Mali

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

agricultural land:

34.1%;

• arable land 5.6%;
• permanent crops 0.1%;
• permanent pasture 28.4%

forest:

10.2%

other:

55.7% (2011 est.)

total:

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

per capita:

545.4 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

0-14 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

0.91 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.87 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

1 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

degree of risk:

very high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

malaria and dengue fever

water contact disease:

schistosomiasis

respiratory disease:

meningococcal meningitis

animal contact disease:

rabies (2013)

total number:

1,485,027

percentage:

36% (2010 est.)

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)

• several previous;
• latest drafted August 1991, approved by referendum 12 January 1992, effective 25 February 1992;
• amended 1999;
• note - suspended briefly in 2012 (2012)

chief of state:

President Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA (since 4 September 2013)

head of government:

Prime Minister Modibo KEITA (since 8 January 2015)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 28 July 2013 with a runoff on 11 August 2013 (election delayed from April 2012 due to a coup in March 2012);
• prime minister appointed by the president

election results:

Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA elected president in runoff; percent of vote - Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA (RPM) 77.6%, Soumaila CISSE (URD) 22.4%

description:

unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by absolute majority vote in two rounds if needed; members serve 5-year terms)

elections:

• last held in two rounds on 24 November 2013 and on 15 December 2013 (next to be held in 2018);
• note - the scheduled July 2012 election was cancelled due to a coup d'etat and the Tuareg Rebellion

election results:

• percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - FDR coalition 64 (RPM 61, PARENA 3), ADP coalition 42 (ADEMA 20, URD 18, CNID 4), FARE 5, CODEM 5, SADI 4, ASMA-CFP 4, Yelema 2, independent 16, other 5;
• note - 13 seats were from voters abroad

highest court(s):

Supreme Court or Cour Supreme (consists of 19 members organized into 3 civil chambers and a criminal chamber); Constitutional Court (consists of 9 members)

judge selection and term of office:

• Supreme Court members appointed by the Ministry of Justice to serve 5-year terms;
• Constitutional Court members selected - 3 each by the president, the National Assembly, and the Supreme Council of the Magistracy;
• members serve single renewable 7-year terms

subordinate courts:

High Court of Justice (jurisdiction limited to cases of high treason or criminal offenses by the president or ministers while in office)

• African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence or SADI [Oumar MARIKO, Secretary General]
• Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Dionconda 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)
• Alliance for the Solidarity of Mali-Convergence of Patriotic Forces or ASMA-CFP [Soumeylou Boubeye MAIGA]
• Alternative Forces for Renewal and Emergence or FARE [Modibo SIDIBE]
• Convergence for the development of Mali or CODEM [Housseyni GUINDO]
• Economic and Social Development Party or PDES [Jamille BITTAR]
• 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)
• Movement for a Common Destiny or MODEC [Koniba SIDIBE]
• 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 Kokalla MAIGA]
• Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT [Amadou Ali NIANGADOU]
• Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA] (ruling party)
• Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Bamou TOURE]
• Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Tieman Hubert COULIBALY]
• Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Younoussi TOURE]
• Yelema [Moussa MARA]

other:

• the army;
• Islamic authorities;
• state-run cotton company CMDT

chief of mission:

Ambassador Tiena COULIBALY (since 18 November 2014)

chancery:

2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

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

FAX:

[1] (202) 332-6603

chief of mission:

Ambassador Paul A. FOLMSBE (since 2015)

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] 2070-2300

FAX:

[223] 2070-2479

name:

"Le Mali" (Mali)

lyrics/music:

Seydou Badian KOUYATE/Banzoumana SISSOKO

note: adopted 1962; 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)

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

agriculture:

80%

industry and services:

20% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.5%

highest 10%:

25.8% (2010 est.)

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 about 70 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) (2010)

• 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

narrow gauge:

593 km 1.000-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 110

total:

22,474 km

paved:

5,522 km

unpaved:

16,952 km (2009)

country comparison to the world: 103

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.)

refugees (country of origin):

12,898 (Mauritania) (2014)

IDPs:

61,920 (Tuareg rebellion since 2012) (2015)

current situation:

• Mali is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking;
• 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 within Mali and neighboring countries;
• Malians and other Africans who travel through Mali to Mauritania, Algeria, or Libya in hopes of reaching Europe are particularly at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking;
• 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, and this involuntary servitude reportedly has extended to their children;
• there has been a decrease in the recruitment of Malian children as combatants, cooks, porters, guards, spies, and sex slaves by non-governmental armed groups in northern Mali

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Mali does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so;
• although the government enacted a comprehensive anti-trafficking law in 2012, it did not demonstrate evidence of overall increasing efforts to address human trafficking over the previous year;
• the government failed to prosecute or convict any trafficking offenders because the law had not yet been distributed to judges and a significant lack of awareness of the law within the judiciary remained;
• authorities did not provide any direct services to victims and did not make any tangible prevention efforts;
• NGOs provided care to victims without government funding;
• no awareness-raising campaigns or anti-trafficking training were carried out (2014)