Mali

Local Information

Mali, in long form the Republic of Mali, is a French-speaking state in West Africa bordering Mauritania in the West, Algeria in the North-Northeast, Niger in the East, from Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast to the South-Southwest, from Guinea to the Southwest and Senegal to the West-Southwest.

Former French colony of French Sudan, Mali became independent on September 22, 1960, after the break-up of the federation of Mali bringing together Senegal and the Sudanese Republic. Its motto is “one people, one goal, one faith” and its flag consists of three vertical stripes of green, yellow and red.

The republic of Mali has retained the border inherited from colonization, those of French Sudan.
Previously, several kingdoms and empires succeeded each other, encompassing a important part of present-day Mali and neighboring countries.

With 20 millions residents, the Malian population is made up of different ethnic groups, the main ones being the bambaras, the Bobos, the bozos, the Dogons, the khassonkés, the Malinkés, the Miniankas, the Peuls, the Sénoufos, the Soninkés, the Sonrhais, the Tuaregs. French is the official language, but the population mainly speaks the national languages, Bamabara being the most used and serving, alongside French, as a vehicular language.

With an essentially rural economy, Mali a landlocked country, is one of the least advanced countries in terms of socio-economic development.

The country is part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union.  

Its capital is Bamako, whose urban area has 2.529 million of peoples in 2019.