Topic summary
Mali
"Mɔgɔ kelen, laɲini kelen, dannaya kelen"(Bambara)
"One people, one goal, one faith"
12°39′N8°0′W / 12.650°N 8.000°W
- 96.4% Islam
- 2.3% Christianity
- 0.7% traditional faiths
- 0.5% no religion
- 0.1% other religions
25,200,000 (61st)
$72.74 billion (115th) $2,930 (173rd) $23.21 billion (121st) $936 (175th)
35.7medium inequality
0.419low (188th)
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the eighth-largest country in Africa and the 23rd largest country in the world, with an area of 1,240,192 square kilometres (478,841 sq mi). It is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east by Niger, to the northwest by Mauritania, to the south by Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, and to the west by Guinea and Senegal. The population is about 25.20 million, 47.19% of which are estimated to be under age 15 in 2024. Its capital and largest city is Bamako. French was the official language until 2022, when it was replaced by 13 African languages, with Bambara being the first language of the majority of the population.
Mali's northern borders reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert. Southern Mali, where the majority of inhabitants live, is in the Sudanian savanna and has the Niger and Senegal rivers running through it. The economy centres on agriculture and mining with its most prominent natural resources including gold (which represents 80% of its exports) and cotton. Mali is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.
Mali was part of three successive powerful and wealthy West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire was the wealthiest country in Africa with Emperor Mansa Musa believed to be one of the wealthiest individuals in history. Besides being a hub of trade and mining, medieval Mali was a centre of Islam, culture and knowledge, with Timbuktu becoming a renowned place of education. The Songhai Empire absorbed the Mali Empire in 1468, followed by a Saadian army which defeated the Songhai in 1591.
In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, making it a part of French Sudan; as the Sudanese Republic, a brief federation with Senegal was formed, achieving independence in 1960. After Senegal's withdrawal, the Republic of Mali was established. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. From this, Mali experienced economic growth and increased civil liberties, though this began to reverse after 2012. Since independence, there have been four rebellions involving Tuareg people, which occurred from 1962 to 1964, 1990 to 1995, 2007 to 2009, and since 2012.
In January 2012, an armed conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of territory in the north, and in April declared the secession of a new state, Azawad. The conflict was complicated by a military coup in March 2012 and later fighting between Tuareg and other rebel factions. In response to territorial gains, the French military launched Operation Serval in January 2013. A month later, Malian and French forces partially recaptured the north, though the conflict continued.
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was elected president in 2013, but allegations of fraud during the 2020 parliamentary election led to mass protests. Keïta was removed in a coup led by Assimi Goïta, who established himself as military ruler of Mali after another coup in 2021. In 2025, all political parties were dissolved, and Goïta was granted a five-year presidential term, renewable without elections. The al-Qaeda affiliate JNIM imposed a fuel blockade on major cities, causing economic disruption and in 2026 launched a joint offensive with Tuareg separatists.