Mali

Mali is a central State of Western Africa, and it shares borders with Mauritania and Algeria (North), Niger (West), Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast (South), Guinea (South-West) and Senegal (West). Surface: 774 532m2. World Ranking : 24th.

There are three latitudinarian Climatic zones in the country :
• The Saharian zone represents the North two thirds of the
country, which are exclusively desert regions, and that are part of the South Sahara. Annual precipitations are irregular, and under 200mm. The Sahelian domain is the one of wandering shepherds and their cattle.
• The Sahelian zone, at the centre, represents 20% of Mali. It is rather dry. There is a short rainy season of 3 to 4 months which brings about 30 days of rain per year. It is characterized by a
variation from the steppe to the light forest, replaced gradually by the savannah, in the South. The valley of Niger is more and more cultivated thanks to works of improvement: We can find rice,
cotton, groundnut, millet, and sorghum. The inside delta of Niger has a strong influence over local Climate. It shelters an area that's liable to flooding, and offers a high diversity as regards flora.
• The Sudanese area is the rainiest part of the country : precipitations are of 1 400mm per year, and average temperatures are of about 24 to 32 °C. In the North of the country, there is a region of savannah where it rains 60 days per year, and which is growing more and more dense, and gradually turns into a forest, in the South, with 90 days of rain per year. The relief is little uneven. Alluvial plains, that are very large, are however dominated by some limestone and sandstone regions (plateaux of Manding and Dogon).
The highest point of Mali is the Mount Hombori, at the North-East of the Plateau Dogon.
The deficit as regards pluviometry, during the
30 last years, strongly inflected the impoverishment of the flora, the degradation of the
landscapes, and, alongside human intervention, made some wild species disappear.
The populations, throughout their trying to adapt to new climates, on a daily basis, can't be aware of that influence. The whole country suffers from a quickening of the retreat of forests, which is directly linked to the growth of the population and of its needs as regards wood, whether it be for constructions or for heating.

There are two seasons, which are specific to Mali.

The rainy season, or wintering
It starts when masses of wet air, entailed by the Atlantic Monsoon, and the stream of the trade winds coming from the Southern Hemisphere, get to the country.
This process starts in March and culminates in August with the most important precipitations of the year. Temperatures follow the general evolution of regional climatic conditions with a rising of night temperatures.

The dry season
It lasts from November to March and is characterized by the presence of the harmattan, a continental trade wind bringing masses of dry air from the Sahara. The temperatures can be cool or warm during the dry season (very hot before and during the wintering).
The dry season doesn't last as long in all regions. It lasts 12 months in the Saharian area because there is no influence of the Atlantic monsoon. It lasts about 9 months in the Sahelien zone. In the Sudanese area, the dry season is in perfect balance with the rainy
season, that-is-to-say six months for each.

The rain gauge influences the general flow of Malian rivers: the Niger, the Senegal and their affluent.

One may consider the valley of Niger as the main artery of Mali, as its green lung.
Its inside delta is very particular: since 1970, the diminishing of the rains in Western Africa
entailed a lowering of the flow of big rivers and raised questions as regards water.

Two great rivers: the Senegal and the Niger
The Senegal crosses the west of Mali over more than 490 miles. The Niger, river of Africa, Is 3700 miles long, and runs in Mali over 1200 miles.
On the south-Malian territory, the two rivers follow tropical patterns: Minimum in April/May and maximum in September /October. The rise in the water level is in harmony with the seasonal repartition of rains.
When we go further on in the North of the country, local rains don't fulfil their role as they've been hardly here for almost 40 years in the Sahelian and Sub-desert Area (down-river from Mopti). The waves of flood of the Niger slow down towards the downriver, which has for consequence a change in the time of propagation of the flood throughout the areas crossed.

The diminishing of the flow of the Niger and of its affluent, the Bani, has direct repercussions entailing the diminishing of the surfaces of water and the shortening of the length of floods. The plain of the Delta is supplied by the precipitations (10%), and mostly by the Niger and the Bani. The hydraulic constructions of Markala (1943) and Sélingué (1980) also influence the deficit of the rivers, alongside the water taken in order to irrigate the paleo-delta area.

The flow of Niger is thus reduced before it even accesses the area that can be flooded. The reducing of the flooded plains went from 25 000 km2 in 1966 to 7500 Km2 in 1989 (average based upon the floods from July to December). This reducing of the flows thus entailed a diminishing of the surface that can be used for agriculture, along with a shortening of the time they can be used.

