Portal:Mali - Wikipedia
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Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over 1,240,192 square kilometres (478,841 sq mi). The country 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 of Mali is about 23.29 million0 47.19% of which are estimated to be under the age of 15 in 2024. Its capital and largest city is Bamako. The country has 13 official languages, of which Bambara is the most commonly spoken.
The sovereign state's northern borders reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert. The country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, is in the Sudanian savanna and has the Niger and Senegal rivers running through it. The country's economy centres on agriculture and mining with its most prominent natural resources including gold (of which it is the third largest producer in Africa) and salt.
Mali was part of three successive powerful and wealthy West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire (for which Ghana is named), the Mali Empire (for which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire was the wealthiest country in Africa with its 14th-century 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 with its university, one of the oldest in the world and still active. The expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the 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.
In January 2012, an armed conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of a 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 recaptured most of the north, although the conflict continued. Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2013, with a second-round run-off held on 11 August, and legislative elections were held on 24 November and 15 December 2013. In the early 2020s, Mali experienced two military takeovers by Assimi Goïta. (Full article...)
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The 2007-2009 Tuareg rebellion was an insurgency that began in February 2007 amongst elements of the Tuareg people living in the Sahara desert regions of northern Mali and Niger. It is one of a series of insurgencies by formerly nomadic Tuareg populations, which had last appeared in the mid-1990s, and date back at least to 1916. Populations dispersed to Algeria and Libya, as well as to the south of Niger and Mali in the 1990s returned only in the late 1990s. Former fighters were to be integrated into national militaries, but the process has been slow and caused increased resentment. Malian Tuaregs had conducted some raids in 2005–2006, which ended in a renewed peace agreement. Fighting in both nations was carried on largely in parallel, but not in concert. While fighting was mostly confined to guerrilla attacks and army counterattacks, large portions of the desert north of each nation were no-go zones for the military and civilians fled to regional capitals like Kidal, Mali and Agadez, Niger. Fighting was largely contained within Mali's Kidal Region and Niger's Agadez Region. Algeria helped negotiate an August 2008 Malian peace deal, which was broken by a rebel faction in December, crushed by the Malian military and wholescale defections of rebels to the government. Niger saw heavy fighting and disruption of uranium production in the mountainous north, before a Libyan backed peace deal, aided by a factional split among the rebels, brought a negotiated ceasefire and amnesty in May 2009. (Full article...)
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The following are images from various Mali-related articles on Wikipedia.
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Grondnut Stew (from Malian cuisine)
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Members of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, September 2020 (from Mali)
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The extent of the Mali Empire's peak (from Mali)
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Kalabougou potters (from Mali)
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Mali Dogon Dance (from Mali)
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GDP per capita development of Mali (from Mali)
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Malian tea (from Mali)
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A proportional representation of Mali exports, 2019 (from Mali)
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Bògòlanfini fabric. (from Culture of Mali)
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An entrance to the Djinguereber mosque (from Mali)
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A Dogon hunter with an old flintlock rifle still in use. (from Culture of Mali)
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Mali map of Köppen climate classification (from Mali)
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Cotton being processed in Niono into 180 kg (400 lb) bales for export to other parts of Africa and to France, c. 1950 (from Mali)
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Malian musical duo Amadou et Mariam are known internationally for their music, combining Malian and international influences. (from Culture of Mali)
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The pages above are from Timbuktu Manuscripts written in Sudani script (a form of Arabic) from the Mali Empire showing established knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. Today there are close to a million of these manuscripts found in Timbuktu alone. (from Mali)
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Malian children playing football (from Culture of Mali)
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WWI Commemorative Monument to the "Armée Noire" (from Mali)
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Malian tea (from Malian cuisine)
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Pashalik of Timbuktu (yellow-striped) as part of the Saadi dynasty of Morocco, c. 1591 (from History of Mali)
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Military situation in Mali. For a detailed map, see here. (from Mali)
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Modibo Sidibe voting in Bamako, 2018 Malian presidential election (from Mali)
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Map of the Pashalik of Timbuktu (yellow-striped) as part of the Saadi dynasty of Morocco (outlined black) within the Songhai Empire (outlined red), c. 1591 (from Mali)
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Map showing the fullest extent of rebel-held territory in January 2013 (from Mali)
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A crowd of women in Mali. (from Culture of Mali)
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A textile artisan at work in Djenne, Mali. (from Culture of Mali)
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Flag of Mali (from Malian cuisine)
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Satellite image of Mali (from Mali)
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A farmer with potatoes (from Malian cuisine)
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Another image depicting Groundnut Stew (from Malian cuisine)
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Konoguel Mosque tower (from Mali)
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Former President of Mali Amadou Toumani Touré and Minister-president of the Netherlands Mark Rutte (from Mali)
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Tuareg separatist rebels in Mali, January 2012 (from Mali)
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Cotton processing at CMDT (from Mali)
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A Bambara wedding in Mali, observed by a tourist. (from Mali)
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Mango packaging (from Malian cuisine)
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Regions of Mali since 2023 (from Mali)
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Jollof rice with vegetables and a boiled egg (from Malian cuisine)
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Representatives of Mali and Russia at the 2nd International Parliamentary Conference “Russia-Africa” in Moscow, 19 March 2023 (from Mali)
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Location of Mali (from Malian cuisine)
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Malian children playing football in a Dogon village (from Mali)
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The Tuareg are nomadic inhabitants of northern Mali. (from Mali)
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Griots of Sambala, king of Médina (Fula people, Mali), 1890. Photo by Joannès Barbier. (from Mali)
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Assimi Goita, interim president of Mali since 2021 Malian coup d'état (from Mali)
Categories
Cities and towns
Largest cities or towns in Mali According to the 2009 Census[1] | ||||
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Rank | Name | Region | Pop. | |
![]() Bamako ![]() Sikasso |
1 | Bamako | Bamako | 1,810,366 |
2 | Sikasso | Sikasso | 226,618 | |
3 | Koutiala | Sikasso | 141,444 | |
4 | Ségou | Ségou | 133,501 | |
5 | Kayes | Kayes | 126,319 | |
6 | Mopti | Mopti | 120,786 | |
7 | Kalabancoro | Koulikoro | 96,173 | |
8 | Gao | Gao | 86,353 | |
9 | Kati | Koulikoro | 84,500 | |
10 | San | Ségou | 66,967 |
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Sources
- ^ "Mali: Regions, Major Cities & Localities". Population Statistics in Maps and Charts. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
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