Constitutional Court that provides judicial review of legislative acts and serves as an election arbiter. Various lower courts exist, though village chiefs and elders resolve most local disputes in rural areas.

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Foreign relations

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Mali's foreign policy orientation has become increasingly pragmatic and pro-Western over time. Since the institution of a democratic form of government in 2002, Mali's relations with the West in general and the US in particular have improved significantly. Mali has a longstanding yet ambivalent relationship with France, a former colonial ruler. Mali was active in regional organizations such as the African Union until its suspension over the 2012 Malian coup d'état.

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Working to control and resolve regional conflicts, such as in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, is one of Mali's major foreign policy goals, fearing a spillover of conflicts into neighboring states. General insecurity along borders in the north, including cross-border banditry and terrorism, remain troubling issues in regional relations.

 

Military, police

 

Mali's military forces comprised of an army, which includes land forces and air force, as well as the paramilitary Gendarmerie and Republican Guard, all under the control of Mali's Ministry of Defense and Veterans, overseen civilian control.

 

Economy

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The Central Bank of West African States handles the financial affairs of Mali and additional members of the Economic Community of West African States. Mali underwent economic reform, in 1988, signing agreements with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. From 1988 to 1996, Mali largely reformed public enterprises, whereby 16 enterprises were privatized, 12 partially privatized, and 20 liquidated. In 2005, the Malian government conceded a railroad company to the Savage Corporation.

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Between 1992 and 1995, Mali implemented an economic adjustment program that resulted in economic growth and a reduction in financial imbalances. The program increased social and economic conditions, and led to Mali joining the World Trade Organization in May 1995. The gross national product (GNP) has risen by 17.6 percent since 1995 as a result. In 2002, the GNP amounted to US$3.4 billion and increased to US$5.8 billion in 2005. Mali is a part of the “Franc Zone” (Zone Franc), embracing the CFA franc, and is connected with the French government by agreement since 1962 (creation of BCEAO). Mali is also connected to French Central Bank.

 

Agriculture

 

Mali's key industry is agriculture. Cotton is the country's largest agricultural export and is exported west throughout Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. During 2002, 620,000 tons of cotton was produced in Mali but cotton prices declined significantly in 2003. In addition to cotton, Mali produces rice, millet, corn, vegetables, tobacco, and lumber. Gold, livestock, and agriculture amount to 80 percent of Mali's exports. Fifteen percent of Malian workers are employed in the service sector and 80 percent in agriculture. Seasonal variations lead to regular temporary unemployment of agricultural workers.

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Mining

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In 1991, with the assistance of the International Development Association, Mali relaxed the enforcement of mining codes which led to renewed foreign interest and investment in the mining industry. Gold emerged as Mali’s leading export in the late 90s and is mined in the southern region of the country. Mali is the third highest gold producer in Africa after South Africa and Ghana. Other major natural resources include kaolin, salt, phosphate, and limestone.

 

Energy, transport, infrastructure

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Electricity and water are maintained by the Energie du Mali, or EDM, and textiles are generated by Industry Textile du Mali, or ITEMA. Mali has made efficient use of hydroelectricity, consisting of more than half of Mali's electrical power. In 2002, 700 GWh of hydroelectric power were produced in the nation. In Mali, there is a railway that connects to bordering countries. There are also approximately 29 airports of which 8 have paved runways. Urban areas are known for their large quantity of green and white taxicabs. A significant percentage of the population is dependent on public transportation.

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Society

 

In 2018, Mali's population was an estimated 19.1 million. The population is predominantly rural, and 5-10 percent of Malians are nomadic. More than 90 percent of the population resides in the southern part of the country, especially in Bamako, which has more than 1 million residents. Prior to colonization, Mali was a highly stratified and complex society. Most ethnic groups distinguished among horonw (free people or nobles), nyamankalaw (semiendogamous professional groups such as leather workers, griots, and smiths), and jonw/wolosow (first-generation slaves or slaves born in the family). Recent studies have shown a certain flexibility among these social groups, one that allowed for movements and permutations across the different groups.

