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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Mali
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Landlocked country in NW Africa, bordered to
the NE by Algeria, E by Niger, SE by Burkina
Faso, S by the Ivory Coast, SW by Senegal and
Guinea, and W and N by Mauritania. government
The 1974 constitution, amended in 1981 and
1985, provides for a one-party state, with a
president elected by universal suffrage, and
an 82-member national assembly elected from a
party list for a three-year term. The
president serves for six years and may be
re-elected any number of times. The party is
the Malian People's Democratic Union (UDPM).
history From the 7th to the 11th century part
of the Ghana Empire, then of the Muslim Mali
Empire, which flourished in NW Africa during
the 7th-15th centuries, the area now known as
Mali came under the rule of the Songhai
Empire during the 15th-16th centuries. In
1591 an invasion by Moroccan forces seeking
to take over the W Sudanese gold trade
destroyed the Songhai Empire and left the
area divided into small kingdoms. Because of
its inland position, the region had little
contact with Europeans, who were trading
around the coast from the 16th century, and
it was not until the 19th century that
France, by means of treaties with local
rulers, established colonies throughout most
of NW Africa. As French Sudan, Mali was part
of French West Africa from 1893. In 1959,
with Senegal, it formed the Federation of
Mali. In 1960 Senegal left and Mali became a
fully independent republic. Its first
president, Modibo Keita, imposed an
authoritarian socialist regime but his
economic policies failed and he was removed
in an army coup in 1968. The constitution was
suspended, political activity was banned, and
government was placed in the hands of a
Military Committee for National Liberation
(CMLN) with Lieut Moussa Traore as president
and head of state. In 1969 he became prime
minister as well. He promised a return to
civilian rule and in 1974 a new constitution
made Mali a one-party state. A new party, the
UDPM, was announced in 1976. Despite student
opposition to a one-party state and army
objections to civilian rule, Traore
successfully made the transition so that by
1979 Mali had a constitutional government,
while ultimate power lay with the party and
the military establishment. In 1983 Mali and
Guinea signed an agreement for eventual
economic and political integration. In 1985 a
border dispute with Burkina Faso resulted in
a five-day conflict which was settled by the
International Court of Justice.