Mali

MALI

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT
TOPOGRAPHY
CLIMATE
FLORA AND FAUNA
ENVIRONMENT
POPULATION
MIGRATION
ETHNIC GROUPS
LANGUAGES
RELIGIONS
TRANSPORTATION
HISTORY
GOVERNMENT
POLITICAL PARTIES
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
JUDICIAL SYSTEM
ARMED FORCES
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
ECONOMY
INCOME
LABOR
AGRICULTURE
ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
FISHING
FORESTRY
MINING
ENERGY AND POWER
INDUSTRY
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DOMESTIC TRADE
FOREIGN TRADE
BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
BANKING AND SECURITIES
INSURANCE
PUBLIC FINANCE
TAXATION
CUSTOMS AND DUTIES
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
HEALTH
HOUSING
EDUCATION
LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS
MEDIA
ORGANIZATIONS
TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION
FAMOUS MALIANS
DEPENDENCIES
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Republic of Mali

République du Mali

CAPITAL: Bamako

FLAG: The flag is a tricolor of green, yellow, and red vertical stripes.

ANTHEM: National Anthem begins "At thy call, O Mali."

MONETARY UNIT: The Malian franc (mf), a paper currency that had been floating with the French franc, was replaced in June 1984 by the French Community Franc (CFA Fr) at a ratio of mf2 = CFA Fr1. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 CFA francs and notes of 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 CFA francs. CFA Fr1 = $0.00189 (or $1 = CFA Fr528.28) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Armed Forces Day, 20 January; Democracy Day, 26 March; Labor Day, 1 May; Africa Day, 25 May; Independence Day, 22 September; Christmas, 25 December. Movable religious holidays include 'Id al-Fitr, 'Id al-'Adha', Milad an-Nabi, and Easter Monday.

TIME: GMT.

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT

A landlocked country in West Africa, Mali has an area of about 1,240,000 sq km (478,767 sq mi), extending 1,852 km (1,151 mi) ene–wsw and 1,258 km (782 mi) nnw–sse. Comparatively, the area occupied by Mali is slightly less than twice the size of the state of Texas. Bounded on the n and ne by Algeria, on the e and s by Niger, on the s by Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, on the sw by Guinea, on the w by Senegal, and on the w and nw by Mauritania, Mali has a total boundary length of 7,243 km (4,661 mi). Mali's capital city, Bamako, is located in the southwestern part of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

There are few prominent surface features in Mali, which is crossed by two river systems—the Niger and the Senegal. In the southwest are low mountains deeply notched by valleys formed by the coursing of water. A second upland, in the circle formed by the Niger River, is virtually a plateau and contains Hombori Tondo, 1,155 m (3,789 ft), the highest point in Mali. In the northeast is Adrar des Iforas, an extension of Algeria's Ahaggar Mountains. The republic is divided into three natural zones. The Sudanese zone is an area of cultivation covering some 200,000 sq km (77,200 sq mi) in the south and in the inland delta (a pre-Tertiary lake bed into which the upper Niger once flowed). The Sahel stretches east to west through the center of the country and the Sahara stretches across the northern region. A number of seasonal lakes can be found in the central Sahel region.

CLIMATE

Southern and western Mali have a Sudanese climate with a short rainy season from June to September. Rainfall averages 140 cm (55 in) at Sikasso in the far south. To the north is the Sahelian zone, a semiarid region along the southern border of the Sahara. At Gao, in Mali's northeast Sahel, rainfall is about 23 cm (9 in) a year. Actual year-to-year rainfall, however, is extremely erratic. In the Sahelian zone there are considerable variations of temperature, especially in April, May, and June, the period of maximum heat, and in December, when the hot, dry harmattan blows. Continuing north, one gradually enters into a Saharan climate, marked by the virtual absence of rain and an extremely dry atmosphere. Over 40% of the country is desert, and unsuitable for agriculture.

The year is divided into three main seasons varying in length according to latitude: October–January, a cool and dry season; February–May, a hot and dry season; and June–September, a season of rains characterized by lower temperatures and an increase in humidity. Between 1968 and 1974, Mali, with neighboring Sahel states, experienced the worst drought in 60 years. Drought returned during 1982–85, and there is continuing concern over the southward advance of the desert.

FLORA AND FAUNA

The Saharan zone of Mali, an area of fixed dunes and false steppes, contains vegetation made up of thick-leaved and thorny plants (mimosas and gum trees). The vegetation of the Sahelian zone resembles that of the steppes, with thorny plants and shrubby savannas. The Sudanese zone is an area of herbaceous vegetation; its trees are bastard mahogany, kapok, baobab, and shea.

In the Saharan, or desert zone, animal life includes dorcas, cheetah, and maned wild sheep, the latter in the mountains. In the Sahelian region are found oryx, gazelle, giraffe, wart hog, ostrich, bustard, red monkey, and cheetah, as well as lion, jackal, fox, hyena, and cynhyena. In the Sudanese zone there are large and small antelope, buffalo, elephant, lion, and monkey, plus such small game as hare, bustard, guinea fowl, quail, pigeon, and such water birds as duck, teal, sandpiper, peetweet, godwit, and woodcock. Other birds include pelican, marabou, ibis, egret, heron, eagle, and vulture.

As of 2002, there were at least 137 species of mammals, 191 species of birds, and over 1,700 species of plants throughout the country.

ENVIRONMENT

The major environmental problem in Mali is the increasing desertification of the country. Soil erosion, deforestation, and loss of pastureland pose additional problems for the environment. Mali also has an inadequate water supply: only 76% of city dwellers and 35% of people living in rural areas have access to pure water. The country has about 60 cu km of renewable water resources, of which 97% of annual withdrawals is used for farming and 1% is used for industrial purposes.

The nation's wildlife is threatened by drought, poaching, and the destruction of the environment. Mali has a national park and four animal reserves that cover a total of 808,600 ha (1,998,100 acres), as well as six forest reserves covering 229,400 ha (566,900 acres). In addition, the Sahel has an elephant reserve of 1,200,000 ha (2,965,000 acres) and a giraffe reserve of 1,750,000 ha (4,324,000 acres). However, the authorities lack the means to prevent poaching of protected animals or cutting down of trees for firewood. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), the number of threatened species included 12 types of mammals, 5 species of birds, 1 type of reptiles, 1 species of fish, and 6 species of plants. Threatened species include the addax, cheetah, and barbary sheep. The Sahara oryx has become extinct in the wild.

POPULATION

The population of Mali in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 13.5 million, which placed it at number 65 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 3% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 47% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 99 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–2010 was expected to be 3.2%, a rate the government viewed as too high. The projected population for the year 2025 was 24 million. The population density was 11 per sq km (28 per sq mi), but the western quarter of the country has three-quarters of the population, and along the Niger River, population density exceeds 1,300 per sq km (500 per sq mi). By contrast fewer than 4 people per square km (1.5 per sq mi) live in the northern three-fifths of Mali. About 10% of the inhabitants are nomadic, and the remainder rural.

The UN estimated that 30% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 5.20%. The capital city, Bamako, had a population of 1.26 million in that year. Other important towns are Ségou, Mopti, Sikasso, and Kayes.

MIGRATION

The Fulani, Tuareg, and other nomadic groups of northern Mali move freely across desert borders to and from neighboring countries. As many as two million Malians migrate seasonally to Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Libya. In addition, 150,000 Malians fled to Algeria, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania in the early 1990s to escape government repression. Between June 1995 and 1999, some 131,780 Malian refugees returned home from Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. Malian refugees of Tuareg and Moor ethnic origin continue to return. There is also increasing migration from rural to urban areas.