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Along the same lines, local people have renegotiated the boundaries of traditional professions. In fact, especially in the cities, the exercise of a given profession is no longer limited to people with the appropriate family back- ground. The Institut national des arts in Bamako has played a major role in this direction, opening nyamakala professions (such as sculpture and music) to the rest of the Malian population.

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Mali's population encompasses a number of sub-Saharan ethnic groups. The Bambara (Bambara: Bamanankaw) are by far the largest single ethnic group, comprising 36.5 percent of the population. Collectively, the Bambara, Soninké, Khassonké, and Malinké (also called Mandinka), all part of the broader Mandé group, constitute 50 percent of Mali's population. Other significant groups are the Fula (French: Peul; Fula: Fulɓe), 17 percent; Voltaic, 12 percent; Songhai, 6 percent; and Tuareg and Moor, 10 percent.

 

In Mali, the Moors are also known as Azawagh Arabs, named after the Azawagh region of the Sahara. They speak mainly Hassaniya Arabic, which is one of the regional varieties of Arabic. Personal names reflect Mali's complex regional identities. In the far north, there is a division between Berber-descended Tuareg nomad populations and the darker-skinned Bella or Tamasheq people, due to the historical spread of slavery in the region. An estimated 800,000 people in Mali are descended from slaves. Slavery in Mali has persisted for centuries.

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The Arabic population fostered slavery well into the 20th century, until slavery was suppressed by the French around the mid-20th century. Certain hereditary servitude relationships persist today.

 

Ethnic traditions, languages

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Mixed European/African descendants of Muslims of Spanish, as well French, Irish, Italian and Portuguese origins live in Mali. They are known as the Arma people and comprise roughly one percent of the nation's population. Although Mali has enjoyed a reasonably good inter-ethnic relationships based on the long history of coexistence, some hereditary servitude and bondage relationship exist, as well as ethnic tension between settled Songhai and nomadic Tuaregs of the north.

 

Due to a backlash against the northern population after independence, Mali is now in a situation where both groups complain about discrimination on the part of the other group. This conflict also plays a role in the continuing Northern Mali conflict where there is a tension between both Tuaregs and the Malian government, and the Tuaregs and radical Islamists.

 

Mali's official language is French, but more than 40 African languages also are spoken by the various ethnic groups. About 80 percent of Mali's population can communicate in Bambara, which serves as an important lingua franca. According to the 2009 census, the languages spoken in Mali include Bambara, 51.5 percent; Fula, 8.3 percent; Dogon, 6 percent; Soninké, 5.7 percent; Songhai, 5.3 percent; Malinké, 5.2 percent; Minianka, 3.8 percent; Tamasheq, 3.2 percent; Sénoufo, 2 percent; Bobo, 1.9 percent; Tieyaxo Bozo, 1.6 percent; Kassonké, 1.1 percent; Maure, 1 percent; Dafing, 0.4 percent; Samogo, 0.4 percent; Arabic, 0.3 percent; other Malian languages, 0.5 percent; other African languages, 0.2 percent; and foreign languages, 0.2 percent.

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Mali has 12 national languages beside French and Bambara. They are Bomu, Tieyaxo Bozo, Toro So Dogon, Maasina Fulfulde, Hassaniya Arabic, Mamara Senoufo, Kita Maninkakan, Soninke, Koyraboro Senni, Syenara Senoufo, Tamasheq and Xaasongaxango. Each is spoken as a first language primarily by the ethnic group with which it is associated.

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Religion

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Islam was introduced to West Africa in the 11th century and remains the predominant religion  in much of the region, with Christianity comprising 66 percent — Roman Catholic and Protestant, 33 percent individually; and the remaining five percent, traditional African religions, such as Dogon. The constitution provides for freedom of religion.

