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BACKGROUND NOTES:  MALI, APRIL 1993
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF  STATE

APRIL 1993

Official Name:  Republic of Mali

PROFILE

Geography
Area:  1,240,278 sq. km. (474,764 sq. mi); about the size of
Texas and California.  Cities: Capital--Bamako (pop. 880,000).
Other cities--Segou (85,000), Mopti (75,000), Kayes (50,000), Gao
(40,000).  Terrain:  Savannah and desert.  Climate: Semitropical
in the south; arid in the north.

People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Malian(s).  Population (1991
est.): 8.3  million.  Annual growth rate: 2. 9%.  Ethnic groups:
Mande (Bambara or Bamana, Malinke, Sarakole) 50%, Peul 17%,
Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 5%.  Religions:  Islam
90%, indigenous 9%, Christian 1%.  Languages:  French (official)
and Bambara (spoken by about 80% of the population).  Education:
Attendance--21% (primary); 9% (secondary).  Literacy--15%.
Health:  Infant mortality rate--173/1,000.  Life expectancy--48
yrs.  Work force (3.5 million):  Agriculture--75%.
Services--13%.  Industry and commerce--12%.

Government
Type:  Republic.  Independence:  Sept. 22, 1960.  Constitution:
Approved by referendum January 12, 1991.

Branches:  Executive--president (chief of state and
commander-in-chief of the armed forces), prime minister (head of
government).  Legislative--unicameral National Assembly.
Judicial--Supreme Court with both judicial and administrative
powers.

Political parties:  Mali is a multi-party democracy; 11 political
parties are represented in the National Assembly; others are
active in local government.   Suffrage:  Universal at 18.

Administrative subdivisions:  8 regions and capital district.

Central government budget (1992):  Revenues--$825 million.
Expenditures--$869 million; $44 million deficit.

Flag:  Three vertical bands--green, yellow, and red.

Economy
GDP (1991):  $2.8 billion.  Annual growth rate (1988-91):  3%.
Per capita income (1991):  $300.  Annual skilled worker's salary:
$1,680.  Average inflation rate (1991): 1.7%.
Natural resources:  Gold, phosphate, kaolin, salt, and
limestone currently mined; deposits of bauxite, iron ore,
manganese, lithium, and uranium are known or suspected.
Agriculture (40% of GDP):  Products--millet, sorghum, corn,
rice, livestock, sugar, cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), and tobacco.
Industry (19% of GDP):  Types--food processing, textiles,
cigarettes, fish processing, metalworking, light manufacturing,
plastics, and beverage bottling.
Trade (1991):  Exports--$430 million: cotton and cotton
products, animals, fish, tannery products, groundnuts, diamonds,
and gold.  Major markets--France, Germany, and other European
countries.  Imports--$610 million:  food, machinery and spare
parts, vehicles, petroleum products, chemicals and
pharmaceuticals, textiles.  Major suppliers--France, Cote
d'Ivoire, Belgium, Luxembourg, the US ($26 million), Germany, and
Japan.
Official exchange rate (1991): Communaute Financiere
Africaine 282 = US $1.

PEOPLE
Mali's population consists of diverse sub-Saharan ethnic groups,
sharing similar historic, cultural, and religious traditions.
Exceptions are the Tuaregs and Maurs, desert nomads, related to
the North African Berbers.  The Tuaregs traditionally have
opposed the central government.  Starting in June 1990, armed
attacks in the North by Tuaregs seeking greater autonomy and by
bandit groups led to clashes with the military.  In April 1992,
the government and most opposing factions signed a pact to end
the fighting and restore stability in the north.  Its major aims
are to allow greater autonomy to the north and increase
government resource allocation to what has been a traditionally
impoverished region.