In 1999, about 6,000 Mauritanians were refugees in Mali's Kayes region. There were also 1,924 urban refugees from 17 African and Middle Eastern countries, predominantly Sierra Leone and Liberia. Of the 16,800 initial Mauritanian refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) helped to repatriate some 10,800. In 2004 there were 11,256 refugees in Mali, primarily from Mauritania, and 1,086 asylum seekers. In that same year some 2,000 Malians sought asylum in France, Spain, and Switzerland. In 2005, the net migration rate was an estimated -0.33 migrants per 1,000 population. The government views the migration levels as satisfactory.

ETHNIC GROUPS

The main ethnic groups of Mali are the Mande, including the Bambara, Malinke, and Sarakole, accounting for about 50% of the total population. Other groups include the Peul (or Fulani), accounting for 17%; the Voltaic, making up 12%; the Songhai, constituting 6%; the Tuareg and Moors 10%; and other groups 5%.

The Bambara, mostly farmers, occupy all of central Mali bounded by the Côte d'Ivoire frontier in the south and Nara and Nioro in the north. Malinke live chiefly in the regions of Bafoulabé, Kita, and Bamako. The Peul (or Fulani), semisedentary herdsmen, are to be found throughout the republic, but mainly in the region of Mopti. The Songhai—farmers, fishermen, and merchants—live along the banks and islands of the Niger River, east of the inland delta. The nomadic Tuareg, of Berber origin, are mainly in the north, in the Adrar des Iforas. The Minianka, largely farmers, populate the region of Koutiala, and the Senufo, also farmers, are found principally in the region of Sikasso. The Dogon, often considered to be the first occupants of Mali, are believed to have survived owing to the inaccessibility of their villages in the Hombori cliffs. The Dogon have won international esteem for their unique ceremonial artifacts. The majority of the peoples in Mali are Negroid; the Tuareg are classified as Caucasoid; and the Puel (Fulani) are of mixed origin.

LANGUAGES

French, the official language, is the language of administration and of the schools and is the main unifying tongue for the country's diverse population elements. There are virtually as many languages as there are ethnic groups. However, Bambara—widely spoken in western, central, and southern Mali—is understood by about 80% of the population. The Semitic-speaking Arabs and Hamitic-speaking Tuareg are the only groups with a traditional written language, although in recent years other languages, most of which belong to the Niger-Congo group of African languages, have come to be written. Fulani is spoken in the Niger delta, and Songhai in the east and northeast.

RELIGIONS

It is estimated that about 90% of the people are Muslims, the vast majority being Sunnis. The Islamic fundamentalist sect of Dawa has grown in Kidal, Mopti, and Bamako. The Wahabi movement is important in Tombouctou. About 5% of the population are Christian, with a split of about two-thirds Catholics and one-third Protestant. Most of the remainder practice indigenous religions. The constitution provides for freedom of religion and defines the country as a secular state.

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation is controlled by the government's Malian Transport Authority. Mali has some 729 km (453 mi) of railroad, all of it narrow gauge, and served by diesel electric locomotives. The main line, from Dakar in Senegal to Bamako, runs a twice-weekly passenger service. There is more frequent service between Bamako and Koulikoro, the last stop on the line, and between Bamako and Kayes. The IBRD has helped finance the modernization of the Malian rail system.

Mali's road network includes about 15,100 km (9,383 mi) of highways of which some 1,827 km (1,135 mi) were paved as of 2002. A major project, completed in 1986, was the construction of a 558-km (347-mi) road between Gao and Sévare, near Mopti, to be part of a trans-Sahara highway linking Algeria and Nigeria. In 2003, there were 7,920 passenger cars and 9,900 commercial vehicles in Mali.

Mali is landlocked but it is served by the port of Dakar in Senegal. The Niger River, which in Mali is 1,782 km (1,107 mi) long, is navigable except for a 59-km (37-mi) stretch between Bamako and Koulikoro (the main river port), where it is cut by rapids. The Bani River, a tributary of the Niger, is navigable for 224 km (139 mi) between San and Mopti. Regular service on the Niger is generally maintained from July through January. The Senegal is navigable between Kayes and Saint-Louis, Senegal. Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania make up the Senegal River Development Organization.

There were an estimated 28 airports in 2004, only 9 of which had paved runways as of 2005. An international airport is at Senou, 14 km (9 mi) from Bamako. Air Mali, the state-owned airline, flies to Gao, Mopti, Kayes, Nioro, Tombouctou, Nara, Yelimané, and Goundam. There are also airports at Ségou, Tessalit, Bourem, and Kidal. In 1992, Mali joined the ten other signatories of the Yaoundé Treaty and became a partner in Air Afrique. In 2003, about 46,000 passengers were carried on scheduled domestic and international airline flights.

HISTORY

The recorded history of the area now called Mali begins with the empire of Ghana. This means it dates from about the 4th century ad. At its height in the 10th century, the Ghana Empire occupied eastern Senegal, southwest Mali, and southern Mauritania and carried on a steady trade across the Sahara with Arab states. It disintegrated by the 13th century and was succeeded by the Mali Empire, from which the independent republic takes its name.

The Mali Empire reached its peak in the 14th century under Mansa Musa (r.1312–37), who captured Tombouctou and made Mali a center of Muslim scholarship. Tombouctou and Djenné became key centers for trans-Sahara trade. By the 17th century, however, the empire had ceased to exist, and the Tuareg took much of the northern area.

Meanwhile, to the east, the Songhai Empire was founded around ad 700 on the middle Niger. Later centered at Gao, the empire was at its zenith after the capture of Tombouctou in 1468. The chief rulers in this period were Sonni Ali Ber (r.1464–92) and Askia Muhammad I (r.1492–1528). In 1591, the Songhai fell to an invading Moroccan army, which established secure bases at Gao, Tombouctou, and Djenné. Under Moroccan rule, a military caste known as the Arma developed, which controlled the countryside, but by 1780, the area had become fragmented into petty states.

In the 19th century, al-Hajj Umar, a member of the Tukulor tribe, waged a Muslim holy war against the pagans of the area. In 1862, he conquered Ségou and Macina, and the next year he plundered Tombouctou. He was killed in 1864 while trying to put down a rebellion. Around 1880, the French began their advance into what was to become the Republic of Mali. They were opposed from 1882 to 1898 by Samory Touré, a Malinké (Mandingo) leader who was ultimately captured and exiled. The capture of Sikasso in 1898 completed the French conquest.

Under French administration, the area became known as French Sudan (Soudan Français) and was a part of French West Africa. Achievements of French rule included the building of the Dakar-Bamako railway and a Niger Delta development scheme. In 1946, the Sudanese became French citizens, with representation in the French parliament. Under the constitution of 1946, the franchise was enlarged and a territorial assembly was established. Universal suffrage was established in 1957, when enlarged powers were conferred on the territorial assembly, which was also given the right to elect a council of ministers responsible for the administration of internal affairs. In 1958, under the constitution of the Fifth French Republic, French Sudan became an autonomous republic, called the Sudanese Republic, within the French Community.

Independence

In January 1959, in Dakar, representatives of the Sudanese Republic, Senegal, Dahomey (now Benin), and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) drafted a constitution of the Federation of Mali (named after the medieval African empire), but only the assemblies of the Sudanese Republic and Senegal ratified it and became members of the federation. Later that year the new Mali Federation asked the French Community to grant it complete sovereignty while permitting it to remaining a member of the Community. The Mali Federation became a sovereign state in June 1960.

Discord soon arose over external and internal policy, and on 20 August 1960, the federation was dissolved. On 22 September 1960, the Sudan declared itself independent as the Republic of Mali. Modibo Keita, a cofounder of the African Democratic Assembly and political secretary of the Mali Federation's African Federation Party, took control of the government. The break with Senegal was followed by the decision to leave the French Community. All ties between Senegal and Mali were severed, and Mali embargoed trade with or through Senegal until 1963, when an accord was reached.