Mali is a country of History. Searches proved that Mali has been inhabited since the dawn of Prehistory: the Early Palaeolithic (1,8 to 1,5 million years), and numerous sites prove it.
All its regions bear the influence of the great Empires that
reshaped the Western Africa, from the 4th to the 19th Century: The Empire of Ghana, of Mali, the Empire Songhai, the Bambara Kingdom of Ségou and the Empire Peul of the Macina.

Around the 5th Century, between the rivers Niger and Senegal, was born the Empire of Ghana, The Ouagadou. It was based on gold and salt trades, and was prosperous until the end of the 9th Century before disappearing because of wars of religion, and of droughts.

The Empire of Mali (The Mandé), was set up in the 9th Century, and was made up of several little kingdoms. It was ruled over by Soundjata Keita in the 13th Century. It knew its climax in the 15th Century with the reign of Kankou Moussa and his brother Mansa Souleymane. Peace and Security being established, Trans saharian trade knew its apogee. Caravans were exchanging salt, copper, and fabric with gold and slaves. A culture brewing started, and it was to give birth to a civilization of Africans, Arabs, and Berbers, whose main centres of influence were Timbuktu, Gao, Djenné, and Niani. Until the end of the 14th century, they had an influence that was artistic, intellectual, but also as regarded Trade.

The Songhai Empire was created by Sonni Ali Ber, in the 15th Century, as he freed the Songhai from the domination of Tuaregs and of Mali. His reign marked the power of the Empire during 27 years. When he died, the general Mohammed Touré took the power and changed his name into Askia Mohammed. His successors, the Askia, would maintain a period of Peace and Prosperity until the invision of Morocco and of the Pacha Djouder with the defeat of Tondibi in 1591.Because of the invasion of Morocco, disorder overthrew everything, great famines happened, and trade moved towards the Atlantic Coast. The Empire clustered up into
little warrior Kingdoms, mostly between the 17th and 18th Centuries, when slavery had become the main activity of this area.

The Bambara Kingdom of Segou emerged at the end of the 17th century with Biton Mamara Coulibaly, who was the mere leader of a youth association whom, thanks to his military fame, would make his way to the Macina. His sons and successors would be put into question by his generals Tondjon: In the middle of the 18th
century, they gained power and created the dynasty of Diarra whose most well know figure would be Monzon Diarra who would increase the influence of the Kingdom till Timbuktu.
The Peuls of the Macina, before the Toucouleurs of El Hadj Omar, would rise against Animism.
At the very beginning of colonization, the French, having set up military camps along the river Senegal, started to worry a lot, and more
precisely during the long siege of the fort of Medina by El Hadj Omar.

However, all attempts to reunite Western Sudan, during the end of the 19th century, were bound to fail because of the agreement
between European powers, in Berlin (1885), in order to share the territory. The French, which had settled in Kayes, created Bamako, and tried and conquer the loop of the Niger, between 1890 and 1900. The country would now be called Sudan.
"Seventy years of colonization do not entail profound socio economical changes. This may explain why the political struggle has been so harsh in French Sudan. Since the birth of the Democratic Gathering, in 1976, in Bamako, the city has never stopped being the meeting point of great nationalist gatherings", states the Historian and former Ambassador Madina Ly. On April 4th, 1959, Senegal and Sudan united to form the Federation of Mali which declared its independency on June 20th, 1960. Two months later, Senegal withdrew and became independent. On September 22nd, 1960, Sudan proclaimed it independency, lead by Modibo Keita, and kept the name of Mali.

In 1968, Modibo Keita was overthrown by a military coup lead by a group of officers headed by Moussa Traora, who set up a dictatorship. He was overthrown in 1991 by general Amadou Toumani Touré whom, after a while, restored Democracy with the election of Alpha Oumar Konaré in 1992. He was re-elected in 1997.

In 2002, Amadou Toumani Tourani, whom abandoned his carrier in the army to run for presidency, was elected President of the Republic of Mali. He was re-elected in 2007.

Mali has a very young population. There are 13, 5 million inhabitants, and 50% are less than 18, and 5% more than 65.
The evolution of the population has been showing an irregular growth for 50 years.
The current demographic growth is caused by two processes: a rising birth rate, and the backing up of mortality rate, more precisely as regards infants.
A dozen ethnic groups live in harmony, with great intelligence, and offer the country a genuine cultural wealth. As regards life standards, one has to make the distinction between sedentary people, and wandering people.
Within the sedentary ones, there are:
• The manding group: Bambara, Malinké, Dioula
• The sudanese group: Sarakolé, Dogon, Songai
• The voltaic group: Mossi, Sénoufo, Bobo, Mininanko, and a few people on the margin of society like Toucouleur and Wolof.
Within the wandering ones, there are the Touaregs, the Maures, and some Peul. In this group, we have to make the distinction between the great wanderers of the North and small limited wanderers,
dedicated to transhumance.
Urbanization is still rather weak in Mali. The capital city, Bamako, got over one million inhabitants in 1998. The capital accounts for 10,6% of the total population, and 39,1% of the urban population of the whole country. This grows entails issues as regards urban substructures.
The official language is French, though each ethnic group speaks it own language.
Moderate Islam is the main religion (90%). The different animist beliefs represent 9%, and Catholicism 1%.

