MALI                                                                            
GEOGRAPHY                                                                       
Total area: 1,240,000 km2; land area: 1,220,000 km2                             
                                                                                
Comparative area: slightly less than twice the size of Texas                    
                                                                                
Land boundaries: 7,243 km total; Algeria 1,376 km, Burkina 1,000                
km, Guinea 858 km, Ivory Coast 532 km, Mauritania 2,237 km, Niger 821 km,       
Senegal 419 km                                                                  
                                                                                
Coastline: none--landlocked                                                     
                                                                                
Maritime claims: none--landlocked                                               
                                                                                
Disputes: the disputed international boundary between Burkina and               
Mali was submitted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in October       
1983 and the ICJ issued its final ruling in December 1986, which both           
sides agreed to accept; Burkina and Mali are proceeding with boundary           
demarcation, including the tripoint with Niger                                  
                                                                                
Climate: subtropical to arid; hot and dry February to June; rainy,              
humid, and mild June to November; cool and dry November to February             
                                                                                
Terrain: mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand;                
savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast                                     
                                                                                
Natural resources: gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone,                   
uranium; bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known       
but not exploited                                                               
                                                                                
Land use: arable land 2%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and                    
pastures 25%; forest and woodland 7%; other 66%; includes irrigated NEGL%       
                                                                                
Environment: hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry                   
seasons; desertification                                                        
                                                                                
Note: landlocked                                                                
                                                                                
PEOPLE                                                                          
Population: 8,338,542 (July 1991), growth rate 2.4% (1991)                      
                                                                                
Birth rate: 51 births/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Death rate: 21 deaths/1,000 population (1991)                                   
                                                                                
Net migration rate: - 6 migrants/1,000 population (1991)                        
                                                                                
Infant mortality rate: 114 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)                      
Life expectancy at birth: 45 years male, 47 years female (1991)                 
                                                                                
Total fertility rate: 7.0 children born/woman (1991)                            
                                                                                
Nationality: noun--Malian(s); adjective--Malian                                 
                                                                                
Ethnic divisions: Mande (Bambara, Malinke, Sarakole) 50%, Peul 17%,             
Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 5%, other 10%                          
                                                                                
Religion: Muslim 90%, indigenous beliefs 9%, Christian 1%                       
                                                                                
Language: French (official); Bambara spoken by about 80% of the                 
population; numerous African languages                                          
                                                                                
Literacy: 32% (male 41%, female 24%) age 15 and over can                        
read and write (1990 est.)                                                      
                                                                                
Labor force: 2,666,000 (1986 est.); agriculture 80%, services 19%,              
industry and commerce 1% (1981); 50% of population of working age (1985)        
                                                                                
Organized labor: National Union of Malian Workers (UNTM) is                     
umbrella organization for over 13 national unions                               
                                                                                
GOVERNMENT                                                                      
Long-form name: Republic of Mali                                                
                                                                                
Type: republic; the single-party constitutional government                      
was overthrown on 26 March 1991; the new ruling National                        
Reconciliation Council has promised a multiparty democracy                      
                                                                                
Capital: Bamako                                                                 
                                                                                
Administrative divisions: 7 regions (regions,                                   
singular--region); Gao, Kayes, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso,                
Tombouctou; note--there may be a new capital district of Bamako                 
                                                                                
Independence: 22 September 1960 (from France; formerly French                   
Sudan)                                                                          
                                                                                
Constitution: 2 June 1974, effective 19 June 1979; amended                      
September 1981 and March 1985; suspended following the coup of                  
26 March 1991                                                                   
                                                                                
Legal system: based on French civil law system and customary law;               
judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Section of Court of       
State; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction                             
                                                                                
National holiday: Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic,              
22 September (1960)                                                             
                                                                                
Executive branch: National Conciliation Council led by the                      
military, following the coup of 26 March 1991                                   
                                                                                
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly (Assemble                      
Nationale)                                                                      
                                                                                
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme)                                   
                                                                                
Leaders:                                                                        
Chief of State--following the military coup of 26 March 1991                    
President Gen. Moussa TRAORE was deposed and the National                       
Reconciliation Council, led by Lt. Col. Amadou Toumani TOURE and Lt. Col.       
Kafougouna KONE, was installed;                                                 
                                                                                
Head of Government--Interim Premier Soumana SACKO (since 2                      
April 1991)                                                                     
                                                                                
Political parties and leaders: formerly the only party, the                     
Democratic Union of Malian People (UDPM), was disbanded after the coup of       
26 March 1991, and the new regime legalized the formation of political          
parties on 5 April 1991; new political parties are--Union of Democratic         
Forces (UFD), Demba DIALLO;                                                     
Union for Democracy and Development (UDD), Moussa Bala COULIBALY;               
Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally (US-RDA), Mamadou Madeira KEITA;        
African Party for Solidarity and Justice (ADEMA), Alpha Oumar KONARE;           
Party for Democracy and Progress (PDP), Idrissa TRAORE;                         
Democratic Party for Justice (PDJ), Abdul BA;                                   
Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP), Almany SYLLA;                           
Party for the Unity of Malian People (PUPM), Nock AGATTIA;                      
Hisboulah al Islamiya, Hamidou DRAMERA;                                         
Union of Progressive Forces (UFP), Yacouba SIDIBE;                              
National Congress of Democratic Initiative (CNID), Mountaga TALL;               
Assembly for Justice and Progress, Kady DRAME;                                  
other parties forming                                                           
                                                                                
