Mali

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, covering over 1,240,192 square kilometres. Mali shares borders with Algeria to the north, Niger to the east, Mauritania to the northwest, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast to the south, and Guinea and Senegal to the west.

The country has a young population, with about half under the age of 15. Its capital and largest city is Bamako. Mali has many languages, with Bambara being the most widely spoken. The north of Mali reaches into the Sahara Desert, while the south, where most people live, lies in the Sudanian savanna and is home to the Niger and Senegal rivers.

Historically, Mali was part of powerful West African empires such as the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. At its height around 1300, the Mali Empire was very wealthy, with its emperor Mansa Musa being one of the richest people in history. The city of Timbuktu became a famous center for learning and culture.

In the late 1800s, France took control of Mali during the Scramble for Africa. Mali gained independence in 1960. Since then, the country has faced political changes, including coups and conflicts. Despite challenges, Mali remains important for its natural resources like gold and its rich cultural history.

Etymology

The name Mali comes from the old Mali Empire. It means "the place where the king lives" and suggests strength.

A famous traveler from the 1300s named Ibn Battuta wrote that the empire’s capital was called Mali. Some stories from the Mandinka people say that the first emperor, Sundiata Keita, turned into a hippopotamus when he died in the Sankarani River. There are also villages near that river called “old Mali.” Another idea is that the name Mali comes from the language of the Fulani people, who are related to the Mande peoples. Over time, the way they said a word changed, turning “Manden” into “Mali.”

History

Main article: History of Mali

Before colonization

The rock art in the Sahara suggests that northern Mali has been inhabited since 10,000 BC, when the Sahara was fertile and rich in wildlife. Early ceramics have been discovered at the central Malian site of Ounjougou dating to about 9,400 BC, and are believed to represent an instance of the independent invention of pottery in the region. Farming took place by 5000 BC and iron was used by around 500 BC. In the first millennium BC, early cities and towns were created by Mande peoples related to the Soninke people, along the middle Niger River in central Mali, including Dia which began from around 900 BC, and reached its peak around 600 BC, and Djenne-Djenno, which lasted from around 300 BC to 900 AD. Through approximately 6th century BC and 4th century BC, the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in pack-animals, gold, salt and slaves had begun, facilitating the rise of West Africa's great empires.

There are a few references to Mali in early Islamic literature. Among these are references to "Pene" and "Malal" in the work of al-Bakri in 1068, the story of the conversion of an early ruler, known to Ibn Khaldun (by 1397) as Barmandana, and a few geographical details in the work of al-Idrisi.

Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, other precious commodities, and slaves majorly during the reign of Mansa Musa from c. 1312 – c. 1337. These Sahelian kingdoms had neither rigid geopolitical boundaries nor rigid ethnic identities. The earliest of these empires was the Ghana Empire, which was dominated by the Soninke, a Mande-speaking people. The empire expanded throughout West Africa from the eighth century until 1078, when it was conquered by the Almoravids.

The Battle of Kirina in 1235, culminated in a victory for the Mandinka under the command of the exiled prince Sundiata Keita, which led to the downfall of the Sosso Empire.

The Mali Empire later formed on the upper Niger River, and reached the height of power in the 14th century. Under the Mali Empire, the ancient cities of Djenné and Timbuktu were centers of both trade and Islamic learning. The empire later declined as a result of internal intrigue, ultimately being supplanted by the Songhai Empire. The Songhai had long been a major power in West Africa subject to the Mali Empire's rule.

In the late 14th century, the Songhai gradually gained independence from the Mali Empire and expanded, ultimately subsuming the entire eastern portion of the Mali Empire. The Songhai Empire's eventual collapse was largely the result of the Moroccan invasion of 1591 under the command of Judar Pasha. The fall of the Songhai Empire marked the end of the region's role as a trading crossroads. Following the establishment of sea routes by the European powers, the trans-Saharan trade routes lost significance. At that time, the Mali Empire's abundance in wealth expanded its commercial assets of salt and gold.

One of the worst famines in the region's recorded history occurred in the 18th century.

French colonial rule

See also: French West Africa

Mali fell under the control of France during the Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century. By 1905, most of the area was under firm French control as a part of French Sudan.

