Climate: subtropical to arid; hot and dry February to June; rainy, humid, and mild June to November; cool and dry November to February
Terrain: mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast
Natural resources: gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium; bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not developed
Population: 10.8 million (27% urban, 73% rural)
Life expectancy: 50 (female); 47 (male)
Infant mortality: 159 per 1,000 births
Literacy rate: 24% (female); 41% (male)
Ethnic divisions: Mande (Bambara, Malinke, Sarakole) 50%, Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 5%, other 10%
Principal religions: Muslim 90%, indigenous beliefs 9%, Christian 1%
Principal languages: French (official); Bambara spoken by about 80% of the population; numerous African languages
Rank of affluence among U.N. members: 162/183
From the 13th to the 16th century, Mali was one of the greatest kingdoms in West Africa, a fabulously rich crossroads between the Islamic cultures to the north and the African cultures to the south. Today, though, Mali is poor, struggling, and sparsely populated.
A part of French West Africa during the first half of the 20th century, the country found itself in dire straits when it became independent in 1960. Landlocked and 4/5 desert, Mali lacked both the infrastructure and economic resources to develop its mineral reserves, and was further hamstrung by internal dissension among the speakers of its five major languages. Unsurprisingly, independence was accompanied by political confusion, socialist proclamations, and, in 1968, a bloodless coup. The new leader, Moussa Traore, held power for 23 years, presiding over a variety of constitutional frameworks. Traore's lack of economic expertise and a punishing drought in the 1970s and 1980s kept the country in an economic quagmire. Eventually he was overthrown in 1991, which led to elections in 1992, followed by another coup in 1993.
Prospects seem mixed, to say the least. The nation's greatest hope for the future is its great mineral wealth, as yet untapped, and its extraordinarily vital culture--the famous Bambara sculpture, the songs in Malinke and Songhai that fill village streets, the adobe architecture of Djenne, and the Bandiagara Cliff.