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Education

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Children's informal education is to a great extent a collective endeavor, with people other than the children's parents participating in their rearing. Small children, up to two or three years, receive much affectionate attention from both family and nonfamily members and are rarely disciplined. Education is free and compulsory for the first nine years, although private schools, which draw their students from the better-off strata of the population, are expanding. In general, the attitude toward western-style schooling is ambivalent—both because it is viewed as a colonial legacy and also because it is often disconnected from the rural populations' complex realities. In addition, scarce opportunities for employment in the formal sector of the economy, especially in rural areas, may demotivate families and pupils from investing resources and time in formal schooling.

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Traditionally, children learned about their future economic responsibilities by observing and helping older same-sex kin, but in the cities boys increasingly have fewer responsibilities, while girls are still expected to help at home.

Higher Education: Since independence the government has devoted more resources to secondary education than to mass primary schooling. Secondary schools are concentrated in urban areas, Bamako in particular. Until very recently the most important objective for the Malian school was the production of administrative cadres, and until 1983 the state guaranteed employment for students with a secondary-school or university diploma. At that time, however, the state had to confront the fact that it could no longer assume this responsibility, and since then, enrollment in state schools has dropped.

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The numerous student strikes that have occurred in the late twentieth century were an expression of students' anxiety about their uncertain professional future as well as dissatisfaction with the form and quality of education. Statistics from the 1990s suggest a literacy rate of about 38 percent. Students' success rate is also extremely low. In the 1980s only 50 percent of the students who began primary education were likely to complete six years of schooling and go on to secondary education. Female students are underrepresented at all levels of education, and their presence decreases from one educational level to the next; for instance, in 1998 there were 2,737 female students out of a total of 13,824 at the university level.

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Culture, music, literature

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The varied everyday culture of Malians reflects the country's ethnic and geographic diversity. Most Malians wear flowing, colorful robes called boubous that are typical of West Africa. Malians frequently participate in traditional festivals, dances, and ceremonies.

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Malian musical traditions are derived from the griots, who are known as “Keepers of Memories.” Malian music is diverse and has several different genres. Some famous Malian influences in music are kora virtuoso musician Toumani Diabaté, the ngoni with Bassekou Kouyate the virtuoso of the electric jeli ngoni, the late roots and blues guitarist Ali Farka Touré, the Tuareg band Tinariwen, Khaira Arby, and several Afro-pop artists such as Salif Keita, the duo Amadou et Mariam, Oumou Sangare, Fatoumata Diawara, Rokia Traore, and Habib Koité.

 

Dance also plays a large role in Malian culture. Dance parties are common events among friends, and traditional mask dances are performed at ceremonial events. Though Mali's literature is less famous than its music, Mali has always been one of Africa's liveliest intellectual centers. Mali's literary tradition is passed mainly by word of mouth, with jalis reciting or singing histories and stories known by heart.

 

Sport

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The most popular sport in Mali is association soccer, which became more prominent after Mali hosted the 2002 African Cup of Nations. Most towns and cities have regular games; the most popular teams nationally are Djoliba AC, Stade Malien, and Real Bamako, all based in the capital. Informal games are often played by youths using a bundle of rags as a ball.

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Basketball is another major sport; the Mali women's national basketball team, led by Hamchetou Maiga, competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Traditional wrestling (la lutte) is also somewhat common, though popularity has declined in recent years. The game wari, a mancala variant, is a common pastime. Mali featured a men's national team in beach volleyball that competed at the 2020 CAVB Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.

 

Cuisine

 

Malian cuisine varies regionally, which is heavily based on cereal grains, though rice and millet are staples. Grains are generally prepared with sauces made from edible leaves, such as spinach or baobab, with tomato peanut sauce with grilled chicken, mutton, beef or goat. Other popular dishes include fufu, jollof rice, and maafe.

 

Media

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In Mali, there are several newspapers such as Les Echos, L'Essor, Info Matin, Nouvel Horizon, and Le Républi- cain. Telecommunications in Mali include 869,600 mobile phones, 45,000 televisions, and 414,985 Internet users.

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Jarrette Fellows, Jr. / Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License 

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