In November 1915, a large anti-French uprising broke out among the tribes in the regions of present-day Mali and Burkina Faso. The last resistance was suppressed only in September 1916.

On 24 November 1958, French Sudan (which changed its name to the Sudanese Republic) became an autonomous republic within the French Community. In January 1959, Mali and Senegal united to become the Mali Federation.

Independence

The Mali Federation gained independence from France on 20 June 1960. Senegal withdrew from the federation in August 1960, which allowed the Sudanese Republic to become the independent Republic of Mali on 22 September 1960, and that date is now the country's Independence Day.

Modibo Keïta was elected the first president. He quickly established a one-party state, adopted an independent African and socialist orientation with close ties to the East, and implemented extensive nationalization of economic resources. In 1960, the population of Mali was reported to be about 4.1 million. On 19 November 1968, following progressive economic decline, the Keïta regime was overthrown in a bloodless military coup led by Moussa Traoré, a day which is now commemorated as Liberation Day.

Socialism under President Modibo Keïta, 1960-1968

After Modibo Keïta became the President of the Republic of Mali on 22^nd September 1960, the Malian government announced a socialist plan for development. The government then introduced socialist policies with a focus on economic development, aimed at achieving social changes in the country, especially transforming rural populations and communities.

The government announced a one-party state after the independence of Mali, banning other political parties with the only legal political party being the US-RDA (Sudanese Union – African Democratic Rally / Union Soudanaise – Rassemblement Démocratique Africain). Those who tried to create a political opposition were arrested.

Keïta viewed education as essential to the development of Mali as a socialist state. At the time of independence, 93% of the population in Mali were illiterate in French, 90% illiterate in Arabic, and very few people were given a Western education. On 17^th September 1962, the government passed the Educational Reform Law which introduced 9 years of mandatory education across Mali. In 1964, two years after the law was passed, the number of school-age Malians in education had more than tripled the pre-independence numbers with 24% in school and the number of people in secondary education had increased from 434 students in 1962-1963 to 1,325 by 1966-1967.

In July 1962, Keïta announced The Bank of the Republic of Mali (La Banque de la République de Mali) which was responsible for minting its own currency, the Malian franc. Keïta believed that Mali having its own currency was a sign of sovereignty.

Opposition and critics of President Keïta and the US-RDA government were met with violence and imprisonment. Political opponents of the government were arrested and some were sent to Kidal, a desert town in northern Mali, and imprisoned there.

Keïta oversaw the nationalisation of various sectors of the economy to help the development of Mali as a socialist state. To further control the economy and the development of industrialisation, Keïta created new state-owned enterprises. These enterprises spanned across different industries including textiles, food processing, tobacco, cotton, and radio manufacturing.

Moussa Traoré regime

The subsequent military-led regime, with Traoré as president, attempted to reform the economy. His efforts were frustrated by political turmoil and a devastating drought from 1968 to 1974. The Traoré regime faced student unrest beginning in the late 1970s and three coup attempts. The Traoré regime repressed all dissenters until the late 1980s.

Opposition to the corrupt and dictatorial regime of General Moussa Traoré grew during the 1980s. In response to growing demands for multi-party democracy, the Traoré regime allowed some limited political liberalization in the late 1980s, but refused to usher in a full-fledged democratic system.

In 1990, cohesive opposition movements began to emerge, and was complicated by the turbulent rise of ethnic violence in the north. Peaceful student protests in January 1991 were brutally suppressed, with mass arrests and torture of leaders and participants. Scattered acts of rioting and vandalism of public buildings followed, but most actions by the dissidents remained nonviolent.

From 22 March through 26 March 1991, mass pro-democracy rallies and a nationwide strike was held in both urban and rural communities, which became known as les évenements ("the events") or the March Revolution. In Bamako, in response to mass demonstrations organized by university students and later joined by trade unionists and others, soldiers opened fire indiscriminately on the nonviolent demonstrators. Riots broke out briefly following the shootings. Barricades as well as roadblocks were erected and Traoré declared a state of emergency and imposed a nightly curfew. Despite an estimated loss of lives over the course of four days, nonviolent protesters continued to return to Bamako each day demanding the resignation of the dictatorial president and the implementation of democratic policies.

