Current Environmental Issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching

Geography

Source: CIA

Location: Western Africa, southwest of Algeria

Geographic Coordinates: 17 00 N, 4 00 W

Area:

total: 1.24 million sq km
land: 1.22 million sq km
water: 20,000 sq km

Land Boundaries:

total: 7,243 km
border countries: Algeria 1,376 km, Burkina Faso 1,000 km, Guinea 858 km, Cote d'Ivoire 532 km, Mauritania 2,237 km, Niger 821 km, Senegal 419 km

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime Claims: none (landlocked)

Natural Hazards: hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding

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
highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m

Climate

Subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February)

Government

Government type: Republic

Capital: Bamako

Independence Date: 22 September 1960 (from France)

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

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

International Agreement

Environmental-international Agreement:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

People and Society

Population: 12,324,029 (July 2008 est.)

Age Structure:

0-14 years: 48.2% (male 3,004,003/female 2,937,138)
15-64 years: 48.7% (male 2,976,314/female 3,028,433)
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 150,597/female 227,544) (2008 est.)

Population Growth Rate: 2.725% (2008 est.)

Birth Rate: 49.38 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death Rate: 16.16 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net Migration Rate: -5.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth:

total population: 49.94 years
male: 48 years
female: 51.94 years (2008 est.)

Total Fertility Rate: 7.34 children born/woman (2008 est.)

Languages: French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages

Literacy:

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 46.4%
male: 53.5%
female: 39.6% (2003 est.)

Water

Total Renewable Water Resources: 100 cu km (2001)

Freshwater Withdrawal (domestic, industrial, agricultural):

total: 6.55 cu km/yr (9%/1%/90%)
per capita: 484 cu m/yr (2000)

Agriculture

Agricultural Products: cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats

Irrigated Land: 2,360 sq km (2003)

Resources

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%
permanent crops: 0.03%
other: 96.21% (2005)

Energy

Health

Prevalence Rate of HIV/AIDS in Adults: 1.9% (2003 est.)

Major Infectious Diseases:

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: malaria
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)

Conflict

International Disputes: none

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: refugees (country of origin): 6,300 (Mauritania) (2007)

Economy

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 5% average in 1996-2007. 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): $13.47 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (Official Exchange Rate): $6.745 billion (2007 est.)

GDP- real growth rate: 2.5% (2007 est.)

GDP- per capita (PPP): $1,000 (2007 est.)

GDP- composition by sector:

agriculture: 45%
industry: 17%
services: 38% (2001 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line: 36.1% (2005 est.)

Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:

lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.2% (2001)

Industries: food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining

Exports: cotton, gold, livestock

Export Partners: China 16.8%, Thailand 9%, Taiwan 8.9%, Bangladesh 6.8%, Vietnam 6.2% (2006)

Imports: petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles

Import Partners: France 12.9%, Senegal 12.7%, Cote d'Ivoire 10.9%, China 4.8% (2006)

Economic Aid Recipient: $691.5 million (2005)

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF)

Communications

Telephones- main line in use: 82,500 (2006)

Telephones- mobile/cellular: 2.483 million (2007)

Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 1, FM 230 (27 regional and government stations, and 203 private stations), shortwave 1 (2001)

Television Broadcast Stations: 2 (plus repeaters) (2007)

Internet Hosts: 28 (2007)

Internet Users: 70,000 (2006)

Transportation

Airports: 29 (2007)

Railways:

total: 729 km
narrow gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)

Roadways:

total: 18,709 km
paved: 3,368 km
unpaved: 15,341 km (2004)

Ports and Terminals: Koulikoro