"text":"gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, hydropower, note, bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited"
"text":"Niger (shared with Guinea [s], Niger, and Nigeria [m]) - 4,200 km; Senegal (shared with Guinea [s], Senegal, and Mauritania [m]) - 1,641 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"the overwhelming majority of the population lives in the southern half of the country, with greater density along the border with Burkina Faso as shown in this population distribution map"
"text":"hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan"
"text":"Bambara 33.3%, Fulani (Peuhl) 13.3%, Sarakole/Soninke/Marka 9.8%, Senufo/Manianka 9.6%, Malinke 8.8%, Dogon 8.7%, Sonrai 5.9%, Bobo 2.1%, Tuareg/Bella 1.7%, other Malian 6%, from members of Economic Community of West Africa 0.4%, other 0.3% (2018 est.)"
"text":"<p>Mali’s total population is expected to double by 2035; its capital Bamako is one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa. A young age structure, a declining mortality rate, and a sustained high total fertility rate of 6 children per woman – the third highest in the world – ensure continued rapid population growth for the foreseeable future. Significant outmigration only marginally tempers this growth. Despite decreases, Mali’s infant, child, and maternal mortality rates remain among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa because of limited access to and adoption of family planning, early childbearing, short birth intervals, the prevalence of female genital cutting, infrequent use of skilled birth attendants, and a lack of emergency obstetrical and neonatal care.</p><p>Mali’s high total fertility rate has been virtually unchanged for decades, as a result of the ongoing preference for large families, early childbearing, the lack of female education and empowerment, poverty, and extremely low contraceptive use. Slowing Mali’s population growth by lowering its birth rate will be essential for poverty reduction, improving food security, and developing human capital and the economy.</p><p>Mali has a long history of seasonal migration and emigration driven by poverty, conflict, demographic pressure, unemployment, food insecurity, and droughts. Many Malians from rural areas migrate during the dry period to nearby villages and towns to do odd jobs or to adjoining countries to work in agriculture or mining. Pastoralists and nomads move seasonally to southern Mali or nearby coastal states. Others migrate long term to Mali’s urban areas, Cote d’Ivoire, other neighboring countries, and in smaller numbers to France, Mali’s former colonial ruler. Since the early 1990s, Mali’s role has grown as a transit country for regional migration flows and illegal migration to Europe. Human smugglers and traffickers exploit the same regional routes used for moving contraband drugs, arms, and cigarettes.</p><p>Between early 2012 and 2013, renewed fighting in northern Mali between government forces and Tuareg secessionists and their Islamist allies, a French-led international military intervention, as well as chronic food shortages, caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Malians. Most of those displaced domestically sought shelter in urban areas of southern Mali, except for pastoralist and nomadic groups, who abandoned their traditional routes, gave away or sold their livestock, and dispersed into the deserts of northern Mali or crossed into neighboring countries. Almost all Malians who took refuge abroad (mostly Tuareg and Maure pastoralists) stayed in the region, largely in Mauritania, Niger, and Burkina Faso.</p>"
"text":"the overwhelming majority of the population lives in the southern half of the country, with greater density along the border with Burkina Faso as shown in this population distribution map"
"text":"<p>due to civil insecurity and shortfall in staple food production - between June and August 2022, 1.84 million people are projected to face severe food insecurity, driven in part by a shortfall in staple food production in 2021; sanctions imposed on the country, following the postponement of elections by the transitional military government, are likely to slow down economic activity and further weigh on households’ economic capacity to access food</p> (2022)"
"text":"Niger (shared with Guinea [s], Niger, and Nigeria [m]) - 4,200 km; Senegal (shared with Guinea [s], Senegal, and Mauritania [m]) - 1,641 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"10 regions (regions, singular - region), 1 district*; District de Bamako*, Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Menaka, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Taoudenni, Tombouctou (Timbuktu); note - Menaka and Taoudenni were legislated in 2016, but implementation has not been confirmed by the US Board on Geographic Names"
},
"Independence":{
"text":"22 September 1960 (from France)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Independence Day, 22 September (1960)"
},
"Constitution":{