The one-party dictatorship led by President Keita evolved into a socialist regime modeled on that of the People's Republic of China. However, by 1968, economic problems and discontent became severe. On 19 November, Keita was overthrown in a bloodless coup led by Lt. (later Gen.) Moussa Traoré. The 1960 constitution was abolished, and a 14-member Military Committee for National Liberation took command. The junta brought Mali back into the franc zone in 1968 and opened its doors to investment from non-socialist as well as socialist countries.

Lt. Traoré became president in 1969, following an interim period of Yoro Diakité's presidency. (Diakité was expelled from the Military Committee in 1972 and died in the prison salt mines of Taoudenni in 1973.)

The military regime's efforts to improve the economic situation in Mali were frustrated by the prolonged period of drought that began in 1968 and peaked in 1972–73. It was estimated that, during that time, one-third of the population was rendered destitute. Severe drought conditions also prevailed in 1982–85.

In 1978, 29 army and police officers were convicted of plotting against the regime, and political unrest continued in later years. Traoré was elected president in 1979 under a new constitution, which also confirmed Mali as a one-party state. He was reelected in 1985. Fighting broke out between Mali and Burkina Faso on 25 December 1985 over possession of the Agacher Strip, an arid tract of land along their common border. About 65–70 men were killed before a cease-fire on 30 December. On 22 December 1986 the International Court of Justice, to which the dispute had been submitted in 1983, divided 2,952 sq km (1,140 sq mi) between the two countries in roughly equal parts.

Democratization

On 26 March 1991, Lt. Col. Amadou Toumani Touré engineered a coup that toppled the Traoré government. Following bloody confrontations between youth groups and the army in 1990 and 1991 in which more than 200 were killed, Touré immediately set up a National Reconciliation Council which appointed a broad-based Transitional Committee for Popular Salvation to oversee the transition to civilian democracy. In May 1991, a public trial broadcast over Malian radio eventually resulted in the conviction (February 1993) of former President Traoré and three associates, who received a death sentence for the March 1991 massacres.

A crisis was averted by a national conference, which included 48 political parties and some 700 civic associations. The participants met from 29 July to 14 August 1991, drafting new electoral rules, party statutes, and a new constitution, which was adopted by referendum in January 1992, and established an agenda for the transition. There were elections for municipal councilors and National Assembly deputies and, finally, presidential elections on 12 and 26 April 1992. Dr. Alpha Oumar Konaré, the leader of the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA) became Mali's first democratically elected president with 69% of the vote. The Third Republic was launched. ADEMA also won 76 of the 116 National Assembly seats.

One of the last acts of the Touré transitional government was to negotiate (with Algerian mediation) a peace treaty in April 1992 with rebel Tuaregs in the north. The government acknowledged the Northerners' special status, and the Tuaregs renounced their claims to independence. Algeria agreed to guarantee the truce, which ended two years of fighting. In 1992 and 1993, between 60,000 and 100,000 Tuareg refugees returned from abroad. In February 1993, the government and the rebel group, the Unified Movements and Fronts of Azawad (MFUA), agreed to integrate MFUA guerrillas into the national army and, in May 1994, arrived at a further agreement to implement the 1992 National Pact. In May 1995, President Konaré personally visited refugee camps in bordering states in an effort to assure Tuareg refugees that it was safe to return home. In March 1996, after 3,000 Tuareg rebels had been integrated into the military, there was a massive ceremonial burning of their surrendered weapons in downtown Tombouctou. In January 2000, some 1,000 Tuareg returned home to northern Mali from Niger.

A culmination of pressures led to a new government in April 1993. Abdoulaye Sekou Sow replaced Younoussi Touré as prime minister, and the National Congress of Democratic Initiative (CNIT) took a portion of the ministerial portfolios. However, this government was short-lived. Student disgruntlement with the economy, high unemployment, the negative effects of structural adjustment, and the devaluation of the CFA franc contributed to much popular dissatisfaction, and to the fall of the Sow government in February 1994. In the subsequent government, ADEMA took 11 of the 16 ministries. Several ADEMA members left the party following Ibrahim Boubakar Keita's election as secretary of ADEMA and his appointment as prime minister. The detractors formed the Movement for Independence, Renaissance, and African Integration (MIRIA). The Patriotic Movement for Renovation (MPR) was also formed at this time, along with a splinter from the CNID, the Party for National Liberation (PARENA). Upset with the pace of reforms, students continued their violent unrest, resulting in the January 1996 arrest of several student leaders. The crackdown was widely criticized, and in late January 1996, the CNID introduced a motion of no confidence in parliament, which the government this time was able to survive.

Malians took a step toward national healing in January 1999 when President Alpha Oumar Konaré commuted death sentences imposed on Traoré and his wife after they were convicted of embezzlement. The successful rural community elections of May–June 1999 strengthened Mali's quest for decentralized democracy. In spite of the low voter turnout caused by the boycott of the radical left, opposition groups won nearly 40% of the 10,000 council seats, though none of the parties won more than 10% of the seats. Given this new avenue for political participation, observers felt that the radical left, grouped under the Collectif des Partis Politiques de l'Opposition (COPPO), marginalized by its boycott, would want to contest future elections.

In February 2000, President Alpha Konaré announced a new national government spearheaded by Prime Minister Mande Sidibe, whose main task was to relaunch the economy. Konaré's cabinet included seven women and seven colonels. Six former ministers remained in government, including Foreign Minister Modibo Sidibe. Despite criticisms of corruption and failed economic policies, under Konaré, government became more representative and responsive to citizens. Society also became more open to debate. More than 40 newspapers, including 4 of 5 daily papers, were privately owned. Although the state controlled television, some 15 private radio stations operated in Bamako, and more than 40 stations broadcast freely up-country. Having served as chairman of ECOWAS, and being one a few African heads of state to stand down after completing his constitutional term of office, Alpha Konaré enhanced Mali's reputation internationally.

On 28 April 2002, Amadou Toumani Touré, nicknamed "ATT," emerged the leader of the first-round presidential election with 29% of the vote, defeating former prime minister and rival, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. In the run-off election on 12 May, Touré obtained 64% of the vote, defeating Soumaila Cissé to become the second democratically elected president of the Republic of Mali. Cissé won 35.6% of the vote. Eleven francophone African leaders witnessed the transfer of power from one constitutionally elected president to another—the first in Mali's history. New elections are due in May 2007.

GOVERNMENT

After independence, Mali was governed by the 1960 constitution, which provided for a national assembly. This body was abolished by the Keita regime in January 1968. Following the military coup of November 1968, the constitution itself was abolished and a provisional regime, the Military Committee for National Liberation, was established.

A long-awaited constitution was drawn up by the Military Committee in 1974 and endorsed in a public referendum on 2 June 1974. In this first national ballot since 1964, 99% of the electorate voted for acceptance. The constitution, which took full effect in 1979 and was amended in 1981, provided for a president with a six-year term, an 82-member national assembly, and a one-party system. The assembly was elected for a three-year term. There was universal suffrage at age 21. The 1979 constitution was replaced by a new constitution adopted by referendum in January 1992.

In 1997, the national assembly had 116 deputies with 10 parties represented. Presently, the total number of seats is 147 with members popularly elected serving five-year terms. Led by ATT, the Hope 2002 coalition holds 66 seats to 51 for ADEMA, and 30 held by other parties with the next rounds of elections scheduled for 2007.

The president, elected by popular vote, chooses the prime minister who selects a cabinet. Attempting to remain above party politics, ATT insisted that all of the main parties having won parliamentary seats in the July 2002 elections be represented by cabinet members in the government.

