]! ^! The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a coup that ushered in democratic government. President Alpha KONARE won Mali's first democratic presidential election in 1992 and was reelected in 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, KONARE stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE. 
]" ^" Western Africa, southwest of Algeria ^# 17 00 N, 4 00 W ^$ Africa ^% `! 1.24 million sq km `" 1.22 million sq km `# 20,000 sq km ^& slightly less than twice the size of Texas ^' `! 7,243 km `Y Algeria 1,376 km, Burkina Faso 1,000 km, Guinea 858 km, Cote d'Ivoire 532 km, Mauritania 2,237 km, Niger 821 km, Senegal 419 km ^( 0 km (landlocked) ^) none (landlocked) ^* subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February) ^+ mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast ^, `% Senegal River 23 m `& Hombori Tondo 1,155 m ^- gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, hydropower `* bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited ^. `' 3.76% `( 0.03% `) 96.21% (2005) ^/ 2,360 sq km (2003) ^0 hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding ^1 deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching _P `P Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling `Q none of the selected agreements ^2 landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan 
]# ^3 11,995,402 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 48.2% (male 2,921,914/female 2,853,976) `, 48.8% (male 2,891,494/female 2,959,142) `- 3.1% (male 149,301/female 219,575) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 15.9 years `. 15.4 years `/ 16.3 years (2007 est.) ^6 2.681% (2007 est.) ^7 49.61 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 16.51 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 -6.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.03 male(s)/female `1 1.024 male(s)/female `, 0.977 male(s)/female `- 0.68 male(s)/female `2 0.988 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 105.65 deaths/1,000 live births `. 115.29 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 95.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 49.51 years `. 47.6 years `/ 51.46 years (2007 est.) ^= 7.38 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 1.9% (2003 est.) ^? 140,000 (2003 est.) ^@ 12,000 (2003 est.) _` `h very high `i bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: malaria is a high risk in some locations water contact disease: schistosomiasis `s meningococcal meningitis (2007) ^A `3 Malian(s) `4 Malian ^B Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5% ^C Muslim 90%, Christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9% ^D French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 46.4% `. 53.5% `/ 39.6% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 Republic of Mali `7 Mali `Z Republique de Mali `[ Mali `\ French Sudan and Sudanese Republic ^H republic ^I `8 Bamako `9 12 39 N, 8 00 W `: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) ^J 8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou ^K 22 September 1960 (from France) ^L Independence Day, 22 September (1960) ^M adopted 12 January 1992 ^N based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; President Amadou Toumani TOURE (since 8 June 2002) `< Prime Minister Ousmane Issoufi MAIGA (since 30 April 2004) `= Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister `> president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 12 May 2002 (next to be held April in 2007); prime minister appointed by the president `? Amadou Toumani TOURE elected president; percent of vote - Amadou Toumani TOURE 64.4%, Soumaila CISSE 35.6% ^Q unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) `> last held 14 and 28 July 2002 (next to be held in July 2007) `? percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Hope 2002 coalition 66 (including RPM 42, CNID 10, MPR 3, and other 11), ADEMA 51, other 30 ^R Supreme Court or Cour Supreme ^S Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP (a coalition of 14 political parties including ADEMA and URD formed in December 2006 to support the presidential candidacy of Amadou TOURE); Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Diounconda TRAORE]; Convergence 2007 [Soumeylou Boubeye MAIGA]; Hope 2002 (a coalition of CNID, MPR, RDT, and RPM); National Congress for Democratic Initiative or CNID [Mountaga TALL]; Party for Democracy and Progress or PDP [Me Idrissa TRAORE]; Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Tiebile DRAME]; Patriotic Movement for Renewal or MPR [Choguel MAIGA]; Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT; Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA]; Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Bamou TOURE]; Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Moussa Balla COULIBALY]; Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Soumaila CISSE] ^T Alliance for Democratic Change or ACD; Patriotic Movement of the Ghanda Koye or MPGK; United Movement and Fronts of Azawad or MFUA ^U ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO ^V `R Ambassador Abdoulaye DIOP `S 2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 `T [1] (202) 332-2249, 939-8950 `U [1] (202) 332-6603 ^W `R Ambassador Terrence P. MCCULLEY `_ Rue Rochester NY and Rue Mohamed V, Bamako `` B. P. 34, Bamako `T [223] 222-5470 `U [223] 222-3712 ^X three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia 
]% ^Y Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert and with a highly unequal distribution of income. Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10% of the population is nomadic and some 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. Mali is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for cotton, its main export, along with gold. The government has continued its successful implementation of an IMF-recommended structural adjustment program that is helping the economy grow, diversify, and attract foreign investment. Mali's adherence to economic reform and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a sturdy 5% average in 1996-2006. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire. ^Z $14.59 billion (2006 est.) ^[ $5.847 billion (2006 est.) ^\ 5.1% (2006 est.) ^] $1,200 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 45% `A 17% `B 38% (2001 est.) ^_ 3.93 million (2001 est.) ^` `@ 80% industry and services: 20% (2001 est.) ^a 14.6% (2001 est.) _! 64% (2001 est.) _" `C 1.8% `D 40.4% (1994) _d 50.5 (1994) _# 4.5% (2002 est.) _$ `E $764 million `F $828 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.) _& cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats _' food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining _( NA% _) 410 million kWh (2004) _* 381.3 million kWh (2004) _+ 0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2004) _, 0 kWh (2004) _- 0 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 4,300 bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ NA bbl/day _0 NA bbl/day _1 0 cu m (2004 est.) _2 0 cu m (2004 est.) _3 $323 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) _4 cotton, gold, livestock _5 China 29.4%, Thailand 10.1%, Taiwan 7.8%, Italy 5.3%, Bangladesh 4.5%, France 4.4% (2005) _6 $1.858 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.) _7 petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles _8 France 13%, Senegal 13%, Cote d'Ivoire 8.4% (2005) _9 $2.8 billion (2002) _: $472.1 million (2002) _; Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States _< Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002) _= calendar year 
]& _> 75,000 (2005) _? 869,600 (2005) _@ `G domestic system unreliable but improving; provides only minimal service `H network consists of microwave radio relay, open-wire, and radiotelephone communications stations; expansion of microwave radio relay in progress `I country code - 223; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Indian Ocean) _A AM 1, FM 28, shortwave 1 (the shortwave station in Bamako has seven frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts for China Radio International) (2001) _B 1 (plus repeaters) (2001) _C .ml _D 278 (2006) _E 60,000 (2005) 
]' _F 29 (2006) _G `! 9 `J 4 `b 4 `c 1 (2006) _R `! 20 `J 1 `b 5 `c 6 `W 8 (2006) _e `! 729 km `n 729 km 1.000-m gauge (2005) _H `! 18,709 km `K 3,368 km `L 15,341 km (2004) _b 1,815 km (2005) _I Koulikoro 
]( _J Malian Armed Forces: Army, Republic of Mali Air Force (Force Aerienne de la Republique du Mali, FARM), National Guard (2007) _T 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2004) _K males age 18-49: 2,094,432 females age 18-49: 2,027,352 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 1,244,176 females age 18-49: 1,226,226 (2005 est.) _U 2% (2006 est.) 
]) _N none _c `o 6,165 (Mauritania) (2006) 