"history":{
"text":"several previous; latest drafted August 1991, approved by referendum 12 January 1992, effective 25 February 1992, suspended briefly in 2012"
"text":"proposed by the president of the republic or by members of the National Assembly; passage requires two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly and approval in a referendum; constitutional sections on the integrity of the state, its republican and secular form of government, and its multiparty system cannot be amended; note - the transition government intends to adopt a new constitution"
"text":"civil law system based on the French civil law model and influenced by customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Constitutional Court"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICC jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"at least one parent must be a citizen of Mali"
"text":"Transition President Assimi GOITA (since 7 June 2021)<br><br>note: an August 2020 coup d'etat deposed President Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA; on 21 September 2020, a group of 17 electors chosen by the Malian military junta, known as the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) and led by Colonel Assimi GOITA, selected Bah NDAW as transition president; GOITA served as vice president of the transitional government which was inaugurated on 25 September 2020; Vice President GOITA seized power on 25 May 2021; NDAW resigned on 26 May 2021"
"text":"Transition Prime Minister Choguel MAIGA (appointed by Transitional President Assimi GOITA on 7 June 2021)<br><br>note: former transition Prime Minister Moctar OUANE was arrested and detained by the military on 24 May 2021 and resigned on 26 May 2021"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 29 July 2018 with runoff on 12 August 2018; prime minister appointed by the president; note - on 21 February 2022, the transition government adopted a charter allowing transition authorities to rule for up to 5 years; thereafter transition President GOITA is barred from being a candidate in presidential elections."
"text":"unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members directly elected in single and multi-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed; 13 seats reserved for citizens living abroad; members serve 5-year terms)<br><br>note - the National Assembly was dissolved on 18 August 2020 following a military coup and the resignation of President KEITA; note - the transition government created a National Transition Council (CNT) whose 121 members were selected by then-transition vice president Assimi GOITA; the CNT acts as the transition government's legislative body with Malick DIAW serving as the president; in February 2022 the CNT increased the number of seats to 147 but the additional seats have not yet been filled"
"text":"Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of 19 judges organized into judicial, administrative, and accounting sectons); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Supreme Court judges appointed by the Ministry of Justice to serve 5-year terms; Constitutional Court judges selected - 3 each by the president, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Council of the Magistracy; members serve single renewable 7-year terms"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Court of Appeal; High Court of Justice (jurisdiction limited to cases of high treason or criminal offenses by the president or ministers while in office); administrative courts (first instance and appeal); commercial courts; magistrate courts; labor courts; juvenile courts; special court of state security"
"text":"African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence or SADI [Oumar MARIKO]<br>Alliance for Democracy in Mali-Pan-African Party for Liberty, Solidarity, and Justice or ADEMA-PASJ [Tiemoko SANGARE]<br>Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP-Maliba [Amadou THIAM]<br>Alliance for the Solidarity of Mali-Convergence of Patriotic Forces or ASMA-CFP [Amadou CISSE] (vice-president, acting)<br>Alternative Forces for Renewal and Emergence or FARE [Modibo SIDIBE]<br>Convergence for the Development of Mali or CODEM [Housseyni Amion GUINDO]<br>Democratic Alliance for Peace or ADP-Maliba [Aliou Boubacar DIALLO]<br>Economic and Social Development Party or PDES [Jamille BITTAR]<br>Front for Democracy and the Republic or FDR (coalition of smaller opposition parties)<br>National Congress for Democratic Initiative or CNID [Mountaga TALL]<br>Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Tiebile DRAME]<br>Patriotic Movement for Renewal or MPR [Choguel Kokalla MAIGA]<br>Rally for Mali or RPM [Boucary TRETA]<br>Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Younoussi TOURE]"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia; the colors from left to right are the same as those of neighboring Senegal (which has an additional green central star) and the reverse of those on the flag of neighboring Guinea"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> adopted 1962; also known as \"Pour L'Afrique et pour toi, Mali\" (For Africa and for You, Mali) and \"A ton appel Mali\" (At Your Call, Mali)"