Historically, good inter-ethnic relations throughout the rest of
the country were facilitated by easy mobility on the country's
vast savannahs.  Each ethnic group was traditionally tied to a
specific occupation, all working within close proximity.  The
Bambara, Malinke, Sarakole, and Voltaic were farmers; the Peulh,
Moor, and Tuareg, herders; and the Bozo, fishers.  In recent
years, this linkage has shifted as ethnic groups seek diverse,
non-traditional sources of income.  Along the Niger River between
Timbuktu and Gao, the Songhai farm and fish.  Until droughts in
the mid-1970s, the Tuaregs were the principal herders in this
region.

Although each ethnic group speaks a separate language, nearly 80%
of Malians communicate in Bambara, the common language of the
marketplace.  Malians enjoy a relative harmony rare in African
states.

HISTORY
Malians express great pride in their ancestry.  Mali is the
cultural heir to the succession of ancient African
empires--Ghana, Malinke, and Songhai--that occupied the West
African savannah.  These empires controlled Saharan trade and
were in touch with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern centers of
civilization.

The Ghana Empire, dominated by the Soninke people and centered in
the area along the Malian-Mauritanian frontier, was a powerful
trading state from about A.D. 700 to 1075.  The Malinke Kingdom
of Mali had its origins on the upper Niger River in the 11th
century.  Expanding rapidly in the 13th century under the
leadership of Soundiata Keita, it reached its height about 1325,
when it conquered Timbuktu and Gao.  Thereafter, the kingdom
began to decline, and by the 15th century, it controlled only a
small fraction of its former domain.

The Songhai Empire expanded its power from its center in Gao
during the period 1465-1530.  At its peak under Askia Mohammad I,
it encompassed the Hausa states as far as Kano (in present-day
Nigeria) and much of the territory that had belonged to the Mali
Empire in the west.  It was destroyed by a Moroccan invasion in
1591.

French military penetration of the Soudan (the French name for
the area) began around 1880.  Ten years later, the French made a
concerted effort to occupy the interior.  The timing and method
of their advances were determined by resident military governors.
A French civilian governor of Soudan was appointed in 1893, but
resistance to French control did not end until 1898, when the
Malinke warrior Samory Toure was defeated after 7 years of war.
The French attempted to rule indirectly, but in many areas they
disregarded traditional authorities and governed through
appointed chiefs.  As part of the colony of Soudan, Mali was
administered with other French colonial territories as the
Federation of French West Africa.

In early 1957, as a result of France's Basic Law (Loi Cadre), the
Territorial Assembly obtained extensive powers over internal
affairs and was permitted to form a cabinet with executive
authority over matters within the assembly's competence.  After
the 1958 French constitutional referendum, Soudan became a member
of the French Community and enjoyed complete internal autonomy.

In January 1959, Soudan joined Senegal to form the Mali
Federation, which became fully independent within the French
Community on June 20, 1960.  The federation collapsed on August
20, 1960, when Senegal seceded.  On September 22, Soudan
proclaimed itself the Republic of Mali and withdrew from the
French Community.

President Modibo Keita, whose party, the Union Soudanaise, had
dominated preindependence politics, moved quickly to declare a
single-party state and to pursue a socialist policy based on
extensive nationalization.  A continuously deteriorating economy
led to a decision to rejoin the Franc Zone in 1967 and modify
some of the economic excesses.

On November 19, 1968, a group of young officers staged a
bloodless coup and set up a 14-member Military Committee for
National Liberation (CMLN), with Lt. Moussa Traore as president.
The military leaders renounced socialism and attempted to pursue
economic reforms, but for several years faced debilitating
internal political struggles and the disastrous Sahelian drought.

A new constitution, approved in 1974, created a one-party state
and was designed to move Mali toward civilian rule.  However, the
military leaders remained in power.  In September 1976, a new
political party was established, the Democratic Union of the
Malian People (UDPM), based on the concept of non-ideological
democratic centralism.  Single-party presidential and legislative
elections were held in June 1979, and Gen. Moussa Traore received
99% of the votes.  His efforts at consolidating the single-party
government were challenged in 1980 by student-led anti-government
demonstrations, which were brutally put down, and by three coup
attempts.