POLITICAL PARTIES

The first political party in Mali, the Sudan Progressive Party (Parti Soudanais Progressiste—PSP) was an affiliate of the French Socialist Party. It dominated political activity in French Sudan for 10 years. It was followed by the Sudanese Union, a revolutionary, anticolonial party, which had its main strength in the towns. In the two elections of autumn 1946, the Sudanese Union won 32% and 38% of the total votes.

The PSP continued to maintain its majority in the Territorial Assembly until the end of 1955, when a split in its ranks enabled the Union to capture a majority. By March 1957, the Sudanese Union won 60 of the 70 seats in the new Territorial Assembly, and in the Legislative Assembly election of March 1959 it obtained 76.3% of the votes and all the seats. After the break with Senegal, it emerged as the only party in the Republic of Mali, one with control that extended even to the smallest Muslim villages through its national political bureau. In the parliamentary elections of April 1964, the single list of 80 deputies presented by the Sudanese Union was elected by 99.5% of the voters. The party was disbanded at the time of the 1968 coup d'état.

The Democratic Union of Malian People (Union Démocratique de Peuple Malien—UDPM) was created as the sole legal political party in 1979. It chose the presidential candidate and the single list of candidates for the National Assembly. In National Assembly elections in 1979, UDPM candidates received 99.89% of the votes cast; in 1982, 99.82%; and in 1985, 99.47%. The party's general secretary since 1979 has been Gen. Moussa Traoré.

Shortly after the military coup in March 1991, some 48 parties were functioning, of which 23 contested the 1992 elections and 10 elected deputies to the National Assembly. The Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA) was the majority party, but with the change in prime minister and government on 12 April 1993, opposition parties were brought into cabinet; the National Committee for a Democratic Initiative (CNID) gained three cabinet posts.

In 1997, ADEMA held 76 seats in parliament, CNID held 9. Other parties represented in the National Assembly included the Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally (US/RAD) with eight seats; the Popular Movement for the Development of the Republic of West Africa with six seats; Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) and the Union for Democracy and Development (UDD) with four seats each; and four other parties with the remaining seats. The UDPM, the former ruling party, attempted to relaunch itself in mid-1993, but the Supreme Court rejected its application for official recognition. It applied again in 1995 and was again rejected. Splits in ADEMA and CNID in 1995 resulted in the formation of the Movement for Independence, Renaissance, and African Integration (MIRIA)—headed by former vice president Traoré, the Patriotic Movement for Renovation (MPR), and the party for National Renovation (PARENA). In anticipation of the 1997 elections, PARENA announced it would form an alliance with ADEMA. However, flaws in the electoral process led to cancellation of the results by the Constitutional Court. The repeat elections, though ruled free and fair by international observers, were boycotted by 18 opposition parties.

In 2000, ADEMA had not lost its grip on the National Assembly, holding 130 of 147 seats, with 12 more held by allied parties, and only 5 by the opposition. Despite the tradition of male domination in Mali, 18 seats were held by women, and women held 6 cabinet posts in the government.

Elections to the Assembly were held 14 July and 28 July 2002, giving Amadou Toumani Touré's government a substantial show of popular support with the following breakdown of seats: L'Espoir (hope) 2002 coalition 66, ADEMA 51, other parties 30. Despite Touré's attempt to ensure balance in the cabinet, the two main coalitions, Espoir 2002 and Alliance pour la République et la démocratie (ARD), criticized the new cabinet as being unrepresentative. L'Espoir 2002 objected to having received only two positions more than the ARD, even though they had backed the president in the second round of the elections. Nevertheless, Espoir did take most of the nonministerial parliamentary positions.

On 1 June 2003, in the presence of over 5,000 people gathered from around the country and abroad, Soumaila Cissé, vice president of ADEMA, who lost against Touré in the presidential election, announced the creation of a new party, Rally for Republic and Democracy (URD). The URD was expected to welcome an outflow of ADEMA supporters, perhaps as many as 25 deputies. ADEMA was working hard to stem the flow and estimated that no more than 10 of its deputies would defect to the URD. Legislative elections are to be held in July 2007.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

In recent years, Mali has undertaken an ambitious decentralization program, which involves the capital district of Bamako and eight regions: Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, and Tombouctou. The state retains an advisory role in administrative and fiscal matters, and it provides technical support, coordination, and legal recourse to these levels. Opportunities for direct political participation and increased local responsibility for development have been improved.

In August–September 1998, elections were held for urban council members, who subsequently elected their mayors. In May–June 1999, citizens elected their communal council members for the first time. Female voter turnout was about 70% of the total, and observers considered the process open and transparent. With mayors, councils, and boards in place at the local level, newly elected officials, civil society organizations, decentralized technical services, private sector interests, and donor groups began partnering to further development.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Mali's legal system derives from French civil law and customary law, and provides for judicial review of legislative acts in a Constitutional Court (which was formally established on 9 March 1994). Mali has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

A Supreme Court was established in Bamako in 1969. It is made up of 19 members, nominated for five years. The judicial section has three civil chambers and one criminal chamber. The Supreme Court has both judicial and administrative powers. The administrative section deals with appeals and fundamental rulings.

The Court of Appeal is also in Bamako. There are two magistrate courts of first instance, courts for labor disputes, and a special court of state security. Customary courts have been abolished. The 1992 constitution established a separate constitutional court and a High Court of Justice charged with responsibility for trying senior government officials accused of treason.

The 1992 constitution guarantees independence of the judiciary. Constitutional provisions for freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, and religion are generally respected. Nonetheless, the executive has considerable influence over the judiciary. The president heads the Superior Judicial, the body that supervises judicial activity, and the Ministry of Justice appoints judges and oversees law enforcement. Trials are public, defendants have the right to an attorney of their choice, and court-appointed attorneys are available to indigent defendants in criminal cases. However, the judicial system has a large case backlog resulting in long periods of pretrial detention.

ARMED FORCES

As of 2005, Mali's armed forces had 7,350 active personnel, all of of whom were in the Army, which also included a 50 member naval force, and a 400 member air arm. The Army was equipped with 33 main battle tanks, 18 light tanks, and over 46 artillery pieces. The air arm had 16 combat capable aircraft made up of fighter aircraft. The service also operated two support and two utility helicopters. The naval arm consisted of three river patrol boats. Paramilitary forces number 4,800, including a gendarmerie of 1,800, a republican guard of 2,000, and a national police force of 1,000. In 2005, the defense budget totaled $101 million.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Mali was admitted to the United Nations on 28 September 1960, and is a member of ECA and several nonregional specialized agencies, such as the FAO, UNSECO, UNIDO, the World Bank, IFC, IAEA, ILO, and the WHO. It also belongs to the African Development Bank, the ACP Group, G-77, ECOWAS, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the Community of Sahel and Saharan States (CENSAD), the African Union, the West African Development Bank, the West African Economic and Monetary Union, and the WTO.

With Senegal and Mauritania, Mali comprises the Senegal River Development Organization. It is also a partner in the Liptako-Gourma regional development scheme with Burkina Faso and Niger. Mali is a member of the International Committee for the Control of the Drought in the Sahel (CILSS)

As a member of ECOWAS, Mali is participating in the six-nation group mediating the conflict in neighboring Côte d'Ivoire. In 2003, Mali contributed 200–300 troops for peacekeeping operations in that war-torn country. Mali has also offered support to UN missions and operations in Liberia (est. 2003), Sierra Leone (est. 1999), Burundi (est. 2004), and the DROC (est. 1999). Mali is a member of the Nonaligned Movement.

In environmental cooperation, Mali is part of the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea, Climate Change and Desertification.

ECONOMY

Economic activity in Mali centers on domestic agricultural and livestock production. Vast stretches of Sahara desert limit Mali's agricultural potential and subject the country to severe, prolonged, recurrent drought. In periods of adequate rainfall, Mali approaches food self-sufficiency. The GDP growth rates are affected by the rainfall as well. GDP has gone to a high of 12.5% in 1989 when rainfall was good to negative growth in dry years. The growth rate of GDP in 2005 was estimated to be 6%.

