections, the Alliance for Democracy and Progress held 113 of 160 seats in the assembly.^[16] 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.^[14]^[17]

Mali’s constitution provides for an independent judiciary,^[14]^[18] 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.^[14] 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.^[14]^[19] Various lower courts exist, though village chiefs and elders resolve most local disputes in rural areas.^[14]

Foreign relations and military

Main articles: Foreign relations of Mali and Military of Mali

Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré with U.S. President George W. Bush

Mali's foreign policy orientation has become increasingly pragmatic and pro-Western over time.^[20] Since the institution of a democratic form of government in 2002, Mali’s relations with the West in general and with the United States in particular have improved significantly.^[20] Mali has a longstanding yet ambivalent relationship with France, a former colonial ruler.^[20] Mali is active in regional organizations such as the African Union.^[20] Working to control and resolve regional conflicts, such as in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, is one of Mali’s major foreign policy goals.^[20] Mali feels threatened by the potential for the spillover of conflicts in neighboring states, and relations with those neighbors are often uneasy.^[20] General insecurity along borders in the north, including cross-border banditry and terrorism, remain troubling issues in regional relations.^[20]

Mali’s military forces consist of an army, which includes land forces and a small navy and air force, as well as the paramilitary Gendarmerie and Republican Guard, all of which are under the control of Mali's Ministry of Defense and Veterans, headed by a civilian.^[21] The military is underpaid, poorly equipped, and in need of rationalization.^[21] Organization has suffered from the incorporation of Tuareg irregular forces into the regular military following a 1992 agreement between the government and Tuareg rebel forces.^[21] The military has generally kept a low profile since the democratic transition of 1992. The incumbent president, Amadou Toumani Touré, is a former army general and as such reportedly enjoys widespread military support.