By 26 March, the growing refusal of soldiers to fire into the largely nonviolent protesting crowds turned into a full-scale tumult. Military soldiers clashed with peaceful protesters, resulting in the deaths of many under the orders of Traoré. That afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Amadou Toumani Touré announced on the radio that he had arrested the dictatorial president, Moussa Traoré. The date is now a national holiday in Mali. The coup is remembered as Mali's March Revolution of 1991.

Multi-party democracy

Opposition parties were legalized, a transitional government was formed and a national congress of civil and political groups met to draft a new democratic constitution to be approved by a national referendum. In 1992, Alpha Oumar Konaré won Mali's first democratic, multi-party presidential election, before being re-elected for a second term in 1997, which was the last allowed under the constitution. Amadou Toumani Touré, a retired general who had been the leader of the military aspect of the 1991 democratic uprising, was elected in 2002. During this democratic period Mali was regarded as one of the most politically and socially stable countries in Africa.

Slavery persists in Mali today.

Northern Mali conflict

See also: International Criminal Court investigation in Mali

In January 2012 a Tuareg rebellion began in northern Mali, led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA). In March, military officer Amadou Sanogo seized power in a coup d'état, citing Touré's failures in quelling the rebellion, and leading to sanctions and an embargo by the Economic Community of West African States. The MNLA quickly took control of the north, declaring its independence as Azawad. However, Islamist groups, including Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), who had helped the MNLA defeat the government, turned on the Tuareg and took control of the north with the goal of implementing sharia in Mali.

On 11 January 2013, the French Armed Forces intervened at the request of the interim government of president Dioncounda Traoré. On 30 January, the coordinated advance of the French and Malian troops claimed to have retaken the last remaining Islamist stronghold of Kidal, which was also the last of three northern provincial capitals. On 2 February, French president François Hollande joined Dioncounda Traoré in a public appearance in recently recaptured Timbuktu.

In August 2013, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was elected as the new president of Mali in the second round of the election.

Conflict in Central Mali

In the central Mali province of Mopti, conflict has escalated since 2015 between agricultural communities like the Dogon and the Bambara, and the pastoral Fula (or Fulani) people. Historically, the two sides have fought over access to land and water, factors which have been exacerbated by climate change as the Fula move into new areas. The Dogon and the Bambara communities have formed "self-defense groups" to fight the Fula.

Added a top Mali military commander:

I've discussed the growing violence with my commanders and with village chiefs from all sides. Yes, sure, there are jihadists in this zone, but the real problem is banditry, animal theft, score settling – people are enriching themselves using the fight against terrorists as a cover.

The conflict has seen the creation and growth of Dogon and Bambara militias. The government of Mali is suspected of supporting some of these groups under the guise of being proxies in the war against armed groups in the Northern Mali conflict. The government denies this. One such militia is the Dogon group Dan Na Ambassagou, created in 2016.

In the 2018 Malian presidential election held on 29 July 2018, no candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round. A runoff was held on 12 August 2018 between the top two candidates, incumbent president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of the Rally for Mali and Soumaïla Cissé of the Union for the Republic and Democracy, and Keïta was re-elected with 67% of the vote.

2020s coups and Assimi Goïta junta

Main articles: 2020 Malian coup d'état and 2021 Malian coup d'état

See also: List of terrorist attacks in Mali

Popular unrest began on 5 June 2020 following irregularities in the March and April parliamentary elections, including outrage against the kidnapping of opposition leader Soumaïla Cissé. Between 11 and 23 deaths followed protests that took place from 10 to 13 June. In July, President Keïta dissolved the constitutional court.

Members of the military led by Colonel Assimi Goïta and Colonel-Major Ismaël Wagué in Kati, Koulikoro Region, began a mutiny on 18 August 2020. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé were arrested, and shortly after midnight Keïta announced his resignation, saying he did not want to see any bloodshed. Wagué announced the formation of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP) and promised elections in the future. A curfew was begun and the streets of Bamako were quiet. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) condemned the coup and demanded that Keïta be reinstated as president.

