Mali country profile

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Map of Mali

As soon as house to a number of pre-colonial empires, the landlocked, arid West African nation of Mali is without doubt one of the largest on the continent. For hundreds of years, its northern metropolis of Timbuktu was a key regional buying and selling publish and centre of Islamic tradition.

After independence from France in 1960, Mali suffered droughts, rebellions, and 23 years of army dictatorship till democratic elections in 1992.

In 2013, France intervened militarily on the authorities’s request, however a jihadist insurgency within the north and central areas has since gathered tempo.

Mali is famend worldwide for having produced a few of the stars of African music, most notably Salif Keita.

  • Capital: Bamako

  • Space: 1,240,192 sq km

  • Inhabitants: 21.4 million

  • Languages: French, plus Bambara, Dogon, Fulfulde, Manding, Arabic, Tuareg

  • Life expectancy: 57 years (males) 59 years (ladies)

Interim head of state: Assimi Goïta

Mali military leader Assimi Goïta

Mali army chief Assimi Goïta

The army council that seized energy in August 2020 is led by Colonel Assimi Goïta.

At first he put an interim president and prime minister in place, however ousted them in Might 2021 in a dispute over their try to switch two Goïta allies within the cupboard.

West African leaders have expressed concern over the dearth of opposition and civilian illustration within the deliberate transition to elections.

Mali is combating a jihadist insurgency that has made a lot of the north and east ungovernable.

Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali

The good mosque of Djenne is without doubt one of the continent’s most notable landmarks

The media setting in Bamako and the south is comparatively open, however the presence of armed teams within the north poses risks for media staff, says Freedom Home.

Radio is the main medium. There are tons of of stations, run by the state in addition to by non-public operators.

Boatman on the Niger River

The Niger River serves because the nation’s foremost transport and commerce artery

Some key dates in Mali’s historical past:

300-1200s – A lot of Mali is a part of the Ghana Empire, the primary of three main West African empires that managed trans-Saharan commerce in gold, salt, different valuable commodities – and slaves.

c.1226-1670 – Battle of Krina in 1234 marks the rise of the Mali Empire, which turns into dominant drive within the higher Niger basin.

c. 1464-1591 – Songhai Empire, because the Mali Empire loses a few of its energy, shedding its dominance of the gold commerce, the Songhai Empire step by step good points management over the jap half of the Mali Empire.

1591 – The Battle of Tondibi. Songhai forces decisively defeated by the military of the Saadi dynasty in Morocco, who make Timbuktu their capital. The autumn of the Songhai Empire marks the top of the area’s position as a buying and selling crossroads. Space splinters into smaller kingdoms.

1898 – France completes conquest of Mali, then referred to as French Sudan.

1958 – French Sudan, which adjustments its title to the Sudanese Republic, turns into an autonomous republic throughout the French Neighborhood.

1959 – Mali and Senegal unite to turn into the Mali Federation.

1960 – Mali Federation good points independence from France. Senegal swiftly withdraws from the federation, permitting the Sudanese Republic to turn into the unbiased Republic of Mali, with Modibo Keïta as president. It turns into a one-party, socialist state.

1968 – Following financial decline, Keïta is overthrown in a coup led by Moussa Traoré, who units up a military-led regime and represses political opposition and protests.

Eighties – Some restricted political liberalization.

1991 РMarch revolution; President Traor̩ arrested. Opposition events are legalized and a structure is authorised.

2012 – Tuareg insurrection in northern Mali, led by the Nationwide Motion for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA).

Coup, after which Islamist teams together with Ansar Dine and Al-Qaeda within the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), who had helped the MNLA defeat the federal government, activate the Tuareg and seize a number of cities.

France intervenes militarily and recaptures key cities.

2015 onwards – Battle in central Mali between agriculturalists just like the Dogon and the Bambara, and pastoralists just like the Fula (or Fulani) over entry to land and water. These elements which have been exacerbated by local weather change because the Fula transfer into new areas.

2020 – Malian military led by Colonel Assimi Goïta and Colonel-Main Ismaël Wagué oust President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in a coup. A political transition to civilian rule is agreed.

2021 – Tensions between civilian politicians and the army within the interim administration result in one other coup, led by Assimi Goïta. Neighbouring states impose sanctions

2022 – France withdraws its troops from Mali. Mali’s authorities strengthens its hyperlinks with Moscow, with mercenaries from the Wagner group deployed within the nation.

Camel train with nomadic tribesmen, Mali

Mali faces quite a few environmental challenges; desertification, deforestation, soil erosion and insufficient water provides

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