"text":"<p>Among the 25 poorest countries in the world, landlocked Mali depends on gold mining and agricultural exports for revenue. The country's fiscal status fluctuates with gold and agricultural commodity prices and the harvest; cotton and gold exports make up around 80% of export earnings. Mali remains dependent on foreign aid.</p> <p></p> <p>Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger River; about 65% of Mali’s land area is desert or semidesert. About 10% of the population is nomadic and about 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. The government subsidizes the production of cereals to decrease the country’s dependence on imported foodstuffs and to reduce its vulnerability to food price shocks.</p> <p></p> <p>Mali is developing its iron ore extraction industry to diversify foreign exchange earnings away from gold, but the pace will depend on global price trends. Although the political coup in 2012 slowed Mali’s growth, the economy has since bounced back, with GDP growth above 5% in 2014-17, although physical insecurity, high population growth, corruption, weak infrastructure, and low levels of human capital continue to constrain economic development. Higher rainfall helped to boost cotton output in 2017, and the country’s 2017 budget increased spending more than 10%, much of which was devoted to infrastructure and agriculture. Corruption and political turmoil are strong downside risks in 2018 and beyond.</p>"
"text":"Mali’s telecom systems are challenged by recent conflict, geography, areas of low population, poverty, security issues, and high illiteracy; telecom infrastructure is barely adequate in urban areas and not available in most of the country with underinvestment in fixed-line networks; high mobile penetration and potential for mobile broadband service; local plans for IXP; dependent on neighboring countries for international bandwidth and access to submarine cables; there are Chinese investment agreements for infrastructure; importer of broadcasting equipment from China (2022)"
"text":"fixed-line subscribership is over 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership has increased sharply to 125 per 100 persons; increasing use of local radio loops to extend network coverage to remote areas (2020)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on production and supply chains globally; since 2020, some aspects of the telecom sector have experienced downturn, particularly in mobile device production; many network operators delayed upgrades to infrastructure; progress towards 5G implementation is slow; consumer spending on telecom services and devices was affected by large-scale job losses and the consequent restriction on disposable incomes; the crucial nature of telecom services as a tool for work and school from home became evident, and received some support from governments"
"text":"national public TV broadcaster; 2 privately owned companies provide subscription services to foreign multi-channel TV packages; national public radio broadcaster supplemented by a large number of privately owned and community broadcast stations; transmissions of multiple international broadcasters are available (2019)"
"text":"1,800 km (2011) (downstream of Koulikoro; low water levels on the River Niger cause problems in dry years; in the months before the rainy season the river is not navigable by commercial vessels)"
"text":"Malian Armed Forces (FAMa): Army (Armee de Terre; includes a riverine patrol force), Republic of Mali Air Force (Force Aerienne de la Republique du Mali, FARM); National Gendarmerie; National Guard (Garde National du Mali) (2021)",
"note":"note(s) - the Gendarmerie and the National Guard are under the authority of the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs (Ministere De La Defense Et Des Anciens Combattants, MDAC), but operational control is shared between the MDAC and the Ministry of Internal Security and Civil Protection<br><br>the Gendarmerie's primary mission is internal security and public order; its duties also include territorial defense, humanitarian operations, intelligence gathering, and protecting private property, mainly in rural areas; as of 2021, the Gendarmerie was comprised of approximately 8 paramilitary companies and a mobile intervention unit<br><br>the National Guard is a military force responsible for providing security to government facilities and institutions, prison service, public order, humanitarian operations, some border security, and intelligence gathering; as of 2021, it had approximately 8 companies of troops, including a camel corps for patrolling the deserts and borders of northern Mali"
"text":"information varies; approximately 16,000 active personnel (15,000 Army; 1,000 Air Force); estimated 10,000 Gendarmerie and National Guard (2021)"