On 12 September 2020, the CNSP agreed to an 18-month political transition to civilian rule. Shortly after, Bah N'daw was named interim president by a group of 17 electors, with Goïta being appointed vice president. The government was inaugurated on 25 September 2020. On 18 January 2021, the transitional government announced that the CNSP had been disbanded, almost four months after had been promised under the initial agreement.

Tensions between the civilian transitional government and the military ran high after the handover of power in September 2020. The tensions came to a head on 24 May 2021 after a cabinet reshuffle, where two leaders of the 2020 military coup – Sadio Camara and Modibo Kone – were replaced by N'daw's administration. Later that day, journalists reported that three key civilian leaders – President N'daw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and Defence Minister Souleymane Doucouré, were being detained in a military base in Kati, outside Bamako. On 7 June 2021, Mali's military commander Assimi Goïta was sworn into office as the new interim president.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Mali

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the north, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso to the southeast, Ivory Coast to the south, Guinea to the southwest, Senegal to the west, and Mauritania to the northwest. With an area of over 1,240,192 square kilometres (478,841 sq mi), Mali is the 24th-largest country in the world and the eighth-largest in Africa.

Mali has a very hot climate, especially in the north where it is part of the Sahara Desert. The south gets more rain, especially between late April and early October, when the Niger River often floods and creates a large delta area. Mali has many natural resources such as gold and uranium, but it also faces environmental challenges like desertification and not enough clean water. The country has several different types of landscapes, including savannas, woodlands, and steppe areas.

Politics and government

Main article: Politics of Mali

Mali is led by a transitional president, who works with a prime minister and a group of leaders called the National Transitional Council. However, real power lies with a group of military leaders who took control in 2020. Mali used to have a system where the president, government, and courts all had separate roles, but now the military leaders make most decisions.

Mali has relationships with many countries. For many years, it worked closely with Western nations and groups like the United Nations. However, after military changes in 2020 and 2021, Mali has moved away from some of these partners and built stronger ties with Russia. Mali also works with nearby countries to help keep peace in the area.

Mali's military includes around 41,000 soldiers and police. The army and air force make up the main fighting forces, while other groups like the National Guard and police help keep order. Russia also has troops in Mali to support the country.

The country is divided into regions, smaller areas called cercles, and even smaller units called arrondissements and communes. There are 19 regions and the capital district of Bamako. These areas help organize government services, though some places are hard to reach due to size and safety concerns.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Mali

Mali is one of the poorer countries in the world, with many people working in jobs that are not officially recorded. Farming, fishing, and raising animals are the main ways people make a living, and these activities help create a lot of the country’s money. Gold mining is very important for Mali, making up most of what the country sells to other places. Cotton is also sold, but not as much as gold.

The country’s economy faces challenges like changes in world prices for gold and cotton, as well as problems with infrastructure and leadership. Even with these issues, Mali has been growing again after facing difficulties like the COVID-19 pandemic and other problems in 2022. Mali uses a special money called the CFA franc, which helps keep prices steady. However, getting money for businesses has been hard in recent years.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Mali

Mali has a large and growing population. In 2021, about 22 million people lived there. Most people live in the southern part of the country, especially in the capital city, Bamako, which has over 2 million residents. The country has many different ethnic groups, with the Bambara being the largest group.

Mali has several official languages, with Bambara being widely spoken. Most people practice Islam, but there are also Christians and people who follow traditional beliefs. The country faces challenges in education and health, with many children not attending school and health services being limited. Efforts are being made to improve these areas, but much work remains to be done.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Mali

Mali has a rich and colorful culture shaped by its many different groups of people. Traditional clothing often includes flowing, bright robes called boubous. Malians enjoy many festivals, dances, and ceremonies that bring communities together.

Music is very important in Mali. Famous Malian musicians include Toumani Diabaté, a master of the kora, and the Tuareg band Tinariwen. Dance is also popular, with both fun gatherings among friends and special dances at ceremonies.

Football is the most popular sport in Mali, especially since the country hosted a big tournament in 2002. Basketball and traditional wrestling are also enjoyed. In meals, rice and millet are common, often served with sauces made from leaves or tomatoes, and sometimes with grilled meat.

Main article: Music of Mali

Main article: Media of Mali