"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 5.5 children per woman – the fourth highest in the world, as of 2022 – 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"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> on 22 March 2023, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Mali is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine"
"text":"<p><em>due to civil insecurity and </em><em>high food prices </em><em>- </em>the food security situation deteriorated in 2021, particularly in conflict-affected central and northern areas; according to the latest analysis, about 1.84 million people are estimated to be in “Crisis” and above between June and August 2022, as a result of worsening conflicts, weather shocks, reduced cereal production in 2021 and high food prices</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 in June 2022 announced the formation of a commission which will draft a new constitution by August"
"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"
"text":"Transition President Assimi GOITA (since 7 June 2021); 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; on 6 June 2022, GOITA's government announced a transition period of 24 months with a planned return to civilian rule by March 2024"
"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":"<em>2018</em>: Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA (RPM) 41.7%, Soumaila CISSE (URD) 17.8%, other 40.5%; percent of vote in second round - Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA (RPM) 67.2%, Soumaila CISSE (URD) 32.8%<br><br><em>2013</em>: Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA (RPM) 39.8%, Soumaila CISSE (URD) 19.7%, other 40.5%; percent of vote in second round - Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA (RPM) 77.6%, Soumaila CISSE (URD) 22.4%"
"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; 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 sections); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 judges)"
"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":"<p>African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence or SADI [Oumar MARIKO]<br>Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP-Maliba [Amadou THIAM]<br>Alliance for Democracy in Mali-Pan-African Party for Liberty, Solidarity, and Justice or ADEMA-PASJ [Tiemoko SANGARE]<br>Alliance for the Solidarity of Mali-Convergence of Patriotic Forces or ASMA-CFP [Amadou CISSE, vice-president, acting]<br>Convergence for the Development of Mali or CODEM [Housseyni Amion GUINDO]<br>Democratic Alliance for Peace or ADP-Maliba [Aliou Boubacar DIALLO]<br>Movement for Mali or MPM [Brahima DIANESSY, deputy]<br>Party for National Renewal (also Rebirth or Renaissance or PARENA) [Tiebile DRAME]<br>Rally for Mali or RPM [Boucary TRETA]<br>Social Democratic Convention or CDS [Mamadou Bakary \"Blaise\" SANGARE]<br>Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Hassane BARRY]<br>Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Soumaïla CISSE]<br>Yéléma [Moussa MARA]</p> <strong>note 1: </strong>only parties with 2 or more seats in the last National Assembly parliamentary elections (30 March and 19 April 2020) listed<br><strong><br>note 2:</strong> the National Assembly was dissolved on 18 August 2020 following a military coup and replaced with a National Transition Council; currently 121 members, party affiliations unknown"
"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":"low-income Saharan economy; recession due to COVID-19 and political instability; extreme poverty; environmentally fragile; high public debt; agricultural and gold exporter; terrorism and warfare are common"
"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 (2022)"
"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)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"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 (Forces Armées Maliennes or FAMa): Land Forces (l’Armée de Terre), Air Force (l’Armée de l’Air); National Guard (la Garde Nationale du Mali or GNM); General Directorate of the National Gendarmerie (la Direction Générale de la Gendarmerie Nationale or DGGN) (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note 1:</strong> 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 with the Ministry of Internal Security and Civil Protection which also controls the National Police; the National Police has responsibility for law enforcement and maintenance of order in urban areas and supports the FAMa in internal military operations<br><br><strong>note 2: </strong>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; it also has a specialized border security unit<br><br><strong>note 3: </strong>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; its forces include a camel corps for patrolling the deserts and borders of northern Mali<br><br><strong>note 4: </strong>there are also pro-government militias operating in Mali, such as the Imghad Tuareg Self-Defense Group and Allies (GATIA); the leader of GATIA is also a general in the national army"
"text":"information varies; approximately 20,000 active FAMa personnel (includes up to 2,000 Air Force); approximately 5,000 Gendarmerie; approximately 10,000 National Guard (2022)"
"text":"the FAMa's inventory consists primarily of Soviet-era equipment, although in recent years it has received limited quantities of newer armaments from more than a dozen countries, especially China and Russia (2023)"
"text":"<strong>note: </strong>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"
