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Full name: The Republic of Mali
Population: 15.8 million (UN, 2011)
Capital: Bamako
Area: 1.25 million sq km (482,077 sq miles)
Major languages: French, Bambara, Berber, Arabic
Major religions: Islam, indigenous beliefs
Life expectancy: 51 years (men), 53 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) franc = 100 centimes
Main exports: Cotton, gold, livestock
GNI per capita: US $600 (World Bank, 2010)
Internet domain: .ml
International dialling code: +223
Population: 15.8 million (UN, 2011)
Capital: Bamako
Area: 1.25 million sq km (482,077 sq miles)
Major languages: French, Bambara, Berber, Arabic
Major religions: Islam, indigenous beliefs
Life expectancy: 51 years (men), 53 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) franc = 100 centimes
Main exports: Cotton, gold, livestock
GNI per capita: US $600 (World Bank, 2010)
Internet domain: .ml
International dialling code: +223
The landlocked West African country of Mali - one of the poorest in the world - experienced rapid economic growth from the 1990s, coupled with a flourishing democracy and relative social stability.
This all hung in the balance in early 2012, when the steady collapse of state control over the north of the country was followed by an inconclusive military coup. For several decades after independence from France in 1960, Mali suffered droughts, rebellions, a coup and 23 years of military dictatorship until democratic elections in 1992. The core of ancient empires going back to the fourth century, Mali was conquered by the French in the middle of the 19th century. After a brief experiment in federation with Senegal, Mali became independent in 1960. Although swathes of Mali are barren, the country is self-sufficient in food thanks to the fertile Niger river basin in the south and east. It is one of Africa's major cotton producers, and has lobbied against subsidies to cotton farmers in richer countries, particularly the US. A chronic foreign trade deficit makes it nonetheless heavily dependent on foreign aid and remittances from Malians working abroad. In the early 1990s the nomadic Tuareg of the north began an insurgency over land and cultural rights that persists to this day, despite central government attempts at military and negotiated solutions. The insurgency gathered pace in 2007, and was exacerabated by an influx of arms from the 2011 Libyan civil war. The Saharan branch of al-Qaeda was quick to move into this increasingly lawless area, and contributed to the challenges facing the underequipped Malian army. |
information provided by www.bbcnews.co.uk