About 80% of the population was engaged in agriculture as of 2005. Irrigated lands along the Niger River have been the focus of infrastructure development loans designed to increase the production of rice. Historically, livestock production was a mainstay of the Malian economy. About 10% of the population is nomadic. The dry savannah plains are free of the tsetse fly and production has been oriented to serve the growing market in Côte d'Ivoire to the south. Unfortunately, the severe droughts in the 1980s reportedly wiped out upwards of 80% of Malian herds, which were still recovering as of the early 2000s.

State-centered policies pursued in the years following independence were largely unsuccessful and led to a reintegration of the Malian economy into the CFA franc zone. Subsequent economic plans imposed on Mali, first by the French and then by the IMF, sought to dismantle the parastatals, privatize industry, and disengage the government from manipulative agriculture policies and price controls. These measures were hindered by the influential Malian civil service, the drought in the early 1980s and, in 1986, the fall in cotton prices, which led the government to suspend its debt-servicing obligations and to a suspension of IMF and World Bank credits. However, deficits fell sharply in 1990 and 1991 as a result of higher taxes and reduced civil service and parastatal demands. Unfortunately, the political repercussions of the government's austerity measures led to its downfall in 1991. The new government, however, continued the structural adjustment process, and the effort to reduce the budget deficits was intensified.

In January 1994 France devalued the CFA franc, cutting its value in half. The devaluation was designed to encourage new investment, particularly in the export sectors of the economy, and discourage the use of hard currency reserves to buy products that could be grown domestically. Unlike exporting countries, however, Mali imported most of its food, had little to export, and therefore, benefited little from the devaluation. A period of inflation, where the rate approached 35%, followed devaluation in 1994, but by 2001 it had moderated to a level of approximately 5% and in 2005 it was estimated to be 6%.

The country remains heavily dependent upon foreign aid, which amounted to 20% of GNP in 2002, mostly from France. Key sectors of economic growth in recent years have been in cotton production and gold: Mali as of 2005 was the leading producer and exporter of cotton in sub-Saharan Africa, and the second-largest producer of gold in West Africa.

INCOME

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 Mali's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $11.8 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $1,000. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 5.5%. The average inflation rate in 2002 was 4.5%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 45% of GDP, industry 17%, and services 38%.

According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $138 million or about $12 per capita and accounted for approximately 3.2% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $528 million or about $45 per capita and accounted for approximately 12.7% of the gross national income (GNI).

The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Mali totaled $2.80 billion or about $239 per capita based on a GDP of $4.3 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 3.1%. In 2001 it was estimated that approximately 53% of household consumption was spent on food, 7% on fuel, 4% on health care, and 5% on education. It was estimated that in 2001 about 64% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

LABOR

Of the total estimated workforce in Mali of 3.93 million in 2001 (the latest year for which data was available), agriculture and fishing accounted for an estimated 80%. In that same year, the estimated unemployment rate was 14.6%.

With the breakup of the Mali Federation in 1960, all the unions in the country joined together to form the National Union of Malian Workers (Union National des Travailleurs du Mali—UNTM). The UNTM was disbanded at the time of the 1968 coup, but was reestablished in 1970. Most workers organized in Mali belong to a union that is a member of UNTM federation. A second federation, the Syndicated Confederation of Malian Workers, was formed following a split in the UNTM in 1997. The two groups divide the nation's 12 unions between them. In 2002, essentially all wage earners were union members. The constitution provides for the right to strike within certain limitations in some sectors. For instance, civil servants and state-employed workers must engage in mediation and give two weeks notice of an intent to strike.

Workers in the formal industrial sector may start to work as young as 12, with parental permission. However, this provision does not apply to the millions of children working in rural areas or in the urban informal economy. Wage workers are given extensive protection under the labor laws, including a maximum workweek, a minimum wage, and a specified number of days of paid annual leave. In 2002, the minimum wage was about $40 per month. The legal maximum workweek was set at 40 hours in industry, and 45 hours for agricultural laborers. Foreign, even illegal, workers are provided with the same protections.

AGRICULTURE

Only the southern part of Mali is suited to farming and less than 2% of Mali's area is cultivated. Agriculture accounted for about 38% of GDP, 36% of exports, and over 80% of the active labor force in 2003. Millet, rice, and corn are the basic food crops. Millet and sorghum are cultivated mainly in the areas around Ségou, Bandiagara, and Nioro. Paddy rice is cultivated on irrigated farms in the area around Mopti, Ségou, and Niafounké. Cereals are produced for subsistence by 90% of farmers. Peanuts are grown in the Sudanese zone, as are cotton, fruits, vegetables, and henna. The shea tree nut, which grows wild, is exploited by Malians for its oil.

Output fluctuates widely as a result of the amount and distribution of rainfall. In 2004, coarse grain production was estimated at 2,118,000 tons. Production estimates in 2004 for principal agricultural crops grown for domestic use included millet, 815,000 tons; sorghum, 650,000 tons; sugarcane, 350,000 tons; corn, 365,000 tons; cassava, 24,000 tons; and sweet potatoes, 75,000 tons. The rice production figure was 877,000 tons.

Cotton is Mali's major foreign exchange earner. In 2004, Mali had a production of 239,500 tons. Buoyant world prices have increased foreign exchange earnings from cotton. In 2004, Mali's trade surplus in agricultural products was $188.5 million.

The Niger Office, now a state-controlled agency, was set up in 1932 to aid in improving cotton and rice production. It developed the irrigation and modern cultivation of some 81,000 hectares (200,000 acres) in the dry inland delta of the Niger; in 2003, about 236,000 hectares (583,000 acres) in Mali were irrigated. The infrastructure includes a dam (2.6 km wide/1.6 mi), irrigation canals, ditches and dikes, and such installations as housing stores, warehouses, rice and oil mills, cotton-ginning factories, sugar refineries, soap factories, research stations, schools, and dispensaries. Growing cotton in irrigated fields did not succeed and was abandoned in 1970. All cotton is now grown in nonirrigated fields in the regions of Bamako, Ségou, and Sikasso.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

In 2005, there were an estimated 12,050,000 goats, 8,370,000 sheep, 7,700,000 head of cattle, 720,000 donkeys, 472,000 camels, 172,000 horses, 68,000 hogs, and 31 million chickens in Mali.

Virtually all cattle are owned by nomads. Cattle herding is centered in the Sahel (Nioro-Nara), the central Niger Delta (Ségou-Mopti-Bandiagara-Niafounké-Goundam), and the curve of the Niger (Tombouctou-Gao). A significant portion of trade in live animals is clandestine, because of higher prices in neighboring countries. Principal clients for cattle are Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, and for sheep and goats, Côte d'Ivoire and Algeria. Meat and cattle are also exported to other African neighbors, such as Guinea, Senegal, Niger, and Benin.

There are two modern slaughterhouses, in Bamako and Gao. Total meat production was estimated at 248,700 tons in 2005. Livestock exports are the second-largest source of foreign exchange after cotton. Milk production was estimated at 608,440 tons (39% goat, 31% cow, 21% sheep), and the production of hides and skins at 15,040 tons.

FISHING

The Niger and its tributaries are extensively fished, and the Mopti region, where the Niger and Bani rivers flood the delta during the rainy season, accounts for 90% of the catch. The Senegal River accounts for most of the rest. Fishermen use nets, harpoons, and snares. About 90% of the fishing catch is dried or smoked for domestic consumption and export; Nile tilapia and North African catfish are the main species. River fishing was severely affected by the 1968–74 and 1982–85 droughts. The total catch was 101,098 tons in 2003.