"text":"the FAMa is responsible for defense of the country’s sovereignty and territory, but also has some domestic security duties, including the maintenance of public order and support to law enforcement if required, as well as counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations; it also participates in socio-economic development projects; the military has traditionally played a large role in Mali’s politics; prior to the coup in August 2020 and military takeover in May 2021, it 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)<br><br>the FAMa and other security forces are actively engaged in operations against several insurgent/terrorist groups affiliated with al-Qa'ida and the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS), as well as other rebel groups, communal militias, and criminal bands spread across the central, northern, and southern regions of the country; the government is reportedly in control of only an estimated 10-20% of the country's central and northern territories, and attacks are increasing in the more heavily populated south, including around the capital Bamako; the Macina Liberation Front (FLM), part of the Jama’at Nusrat al Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) coalition of al-Qa'ida-linked terror groups, has played a large role in a surge in violence in Mali’s central and southern regions; in the north, ISIS in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS) has regained strength in recent years<br><br>the FAMa and the remainder of the security forces collapsed in 2012 during the fighting against Tuareg rebels and Islamic militants and have since been rebuilt with considerable external assistance, including the EU, France, and the UN; for example, the EU Training Mission in Mali (EUTM) from 2013-2022 trained as many as 15,000 Malian soldiers and 8 combined arms battalions/battlegroups (Groupement Tactique InterArmes, GTIA), each of which was structured to be self-sufficient with its own motorized/mechanized infantry, light armor, commandos, artillery, engineers, and other support forces; EUTM suspended its training program in 2022, citing issues with the ruling military government, including human rights abuses and the presence of Russian private military contractors; over the same period, the French military provided considerable assistance to the Malian security forces and conducted counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations in Mali; the French suspended operations in 2021 and in August 2022 withdrew the last of its forces while also citing issues with the military government; the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) has operated in the country since 2013 with the mission of providing security, rebuilding Malian security forces, protecting civilians, supporting national political dialogue, and assisting in the reestablishment of Malian government authority; as of 2023, MINUSMA had around 15,000 personnel assigned<br><br>in addition to the EU-trained GTIAs, the Army has commandos and special forces, as well as recently created motorcycle-mounted reconnaissance units; the Air Force has small numbers of combat aircraft and helicopters, as well as a few armed UAVs; the Gendarmerie and National Guard field company-sized paramilitary units, including camel-mounted forces in the National Guard; they also have special anti-terrorism and intervention forces<br><br>the military government has increased security ties with Russia; Russia has provided military equipment, and in December 2021, Mali contracted with a Russian private military company to provide training for local armed forces and security to senior Malian officials; the contractors have also participated in security operations and been accused of war crimes; as of 2022, there were an estimated 1,000 Russian military contractors in Mali (2023)"
"text":"Ansar al-Dine; Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS); Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM); 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":"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; the transition government adopted a national referral mechanism with standard procedures to identify and refer services for victims, increased efforts to prevent armed groups from recruiting child soldiers, and allocated more funding for anti-trafficking; however, Mali did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts to expand its anti-trafficking capacity, in part due to substantial personnel turnover related to the May 2021 consolidation of military power and upheaval of the previous transition government; for the third consecutive year, officials did not amend laws to explicitly define hereditary slavery as a form of trafficking and continued to treat hereditary slavery cases as misdemeanors; despite widespread allegations of complicity in hereditary slavery and forced recruitment of child soldiers, no law enforcement or government officials were investigated; because the transition government has devoted significant resources to a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum standards, Mali was granted a waiver per the TVPA from an otherwise required downgrade to Tier 3, therefore Mali remained on the Tier 2 Watch List for the third consecutive year (2022)"
"text":"human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Mali and, to a lesser extent, Malians abroad; boys from Mali and neighboring countries are exploited in agriculture, artisanal gold mines, domestic work, transportation, begging—sometimes at the hands of corrupt Quranic teachers—and the informal commercial sector; men and boys, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, are subjected to debt bondage in the salt mines of Taoudeni in northern Mali; some members of Mali's Tuareg community are subjected to slavery-related practices, where communities rather than individuals or families exploit the enslaved; women and girls are forced into domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and support roles in gold mines, as well as subjected to sex trafficking in Mali; other women and girls are exploited in sex trafficking in Gabon, Libya, Lebanon, and Tunisia and in domestic servitude in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia; women and girls lured from other West African countries with offers of jobs in Bamako, Europe, and the United States are exploited locally in sex trafficking; Africans transiting Mali to Europe are vulnerable to trafficking; terrorist organizations and armed groups, particularly in northern and central regions lacking significant government presence, continue to recruit child combatants, and some groups use girls in combat, support roles, or for sexual exploitation; widespread reports implicate officials in corruption and complicity in trafficking and hereditary slavery cases (2022)"
"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>"