Suffrage: universal at age 21                                                   
                                                                                
Elections:                                                                      
                                                                                
President--last held on 9 June 1985 (next to be held June 1991);                
results--General Moussa TRAORE was reelected without opposition;                
                                                                                
National Assembly--last held on 26 June 1988 (next to be held June              
1991); results--UDPM is the only party; seats--(82 total) UDPM 82;              
note--following the military coup of 26 March 1991 President TRAORE             
was deposed and the UDPM was disbanded; the new ruling National                 
Reconciliation Council, formed of 17 soldiers, has promised to                  
institute a multiparty democracy and is expected to hold elections              
by December 1991                                                                
                                                                                
Communists: a few Communists and some sympathizers (no legal                    
Communist party)                                                                
                                                                                
Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, CEAO, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77,              
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC,       
ITU, LORCS, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU,                      
WADB, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO                                                  
                                                                                
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Mohamed Alhousseyni TOURE;                
Chancery at 2130 R Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)              
332-2249 or 939-8950;                                                           
                                                                                
US--Ambassador Herbert D. GELBER; Embassy at Rue Rochester NY and               
Rue Mohamed V., Bamako (mailing address is B. P. 34, Bamako); telephone         
 223  223712                                                                    
                                                                                
Flag: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and             
red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia                            
ECONOMY                                                                         
Overview: Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with                
about 70% of its land area desert or semidesert. Economic activity is           
largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10%         
of the population live as nomads and some 80% of the labor force is             
engaged in agriculture and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated         
on processing farm commodities.                                                 
                                                                                
GDP: $2.0 billion, per capita $250; real growth rate 9.9% (1989                 
est.)                                                                           
                                                                                
Inflation rate (consumer prices): NA% (1987)                                    
                                                                                
Unemployment rate: NA%                                                          
                                                                                
Budget: revenues $329 million; expenditures $519 million, including             
capital expenditures of $178 (1989 est.)                                        
                                                                                
Exports: $285 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--livestock, peanuts, dried fish, cotton, skins;                     
                                                                                
partners--mostly franc zone and Western Europe                                  
                                                                                
Imports: $513 million (f.o.b., 1989 est.);                                      
                                                                                
commodities--textiles, vehicles, petroleum products, machinery,                 
sugar, cereals;                                                                 
                                                                                
partners--mostly franc zone and Western Europe                                  
                                                                                
External debt: $2.2 billion (1989 est.)                                         
                                                                                
Industrial production: growth rate 19.9% (1989 est.); accounts                  
for 7% of GDP                                                                   
                                                                                
Electricity: 253,000 kW capacity; 730 million kWh produced,                     
90 kWh per capita (1990)                                                        
                                                                                
Industries: small local consumer goods and processing,                          
construction, phosphate, gold, fishing                                          
                                                                                
Agriculture: accounts for 50% of GDP; most production based on                  
small subsistence farms; cotton and livestock products account for over         
70% of exports; other crops--millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts;           
livestock--cattle, sheep, and goats                                             
                                                                                
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-89), $349                   
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments          
(1970-88), $2.65  billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $92 million;           
Communist countries (1970-89), $190 million                                     
                                                                                
Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc                                 
(plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes                             
                                                                                
Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF)                   
per US$1--256.54 (January 1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989), 297.85           
(1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)                             
                                                                                
Fiscal year: calendar year                                                      
                                                                                
COMMUNICATIONS                                                                  
Railroads: 642 km 1.000-meter gauge; linked to Senegal's rail                   
system through Kayes                                                            
                                                                                
Highways: about 15,700 km total; 1,670 km bituminous, 3,670 km                  
gravel and improved earth, 10,360 km unimproved earth                           
                                                                                
Inland waterways: 1,815 km navigable                                            
                                                                                
Civil air: no major transport aircraft                                          
                                                                                
Airports: 37 total, 29 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways;                
none with runways over 3,659 m; 6 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 10 with           
runways 1,220-2,439 m                                                           
                                                                                
Telecommunications: domestic system poor but improving; provides                
only minimal service with radio relay, wire, and radio communications           
stations; expansion of radio relay in progress; 11,000 telephones;              
stations--2 AM, 2 FM, 2 TV; satellite earth stations--1 Atlantic Ocean          
INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT                                            
                                                                                
DEFENSE FORCES                                                                  
Branches: Army, Air Force; paramilitary Gendarmerie,                            
Republican Guard, National Guard, National Police                               
                                                                                
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,631,445; 940,954 fit for                  
military service; no conscription                                               
                                                                                
Defense expenditures: $45 million, 2.4% of GDP (1988)                           
                                                                                
