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Description Mali by rbd.me
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The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a military coup - led by the current president Amadou TOURE - enabling Mali's emergence as one of the strongest democracies on the continent. President Alpha KONARE won Mali's first democratic presidential election in 1992 and was reelected in 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, KONARE stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE, who was subsequently elected to a second term in 2007. The elections were widely judged to be free and fair.
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Location
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Western Africa, southwest of Algeria
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Area - comparative
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slightly less than twice the size of Texas
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Natural resources Mali
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mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast
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Population Mali
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landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan
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Religions Mali
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Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5%
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Languages
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Muslim 90%, Christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9%
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Education Mali expenditures
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French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages
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Government Mali type
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4.5% of GDP (2006)
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Independence
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8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou
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Mali Economy - overview
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Mali is among the 25 poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert and with a highly unequal distribution of income. Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10% of the population is nomadic and some 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. Mali is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for gold and cotton, its main exports. The government has continued its successful implementation of an IMF-recommended structural adjustment program that is helping the economy grow, diversify, and attract foreign investment. Mali has invested in tourism and a tractor assembly factory. Mali's adherence to economic reform and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a 5% average in 1996-2008. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire, however, Mali is building a road network that will connect it to all adjacent countries and it has a railway line to Senegal.
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Investment Mali
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2.5% (2007 est.)
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Industries Mali
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NA%
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Airports Mali
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Koulikoro
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