Mali is a Republic, with a unicameral parliament. The Executive power is represented by the President of the Republic alongside his government, and the legislative power by the National Assembly. The highest judiciary instance is the Supreme Court.

Here is the list of the Presidents of Mali, Leaders of the Malian State since the Independence from France in 1960:
• 1960 : Modibo Keïta
• 1968 : Général Moussa Traoré
• 1991: Colonel Amadou Toumani Touré
• 1992 : Alpha Oumar Konaré, re-elected in 1997
• 2002 : Général Amadou Toumani Touré.
• 2007 : Amadou Toumani Touré is re-elected for five years with 70,88 % of the votes (1 622 579 votes) against seven other
candidates.
Universal Suffrage is applied to every Malian, as soon as he turns 21.

Mali has been, since 1991, a republic in which all political trends can be expressed democratically. There is a free economy system, in the context of a great institutional stability and social peace. This context favours great international meetings such as the CAN (soccer cup) of 2002, the summit of sahelo saharian states in 2004, the ACP-European Union Assembly and the summit Africa/France, in 2005, and the third edition of the FITS in 2008.
Mali is member of several African and International Organisations such as the OCI (Organisation of the Islamic conference), the BIT (International Office of Work), the UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union), the UA (African Union), the WTO, the World Tourism Organization, and the UN.

Mali is divided into eight regions and one district. These subdivisions are named after their major town.
The three areas in the North are Gao, Kidal, and Timbuktu, that-is-to-say two thirds of the surface of the country, but only ten percent of its population.
In the South, the country is subdivided into the regions of Kayes, Koulikoro, Mopti, Ségou, Sikasso and the district of Bamako.
There are 703 towns in Mali, and 684 were created in 1996. Decentralization is currently the most important reform. The objective is to transfer powers to local communities in order for their issues to be dealt with amongst the population.
A law of 1999 established the administrative and territorial re-organization of Mali throughout the creation of circles (gatherings of town) and regions (gatherings of circles).
The Malian State created a national Direction of territorial communities within the Secretary of Territorial Administration and Local communities (MATCL). It is in charge of following the process of Decentralization and the reinforcement of the powers of local communities. Technical and financial aids were also put into place.

The high council of Territorial Communities was created in 2005 in order to ensure the national representation of territorial communities. Its opinion is needed on each issue as regards local and regional development policies, protection of the environment and the improvement of the life standards of the people within territorial communities.

Agricultural activities represent a large part of the life of the
country : 80% of the population still depends on it. Modernization only concerns few areas.

Food-producing Agriculture. It is schematically divided into three major types:
Extensive or itinerant stubble-burning agriculture in areas of weak density ; semi-intensive agriculture, with its "circular" soils around the villages and intensive permanent agriculture.

The main food-producing goods. Cereals represent almost 70% of the food intake of the people of Mali : millet (810 000t), rice (Second in the ranking of cereal production thanks to a strong yield), sorghum (600 000t), corn, fonio - a hardy cereal - and wheat. Vegetable cultivations, around the town, supplement the feeding of the people.

Industrial and commercial cultivations. The cultivation of groundnut declined in the 1980s, regained its level of production of 200 000t in 1995 but had to give up its first place in rankings to Cotton. Sugar cane fulfils 25% of the needs of Malian people in sugar.
The tea plants that were formerly introduced by the Chinese cooperative did not succeed as it had been planed.

Cattle is essential for the national economy and doubled in 20 years despite the climatic deterioration. Bovine races with a weak production of milk - zebus and bullfighting ones - all produce meat and zebus are fit to work. The ovine race and goats are local
suppliers of meat. Breeding is done differently whether you are
in a region or another, with a big axis transhumance towards the flooded area of the interior delta.

Mali has always been an important producer of fish. Fishing is seasonal and half-nomadic as it goes along with the drop in level of the Niger (175 000t in a normal year). 70% of the fish is dried or smoked. Refrigeration is still in its infancy.