From wikipedia about Mali
Mali, is a landlocked country in Western Africa.
Mali borders
Algeria on the north,
Niger on the east,
Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south,
Guinea on the south-west, and
Senegal and
Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1, 240, 000 km² with a population of 14. 5 million. Its capital is Bamako.
Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country's southern region, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the
Niger and Sénégal rivers. The country's economic structure centers around agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's natural resources include gold, uranium, and salt.
Present-day
Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the
Ghana Empire, the
Mali Empire (from which
Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa,
France seized control of
Mali making it a part of French
Sudan. French
Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with
Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the
Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of
Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of
Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. About half the population live below the international poverty line of US$1. 25 a day., Table 3: Human and income poverty, p. 35. Retrieved on 1 June 2009