FORESTRY

Forest and woodland are estimated to cover some 13.1 million hectares (35.6 million acres), or about 10.8% of the total land area. A total of six forest reserves cover 229,400 hectares (566,900 acres). Mali's Water and Forests Service works to preserve and increase the amount and quality of general and classified forest domain and to assure reasonable exploitation. However, wood is Mali's primary energy source, and overcutting for fuel is a serious problem. Roundwood production in 2004 amounted to 5.38 million cu m (190 million cu ft), with 92% used for fuel.

MINING

Mali's mineral sector is dominated by gold mining. The country is Africa's third-largest gold producer, behind South Africa and Ghana, with gold accounting for 57% of Mali's total exports in 2003, or $542 million. Total gold mine output (metal content) was 45,535 kg in 2003, down from 56,043 kg in 2002. The Sadiola Hill open-pit mine produced about 14,000 kg in 2003, from a resource of 120,000 kg. The Syama mine, which produced 8,000 kg, was mothballed in 2001, pending higher gold prices; it had the country's largest resources, 196,000 kg. The Morilla gold mine, opened in 2001, produced 24,700 kg in 2003, from a resource of 140,000 kg. The Loulo (105,000-kg resource), Yatela, Segala, and Alamoutala deposits were in development. Since 1997, Mali has attracted $850 million in new gold development investments and expected to produce 50,000 kg per year by 2006. Large-scale gold mining began in 1984, at Kalana, southwest of Bougouni, with aid from the former USSR.

Mali, in 2003, also produced gypsum and salt. Salt output in that year totaled 6,000 metric tons. Gypsum production in 2003 totaled an estimated 500 metric tons. Salt mining provided an evocative link between Mali's present and past. Artisanal gold miners have also found diamonds in the Kenieba area.

Mali's mining sector remains undeveloped due to a lack of infrastructure needed to support mining. Bauxite, iron, calcium, kaolin, copper, manganese, phosphate, tin, zinc, lead, marble, and lithium deposits have been located. Manganese reserves were 7.5 billion tons, of 30–40% grade ore. Western Mali had numerous bauxite deposits, ranging from 10 to 580 million tons, at 2–48% aluminum content. Phosphate reserves were estimated at 10 million tons, with anhydrous phosphate content of 31%. There was a marble quarry at Sélinkégni, a limestone quarry at Diamou, and a phosphate complex at Bourem. Mineral exploration interest was focused on diamond, gold, and oil.

All mines were owned by the state; some quarries were privately owned. At the request of mining companies, the government set up a regional mining office in Kayes, to eliminate the 500 km journey between Bamako and the primary mining region in western Mali, for routine administrative operations. The government eliminated the tax on insurance for vehicles used on mining sites, and reduced taxes on sales by mining companies (from 6–3%), and on proceeds from the transfer of shares in mining companies (from 20–10%). The government also lengthened the tenure for medium-scale mining permits, and introduced a four-year permit for small-scale mining. To address Mali's underdeveloped transportation network, the Africa Development Fund approved a loan to finance the multinational Kankan-Kouremale-Bamako road project in Guinea and Mali.

ENERGY AND POWER

Mali, as of 1 January 2003 had no known reserves of crude oil, natural gas, or refining capacity.

In 2002, the consumption and imports of petroleum products each averaged 4,070 barrels per day. There was no demand or imports of natural gas in that same year

In 2002, Mali's electrical generating capacity stood at 0.250 million kW, of which 54% was dedicated to conventional thermal fuels, and the remainder to hydroelectric power. In that same year, electric power output totaled 0.668 billion kWh, of which almost 75% came from hydroelectric sources, and the rest from conventional thermal fuel sources. Consumption of electricity in 2002 was 0.621 billion kWh. However, given Mali's drought-prone circumstances, hydroelectric production is unreliable, and production at the Selingué plant is suspended when reservoir levels are low.

INDUSTRY

Mali has a small industrial sector, mostly enterprises producing textiles and consumer goods. There is growing local demand for consumer goods. Textiles account for about 50% of export value. In 2004, industry accounted for 25% of GDP. In 2002, the government was undertaking a program of privatization and restructuring of state-owned enterprises.

Groundnut-oil, rice-polishing, fruit-preserving, sugar-distilling, tea, and cottonseed-oil and cottonseed-cake plants are in operation, as are slaughterhouses. Industrial facilities include a vinegar factory, a cigarette factory, a soft-drink plant, a flour mill, a shoe factory, a tannery, and two textile plants. Other plants make tiles, furniture, farm implements, batteries, paint, and cosmetics and assemble radios, bicycles, and motorcycles. There are a few construction related facilities, including a brick factory, a ceramics factory, and a cement plant. Mali has no known oil or natural gas reserves.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Mali has a shortage of trained scientists and technicians and relies heavily on foreign, chiefly French, assistance. A French tropical agronomy research center is located in Bamako. The National Directorship for Meteorology, also in Bamako, publishes bulletins on agrometeorology and climatology. National centers for fruit and zootechnical research are located in Bamako. A national association for mineral research and mining is located in Kati. The National Center of Scientific and Technological Research in Bamako coordinates all research activity in Mali. National schools of engineering and of medicine and pharmacology are also in Bamako. The Rural Polytechnic Institute of Katibougou provides instruction and conducts research in agronomy, agricultural economics, stockbreeding, forestry, veterinary science, and rural technology. In 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 12% of college and university enrollments.

DOMESTIC TRADE

Following independence, the government initiated an extensive program for the organization of rural cooperatives in the villages, with central purchasing organizations in the chief towns of the administrative districts. However, Mali's postindependence socialism has recently given way to emphasis on free trade and private enterprise. Agriculture is the basis of the economy with about 70% of the population employed in farming.

Since 1988, the government has been working on economic reforms that include a large scale privatization process and legal changes to encourage domestic commerce. For instance, business applications can generally be processed through a single ministry, in a program called guichet unique or "one window." This reform allows businesses to open sooner and with far less red tape than before. The government has also eliminated price controls on consumer goods and developed both a commerce code and commercial courts to encourage fair business development.

Normal business hours are from 8 am to noon and from 3 to 5 pm, Monday–Saturday. On Fridays, most businesses close at noon. Banks are open from 8 am to 2:30 pm, Monday–Thursday, and from 8 am to 12:30 pm, Friday and Saturday.

FOREIGN TRADE

Cotton, gold, and livestock are Mali's leading exports. Increased cotton production and rising world prices have increased foreign exchange receipts, as has increased gold production. The 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994 helped boost cotton, livestock, and other exports but doubled the cost of imports. Comparing 1994 to the index year of 1987, export activity decreased by 5% while import activity rose by 10%. Machinery and equipment, construction materials, petroleum, foodstuffs, and textiles are imported.

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

Mali's chronic deficit in trade and other goods and services is largely offset by aid from other governments and international organizations.

Country	Exports	Imports	Balance
World	519.3	1,013.4	-494.1
Switzerland-Liechtenstein	197.5	…	197.5
South Africa	168.5	44.1	124.4
France-Monaco	54.0	188.3	-134.3
Côte d'Ivoire	42.8	245.6	-202.8
Senegal	26.7	53.7	-27.0
Belgium	8.5	38.8	-30.3
Netherlands	6.1	14.0	-7.9
Burkina Faso	3.5	…	3.5
United States	2.4	36.3	-33.9
Guinea	2.2	…	2.2
(…) data not available or not significant.

Current Account			-148.8
Balance on goods		162.7
Imports	-712.5
Exports	875.1
Balance on services		-217.6
Balance on income		-240.2
Current transfers		146.4
Capital Account			104.2
Financial Account			188.6
Direct investment abroad		-1.6
Direct investment in Mali		243.8
Portfolio investment assets		-0.5
Portfolio investment liabilities		54.1
Financial derivatives		…
Other investment assets		-248.4
Other investment liabilities		141.1
Net Errors and Omissions			-6.1
Reserves and Related Items			-137.8
(…) data not available or not significant.