"text":"the FAMa's inventory consists primarily of Soviet-era equipment, although in recent years it has received limited quantities of mostly second-hand armaments from more than a dozen countries, including Russia (2021)"
"text":"until announcing its withdrawal in May of 2022, Mali was part of a five-nation anti-jihadist task force known as the G5 Sahel Group, set up in 2014 with Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger; Mali had committed 1,100 troops and 200 gendarmes to the force (2022)"
"text":"prior to the coups in August 2020 and May 2021, the Malian military had intervened in the political arena at least five times since the country gained independence in 1960; two attempts failed (1976 and 1978), while three succeeded in overturning civilian rule (1968, 1991, and 2012); the military collapsed in 2012 during the fighting against Tuareg rebels and Islamic militants; it has been since rebuilt, but continues to have limited capabilities and is heavily reliant on external assistance <br><br>as of 2022, Malian security forces were conducting operations against insurgents and terrorist groups in the eastern, central, and northern parts of the country<br><br>the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has operated in the country since 2013; the Mission's responsibilities include providing security, rebuilding Malian security forces, supporting national political dialogue, and assisting in the reestablishment of Malian government authority; as of February 2022, MINUSMA had around 14,000 personnel deployed<br><br>the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM-M) and the French military have also operated in the country since 2013; the EUTM-M provides advice and training to the Malian Armed Forces and military assistance to the G5 Sahel Joint Force; as 2021, the mission included almost 700 personnel from 25 European countries; as of early 2022, the French had approximately 2,400 troops providing military assistance and conducting counter-terrorism/counter-insurgency operations; note - in February 2022, France announced it would remove its personnel from Mali, citing obstructions from the ruling military government; in April of 2022, the EU said it would halt its training program in Mali"
"text":"Ansar al-Dine; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in the Greater Sahara; Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin; al-Mulathamun Battalion (al-Mourabitoun)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-T"
"text":"Mali is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; women and girls are forced into domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and support roles in gold mines, as well as subjected to sex trafficking; Malian boys are found in conditions of forced labor in agricultural settings, gold mines, and the informal commercial sector, as well as forced begging in Mali and neighboring countries; Malians and other Africans who travel through Mali to Mauritania, Algeria, or Libya in hopes of reaching Europe are particularly at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking; men and boys, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, are subjected to debt bondage in the salt mines of Taoudenni in northern Mali; some members of Mali's Tuareg community are subjected to traditional slavery-related practices, and this involuntary servitude reportedly has extended to their children; reports indicate that non-governmental armed groups operating in northern Mali recruited children as combatants, cooks, porters, guards, spies, and sex slaves; slaveholders use some members of the Tuareg community in hereditary servitude where communities rather than individuals or families exploit the enslaved"
"text":"Tier 2 Watch List — Mali does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; government efforts included prosecuting hereditary slavery cases, increasing convictions, continuing training and awareness raising activities, releasing all children associated with the Malian armed forces (FAMa) to an international organization for care, training law enforcement officials on protection of children in armed conflict, identifying 215 children used by armed groups and referring them to international organizations for care; however, the government did not stop all use of children in the FAMa; the government continued to provide support to and collaborate with the Imghad Tuareg and the Allies Self-Defense Group, which recruited and used child soldiers; authorities did not investigate any suspects for child soldier offenses or make efforts to prevent it; law enforcement lacked resources and training about human trafficking; services for victims remained insufficient; therefore, Mali was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List (2020)"
"text":"<p>a transit point for illicit drugs trafficked to Europe; trafficking controlled by armed groups, criminal organizations, terrorist groups and government officials that facilitate, protect and profit from the activity</p>"
