Mali

• subtropical to arid;
• hot and dry (February to June);
• rainy, humid, and mild (June to November);
• cool and dry (November to February)

total:

6.55 cu km/yr (9%/1%/90%)

per capita:

484 cu m/yr (2000)

• hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons;
• recurring droughts;
• occasional Niger River flooding

• deforestation;
• soil erosion;
• desertification;
• inadequate supplies of potable water;
• poaching

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• landlocked;
• divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese;
• the central, semiarid Sahelian;
• and the northern, arid Saharan

noun:

Malian(s)

adjective:

Malian

at birth:

1.03 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.95 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.92 male(s)/female

total population:

0.98 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne disease:

malaria

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

respiratory disease:

meningococcal meningitis (2009)

conventional long form:

Republic of Mali

conventional short form:

Mali

local long form:

Republique de Mali

local short form:

Mali

former:

French Sudan and Sudanese Republic

name:

Bamako

geographic coordinates:

12 39 N, 8 00 W

time difference:

UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

chief of state:

President Amadou Toumani TOURE (since 8 June 2002)

head of government:

Prime Minister CISSE Mariam Kaidama Sidibe (since 3 April 2011)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 29 April 2007 (next to be held in April 2012);
• prime minister appointed by the president

election results:

Amadou Toumani TOURE reelected president; percent of vote - Amadou Toumani TOURE 71.2%, Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA 19.2%, other 9.6%

• African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence or SADI [Oumar MARIKO, secretary general];
• Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Diounconda TRAORE];
• Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP (a coalition of political parties including ADEMA and URD formed in December 2006 to support the presidential candidacy of Amadou TOURE);
• Alliance for Democratic Change (political group comprised mainly of Tuareg from Mali's northern region);
• Convergence 2007 [Soumeylou Boubeye MAIGA];
• Front for Democracy and the Republic or FDR (a coalition of political parties including RPM and PARENA formed to oppose the presidential candidacy of Amadou TOURE);
• National Congress for Democratic Initiative or CNID [Mountaga TALL];
• Party for Democracy and Progress or PDP [Mady KONATE];
• Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Tiebile DRAME];
• Patriotic Movement for Renewal or MPR [Choguel MAIGA];
• Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT [Amadou Ali NIANGADOU];
• Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA];
• Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Basir GOLOGO];
• Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Moussa Balla COULIBALY];
• Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Soumaila CISSE]

other:

• the army;
• Islamic authorities;
• rebels in the northern region;
• state-run cotton company CMDT;
• tuaregs

chief of mission:

Ambassador Mamadou TRAORE

chancery:

2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 332-2249, 939-8950

FAX:

[1] (202) 332-6603

chief of mission:

Ambassador Gillian A. MILOVANOVIC

embassy:

located just off the Roi Bin Fahad Aziz Bridge just west of the Bamako central district

mailing address:

ACI 2000, Rue 243, Porte 297, Bamako

telephone:

[223] 270-2300

FAX:

[223] 270-2479

name:

"Le Mali" (Mali)

lyrics/music:

Seydou Badian KOUYATE/Banzoumana SISSOKO

note: adopted 1962; the anthem is 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)

agriculture:

80%

industry and services:

20% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.7%

highest 10%:

30.5% (2006)

• food processing;
• construction;
• phosphate and gold mining

general assessment:

domestic system unreliable but improving; increasing use of local radio loops to extend network coverage to remote areas

domestic:

fixed-line subscribership remains less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership has increased sharply to nearly 30 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 223;
• satellite communications center and fiber-optic links to neighboring countries;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Indian Ocean) (2008)

• 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 (2007)

total:

593 km

country comparison to the world: 109

narrow gauge:

593 km 1.000-m gauge (2010)

total:

18,912 km

country comparison to the world: 114

paved:

3,597 km

unpaved:

15,315 km (2005)

males age 16-49:

2,848,412

females age 16-49:

2,981,106 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,825,779

females age 16-49:

1,968,563 (2010 est.)

male:

158,031

female:

159,733 (2010 est.)

current situation:

• Mali is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• within Mali, women and girls are forced into domestic servitude, agricultural labor, and support roles in gold mines, as well as subjected to sex trafficking;
• Malian boys are found in conditions of forced labor in agricultural settings, gold mines, and the informal commercial sector, as well as forced begging both within Mali and neighboring countries;
• boys from Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and other countries are forced into begging and exploited for labor;
• adult men and boys, primarily of Songhai ethnicity, are subjected to the longstanding practice of debt bondage in the salt mines of Taoudenni in northern Mali;
• some members of Mali's black Tamachek community are subjected to traditional slavery-related practices rooted in hereditary master-slave relationships, and this involuntary servitude reportedly has extended to their children

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - the government acknowledged that human trafficking is a problem in Mali, but it did not demonstrate significant efforts to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders;
• although the government identified at least 198 trafficking victims during the year - 152 of whom were Malian children in prostitution - it prosecuted only three trafficking cases and convicted two trafficking offenders (2011)