The balance of payments is sharply influenced by the volume in cotton exports and the world price of cotton, the price of gold, the volume of official livestock exports, and the value of government-purchased imports. The value of exports covers only about 75% of imports. Mali's minimal industrial base and its dependence on imported machinery and petroleum negatively impact its balance of payments.

The Economist Intelligence Unit reported that in 2005 the purchasing power parity of Mali's exports was $988 million while imports totaled $1,185 million resulting in a trade deficit of $197 million.

BANKING AND SECURITIES

In 1959, the Central Bank of the West African States (Banque Centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest—BCEAO) succeeded the Currency Board of French West Africa and Togo as the bank of issue for the former French West African territories, known now as the franc zone: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. Foreign exchange receipts of the member states went into the franc zone's exchange pool, which in turn covered their foreign exchange requirements. In July 1962, however, Mali withdrew from the BCEAO and West African Monetary Union and established a bank of its own, the Bank of the Republic of Mali, which issued a new currency, the Malian franc.

In 1967, Mali returned to the franc zone, with its franc set at half the value of the CFA franc. In March 1968, the banking system was reorganized, and the Central Bank of Mali was established as the central issuing bank. In December 1982, Mali's application to rejoin the West African Monetary Union was rejected, as Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), which had a border dispute with Mali, continued to oppose Mali's readmission until 1983. In 1984 it rejoined the BCEAO and the monetary union.

In addition to the Central Bank, commercial banks in 1997 included: the Bank of Africa, Banque Commerciale de Sahel, Banque Malienne de Crédit et du Depots, and the Financial Bank Mali. Development banks in Mali include the Banque de Développment du Mali and the Banque Nationale de Développment Agricole. Domestic savings have increased since 1994. Along with other members of the Union économique at minétaire ouest-africaine (UEMOA), Mali now faces the problem of diversifying credit instruments in favor of small and medium-sized enterprises, which have historically relied upon informal sources of investment.

The International Monetary Fund reports that in 2001, currency and demand deposits—an aggregate commonly known as M1—were equal to $514.6 million. In that same year, M2—an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds—was $664.6 million. The money market rate, the rate at which financial institutions lend to one another in the short term, was 4.95%. The discount rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends to financial institutions in the short term, was 6.5%.

INSURANCE

There were at least six insurance companies in Mali in 1995, the largest being the National Fund of Insurance and Reinsurance, a state company. Third-party motor insurance is compulsory.

PUBLIC FINANCE

Foreign aid accounted for 20% of Mali's budget in 1999. In order to fulfill its IMF responsibilities, the country has been privatizing companies for the past several years. Only about 14 companies remain in the hands of the government. Mali was judged eligible for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and has been benefiting from it since 2000 as a budgetary support.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2002 Mali's central government took in revenues of approximately $764 million and had expenditures of $828 million. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately -$64 million. Total external debt was $2.8 billion.

TAXATION

Elements of a progressive taxation system were introduced in 1992. There is a tax on business profits and a general income tax with a graduated rate. There is also a value-added tax (VAT) with a standard rate in 2003 of 15% for most goods and services, as well as an excise tax on alcoholic beverages, fuels and lubricants, cartridges and bullets, tobacco, and other goods. In addition, there are taxes on property, livestock, motor vehicles, and firearms and a head tax, among others. There are also registration and stamp fees.

CUSTOMS AND DUTIES

Customs duties constitute the leading source of government income and are imposed on both imports and exports. Import policies have been liberalized and import licensing eliminated since 1988. However, imports from Israel and South Africa are banned.

Duties on most goods range from 5–30% for imports from countries that do not belong to the West African Economic Community (CEAO), except for taxes on luxury goods, including cars and videocassette recorders, which vary from 80–100%. Duties for imports from CEAO members are approximately half the rate charged nonmembers.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

Foreign investment in Mali is relatively small and is mainly in retail trade or light industry. With independence and Mali's announcement of an economic policy aimed at "planned socialism," private foreign investment came to a standstill in 1961. By 1968, after seven years of almost no private foreign investment, the trend was reversed and Mali specifically requested private foreign investment to aid its development. The parastatal sector was to be dismantled, although it has remained a significant part of the economy.

The 1991 investment code offers certain incentives, mostly in the form of tax holidays of five to ten years to companies prepared to invest in certain areas. In the three free zones, companies are granted permanent exemption from all fees and taxes, but must sell 20% of their production on the national market. Foreign and national investors are treated equally by law.

In 1998, annual foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Mali fell to $35.8 million, down from $74.3 million in 1997. FDI inflow increased to $51.3 million in 1999, and for 2000 and 2001, averaged $104.6 million. In 2002 FDI peaked at $244 million but fell to $132 million in 2003 and $180 million in 2004. Mali's share of world FDI inflows during the period 1998 to 2000 was only 70% of its share of world GDP, although this was an improvement on its performance a decade earlier when its share of world inward FDI was only 30% of its share of world GDP. The recent increases in FDI are a reflection of international investment in mining and oil exploration.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Fiscal management reform and continued dependence on foreign aid into the foreseeable future are the hallmarks of the economic development effort in the coming years. The 1994 devaluation of the CFA (Communauté Financière Africaine) franc resulted in increased exports of cotton, livestock, gold, and other products, but raised the price of imports. Strong prices for cotton worldwide, combined with record production in Mali in 1995, were both positive factors for the Mali economy. However, the agricultural sector is still highly vulnerable to drought and, in spite of its natural potential, unlikely to produce at self-sufficiency levels. In 1999, the EU provided $82 million for the development of roads and bridges in Mali, and the West African Development Bank offered a loan to upgrade urban roads.

The government has taken steps to liberalize the regulatory climate in order to encourage foreign investment. Price controls on consumer goods (including on petroleum products), import quotas, and export taxes have all been eliminated. Privatization of state-owned enterprises continued throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century. In 1999, Mali negotiated a $64 million four-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) Arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In 2003, Mali was granted $675 million in debt service relief under the IMF/World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, to improve governance, strengthen social services, and develop infrastructure and key productive sectors. Economic development has been hindered by drought and falling world cotton prices.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Social welfare services are available mainly in urban areas, basically as an extension of labor benefits and medical aid under the labor code, which includes provisions for medical care, workers' compensation, and retirement benefits. Pensions were paid for by employee contributions of 3.6% and employer contributions in the amount of 5.4%. A system of family allowances, implemented in 2004 for wage earners, provides maternity and children's allowances, along with classes in prenatal and infant care. Employers are required to provide free sick leave to their employers, as well as maternity benefits equal to 100% of earnings for 14 weeks. Under tribal organization, the individual's basic welfare needs are traditionally cared for by the group. This system, however, is breaking down as the country develops.

The government has made a special effort to improve the status of women, and a few women have entered government employment. Yet, social and cultural factors still sharply limit educational and economic opportunities for most women. Despite legal protections, most women face active discrimination in the areas of divorce, inheritance, and child custody. Domestic abuse and violence against women is a common and tolerated problem. Women have little access to legal services. Female genital mutilation, a painful and often life-threatening procedure, is also commonly performed on young girls. It was estimated in 2004 that 95% of women underwent this procedure. The government is actively seeking to eliminate this practice by 2008. Child labor persists.

Human rights are generally respected although prison conditions remain poor.

HEALTH

Most health care is provided by the public medical services. At Bamako are the Institute of Tropical Ophthalmology and the Marchoux Institute for Leprosy, which, in addition to treating patients, carry out research. The number of private doctors and well-equipped medical institutions is small. There were fewer than five physicians per 100,000 population in 2004. Total health care expenditure was estimated at 4.3% of GDP. The pharmaceutical policies adopted in recent years have resulted in the destruction of the public network of drug distribution. Despite the high level of health care investment, lack of organization and misappropriation of money has impaired the effectiveness of the health care system.

