| Country | Mali |
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| Flag |  |
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| Capital | name: Bamako geographic coordinates: 12 39 N, 8 00 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
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| Population | 12,666,987 (July 2009 est.) |
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| GMT | GMT |
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| Location | Western Africa, southwest of Algeria
see map |
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| Area | total: 1.24 million sq km land: 1.22 million sq km water: 20,000 sq km |
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| Ethnic groups | Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5% |
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| Religions | Muslim 90%, Christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9% |
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| Languages | French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages |
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| Government type | republic |
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| National holiday | Independence Day, 22 September (1960) |
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| Constitution | adopted 12 January 1992 |
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| Legal system | based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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| Background | 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 military coup - led by the current president Amadou TOURE - enabling Mali's emergence as one of the strongest democracies on the continent. 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, who was subsequently elected to a second term in 2007. The elections were widely judged to be free and fair. |
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Internet country code | .ml |
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