Mali

Present-day Mali is named after the Mali Empire that ruled the region between the 13th and 16th centuries. At its peak in the 14th century, it was the largest and wealthiest empire in West Africa and controlled an area about twice the size of modern-day France. Primarily a trading empire, Mali derived its wealth from gold and maintained several goldfields and trade routes in the Sahel. The empire also influenced West African culture through the spread of its language, laws, and customs, but by the 16th century, it had fragmented into mostly small chiefdoms.

The Songhai Empire, previously a Mali dependency centered in Timbuktu, gained prominence in the 15th and 16th centuries. Under Songhai rule, Timbuktu became a large commercial center, well-known for its scholarship and religious teaching. Timbuktu remains a center of culture in West Africa today. In the late 16th century, the Songhai Empire fell to Moroccan invaders and disintegrated into independent sultanates and kingdoms.

France, expanding from Senegal, seized control of the area in the 1890s and incorporated it into French West Africa as French Sudan. In 1960, French Sudan gained independence from France and became the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, the remaining area was renamed the Republic of Mali. Mali saw 31 years of dictatorship until 1991, when a military coup led by Amadou Toumani TOURE ousted the government, established a new constitution, and instituted a multi-party democracy.

Alpha Oumar KONARE won Mali's first two democratic presidential elections in 1992 and 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, he stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou Toumani TOURE, who won a second term in 2007.

In 2012, rising ethnic tensions and an influx of fighters -- some linked to Al-Qa’ida -- from Libya led to a rebellion and military coup. Following the coup, rebels expelled the military from the country’s three northern regions, allowing terrorist organizations to develop strongholds in the area. With a 2013 French-led military intervention, the Malian government managed to retake most of the north. However, the government’s grasp in the region remains weak with local militias, terrorists, and insurgent groups competing for control.

In 2015, the Malian Government and northern rebels signed an internationally mediated peace accord. Despite a 2017 target for implementation of the agreement, the signatories have made little progress. Terrorist groups were left out of the peace process, and terrorist attacks remain common.

Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA won the Malian presidential elections in 2013 and 2018. Aside from security and logistic shortfalls, international observers deemed these elections credible. Terrorism, banditry, ethnic-based violence, and extra-judicial military killings plagued the country during KEITA’s second term. In 2020, the military arrested KEITA, his prime minister, and other senior members of the government and established a military junta called the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP). The junta then established a transition government and appointed Bah N’DAW, a retired army officer and former defense minister, as interim president and Colonel Assimi GOITA, the coup leader and chairman of the CNSP, as interim vice president. The transition government’s charter allowed it to rule for up to 18 months before calling a general election.

In 2021, GOITA led a military takeover, arresting the interim president after a Cabinet shake-up removed GOITA’s key allies. GOITA was sworn in as transition president, and Choguel Kokalla MAIGA was sworn in as prime minister. In 2022, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed sanctions on the transition government, and member states closed their borders with Mali after the transition government presented a five-year extension to the electoral calendar.

The transition government and ECOWAS agreed to a new two-year timeline, which would have included presidential elections in February 2024, but the transition government postponed the elections indefinitely in September 2023 and withdrew from ECOWAS in January 2024.

chief of state:

Transition President Assimi GOITA (since 7 June 2021)

head of government:

Transition Prime Minister Abdoulaye MAIGA (since 22 November 2024)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister

election/appointment process:

• president directly elected by absolute-majority popular vote in 2 rounds, if needed, for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• prime minister appointed by the president

most recent election date:

29 July 2018, with runoff on 12 August 2018

election results:

• 2018 : Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA reelected 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 67.2%, Soumaila CISSE 32.8%

note: in 2022, the transition government adopted a charter allowing transition authorities to rule for up to 5 years; in July 2025, the military-appointed National Transitional Council (CNT) unanimously adopted a revised transitional charter that granted transitional president General Assimi GOITA a five-year presidential mandate,

renewable indefinitely, following the earlier dissolution of all political parties in May

legislature name:

Transitional National Council (Conseil national de transition)

legislative structure:

unicameral

chamber name:

Transitional National Council (Conseil national de transition)

number of seats:

147 (all appointed)

electoral system:

plurality/majority

scope of elections:

full renewal

most recent election date:

12/5/2020

percentage of women in chamber:

30.1%

expected date of next election:

December 2030

note 1: the National Assembly was dissolved on 18 August 2020 after a military coup; the transitional government created a Transitional National Council (CNT) that acts as the transitional government's legislative body; a new constitution was ratified in July 2023 that expanded the military junta's powers, and no plans for legislative elections have been announced

note 2: coup leaders appointed a president and vice president; the president then apportioned CNT seats to various groups and political parties

• Malian Armed Forces (Forces Armées Maliennes or FAMa): Army (l’Armée de Terre), Air Force (l’Armée de l’Air);
• National Guard (la Garde Nationale du Mali);
• National Gendarmerie of Mali (Gendarmerie Nationale du Mali) (2025)

note 1: 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

note 2: 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

note 3: 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

note 4: 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

the FAMa is responsible for the 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; 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 (1968, 1976, 1978, 1991, 2012)

the FAMa and other security forces are actively engaged in combat 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 armed rebel organizations, communal militias, and criminal bands spread across the central, northern, and southern regions of the country; a large portion of the country--up to 50% by some estimates--is outside of government control

the FAMa and the remainder of the security forces collapsed in 2012 during the fighting against Tuareg rebels and Islamic militants and were rebuilt beginning in 2013 with external assistance from the EU and the UN; the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and the EU Training Mission in Mali (EUTM) ended their missions in 2023 and 2024, respectively;

France intervened militarily in Mali in 2013 to assist with regaining the northern half of the country from rebel and Islamic militant groups; French troops withdrew in 2022; since 2021, Mali has increased security ties with Russia, which has provided equipment, training, and other forms of military support (2025)