The principal diseases are malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis, enteritis and other intestinal diseases, cholera, pneumonia, and infectious and parasite-related diseases such as schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, and trypanosomiasis. Anemia, malnutrition, and tetanus are also widespread. The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 1.90 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 140,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 12,000 deaths from AIDS in 2003.

Malaria is widespread, as is guinea worm. In 2000, 65% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 69% had adequate sanitation. Immunization rates for children up to one year old were: tuberculosis, 76%; diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 52%; polio, 52%; and measles, 56%. Diarrheal diseases still claim the lives of children under the age of five.

As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 48.37 and 18.32 per 1,000 people. About 7% of married women (ages 15 to 49) used contraception as of 2000. The infant mortality rate was 109 per 1,000 live births in 2005, one of the highest in the world. The maternal mortality rate in 1998 was high at 580 per 100,000 live births. The average life expectancy was 48.64 years in 2005, up from 42 years in 2000. An estimated 80% of women underwent female genital mutilation.

HOUSING

Providing housing in the wake of rapid urbanization has been an ongoing challenge for the government of Mali. In 2002, it was estimated that about 45% of all residents in Bamako were living in substandard settlement housing, often in neighborhoods defined as slum or squatter settlements. Less than 2% of the district population had connections to sewage facilities. Only about 17% had in-home water connections. The government has tried to set new programs in place to stop the spread of the informal slum and squatter settlements and to upgrade such housing to higher standards.

Though formal housing structures in Bamako are like those of a European city. Elsewhere, housing ranges from similar urban structures to the tents of Tuareg nomads, the circular mud huts with thatched roofs characteristic of the indigenous African villages, and traditional Sudanese architecture. The latter employs a common building material called banco, a mixture of wet mud and straw that dries into a hard, almost cement-like consistency. This is applied over wooden frames and can be used for buildings of several stories. The buildings resemble those in North Africa and the Middle East.

Government activity is largely concentrated on improvement of urban housing and sanitation. The Real Estate Trust, a public corporation established in 1949, provides housing loans to persons wishing to build on their own land.

EDUCATION

The Malian school system begins with an initial primary cycle of six years, followed by a six-year cycle of secondary schooling (divided into two three-year stages). At the upper secondary level, students may opt to attend technical schools (two to three years) or vocational schools (four years). The academic year runs from October to June.

In 2001, less than 2% of children between the ages of four and six were enrolled in some type of preschool program. Primary school enrollment in 2003 was estimated at about 44% of eligible students; 50% for boys and 39% for girls. In 1998, there were 188,109 pupils enrolled in secondary schools. It is estimated that about 40% of all students complete their primary education. The student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 63:1 in 2000; the ratio for secondary school was about 29:1.

The University of Mali has four faculties: medicine, pharmacy and dentistry; technical sciences; juridical and economic sciences; and languages, arts, and humanities. The university also has schools for business administration, engineering, and teacher training. In Koulikoro is the Rural Polytechnic Institute of Katibougou. In 2003, about 2% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2004 was estimated at about 19%, with 26.7% for men and 11.9% for women.

As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 3% of GDP.

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

In Bamako are located the National Library and Archives (20,000 volumes), a municipal library, and the library of the Islamic Center, opened in 1987. In addition, the French Cultural Center, with 27,000 volumes, serves as a public library, and there is a US Information Service library as well as several other privately run libraries. The Public Reading Franco-Malian Operation, founded in 1977, sponsors about 52 public-reading libraries in the district of Bamako. Tombouctou has a center of historic research with libraries and museums containing valuable Arabic manuscripts. The National Museum, which also has a library, is in Bamako, as is the Sudanese Museum, detailing the country's history as the former French Sudan. Regional museums are located in Gao and Sikasso, and there is a historical museum in Tombouctou.

MEDIA

In 2003, there were an estimated five mainline telephones for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were approximately 23 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people.

In 2004, the state-owned broadcaster, Office de Radiodiffusion Television du Mali (ORTM) operated the nation's only television station and one radio station. There were over 125 other privately operated radio stations that year. A few stations broadcast in French and English. In 2003, there were an estimated 180 radios and 33 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were 1.4 personal computers for every 1,000 people and two of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet.

In recent years, several newspapers were forced to shut down for lack of adequate funding. Those papers still in business are often published sporadically. On average, there may be 10 or 12 papers available for purchase on any given day. L'Essor, which is controlled by the government, had a circulation of 3,500 in 2002. Les Echos, affiliated with the ruling party, has a circulation of about 25,000. The Bulletin Quotidien is a daily paper published by the Chamber of Commerce and the Journal Officiel de la Republique du Mali serves as the official publication of the president and the secretary general. Several government and privately published periodicals are also available

The constitution also provides for free speech and a free press, and the government is said to respect theses rights in practice.

ORGANIZATIONS

There is a Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bamako and a Chamber of Commerce in Kayes. There are youth and women's affiliates of the UDPM. The government is hoping to increase food production through the formation of village cooperatives. The Committee for the Coordination of NGOs. In Mali works with organizations involved with emergency relief, environmental improvement and preservation, and community development.

A Junior Chamber program is available for youth. There are a number of sports associations throughout the country and volunteer service organizations, such as the Lions Clubs International, are also present. A few health organizations are active. There are national chapters of the Red Cross Society, Caritas, and Amnesty International.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

A government tourist organization was created in April 1974 to develop hunting, fishing, and sightseeing in Mali, particularly in the areas around Mopti, Tombouctou, and Gao. There are modern motels in Bamako and in Tombouctou, the ancient capital of Muslim learning and culture, previously forbidden to foreigners. Other attractions are Mali's national park and game reserves. Football (soccer) is a popular sport.

A visa must be obtained for entry into Mali. A vaccination certificate for yellow fever is also needed if traveling from an infected area. Typhoid, tetanus, meningitis, and hepatitis immunizations are recommended. There were 69,691 tourists who arrived in Mali in 2003. Hotel rooms numbered 3,907 with 5,066 beds. Tourist expenditure receipts totaled $105 million in 2002.

In 2005, the US Department of State estimated the daily cost of staying in Bamako at $182, and other areas of Mali at $122.

FAMOUS MALIANS

Early figures associated with the area of present-day Mali include Mansa Musa (r.1312–37), ruler of the Mali Empire, and Sonni 'Ali Ber (r.1464–92) and Askia Muhammad I (r.1492–1528), rulers of the Songhai Empire. Later figures include al-Hajj 'Umar (1797–1864), who plunged the entire area into a bloody holy war before he was killed while trying to put down a rebellion, and Samory Touré, (1835–1900), who fought the French at the head of a Malinké (Mandingo) army for 16 years (1882–98). Modibo Keita (1915–77) was, until November 1968, a leading figure in the political life of the country. He became the first president of the Republic of Mali in 1960. Moussa Traoré (b.1936) was president of Mali from 1969 to 1991. Alpha Oumar Konaré (b.1946) was elected president in 1992; he served until 2002. Brigadier Gen. Amadou Toumani Touré (b.1948) is considered the founder of Mali's democratic movement; he won the presidential elections in 2002.

DEPENDENCIES

Mali has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Hanson, John H. Migration, Jihad, and Muslim Authority in West Africa: The Futanke Colonies in Karta. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.

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Mann, Kenny. Ghana, Mali, Songhay: The Western Sudan. Parsippany, N.J.: Dillon Press, 1996.

Perinbam, B. Marie. Family Identity and the State in the Bamako Kafu, c.1800–c.1900. Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1997.

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Zeilig, Leo and David Seddon. A Political and Economic Dictionary of Africa. Philadelphia: Routledge/Taylor and Francis, 2005.