The political situation stabilized during 1981 and 1982, and
remained generally calm throughout the 1980s.  The UDPM began
attracting additional members as it demonstrated that it could
counter an effective voice against the excesses of local
administrative authorities.  Shifting its attention to Mali's
economic difficulties, the government approved plans for cereal
marketing liberalization, reform in the state enterprise system,
new incentives to private enterprise, and an agreement with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).

However, by 1990, there was growing dissatisfaction with the
demands for austerity imposed by the IMF's economic reform
programs and the perception that the president and his close
associates were not themselves adhering to those demands.

As in other African countries, demands for multi-party democracy
increased.  The Traore Government allowed some opening of the
system, including the establishment of an independent press and
independent political associations,  but insisted that Mali was
not ready for democracy.  In early 1991, student-led
anti-government rioting broke out again, but this time it was
supported also by government workers and others.  On March 26,
1991, after 4 days of intense anti-government rioting, a group of
17 military officers arrested President Traore and suspended the
constitution.  Within days, these officers joined with the
Coordinating Committee of Democratic Associations to form a
predominantly civilian, 25-member ruling body, the Transitional
Committee for the Salvation of the People (CTSP).  The CTSP then
appointed a civilian-led government.  A national conference held
in August 1991 produced a draft constitution (approved in a
referendum January 12, 1992), a political parties charter, and an
electoral code.  Political parties were allowed to form freely.
Between January and April 1992, a president, National Assembly,
and municipal councils were elected.  On June 8, 1992, Alpha
Oumar Konare, the candidate of the Association for Democracy in
Mali (ADEMA), was inaugurated as the President of Mali's Third
Republic.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Under Mali's new constitution, the president is chief of state
and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.  Presidents are
elected to 5-year terms, with a limit of two terms.  The
president appoints the prime minister as head of government.  The
president chairs the Council of Ministers (the prime minister and
19 other minister, which adopts proposals for laws submitted to
the National Assembly for approval.

The National Assembly is the sole legislative arm of the
government.  It currently consists of 116 members, but an
additional 13 seats have been allocated to Malians abroad, and 4
to Malian Tuaregs displaced by the rebellion.  Representation is
apportioned according to the population of administrative
districts.  Election is direct and by party list.  The term of
office is 5 years.  The Assembly meets for two regular sessions a
year.  It debates and votes on legislation proposed either by one
of its members or by the government and has the right to question
government ministers about government actions and policies.
Eleven political parties, aggregated into four parliamentary
groups, are represented in the Assembly. ADEMA (the president's
party) currently holds the majority; minority parties are
represented in all committees and in the Assembly directorate.

Mali's new constitution provides for a multi-party democracy,
with the only restriction being a prohibition against parties
based on ethnic, religious, regional, or gender lines.  In
addition to those political parties represented in the National
Assembly, others are active in municipal councils.

Administratively, Mali is divided into eight regions and the
capital district of Bamako, each under the authority of an
appointed governor.  Each region consists of five to nine
districts, or cercles, administered by commandants.  Cercles are
divided into arrondissements, which, in turn, are divided into
villages.  Plans for decentralization have begun with the
establishment of a number of elected municipal councils, headed
by elected mayors.  Further plans envision election of local
officials and the reduction of administrative control by the
central government.

Mali's legal system is based on codes inherited at independence
from France.  New laws have been enacted to make the system
conform to Malian life, but French colonial laws not abrogated
still have the force of law.  The new constitution provides for
the independence of the judiciary.  However, the Ministry of
Justice appoints judges and supervises both law enforcement and
judicial functions.  The Supreme Court has both judicial and
administrative powers.  Under the constitution, there is a
separate constitutional court and a high court of justice with
the power to try senior government officials in cases of treason.

Principal Government Officials
President--Alpha Oumar Konare
Prime Minister--Younoussi Toure Minister of External
Relations--Mohamed Alhousseyni Toure
Ambassador to the US--Siragatou Ibrahim Cisse
Ambassador to the United Nations--Nouhoum Samassekou

Mali maintains an embassy in the United States at 2130 R Street,
NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. [phone]), and a permanent
mission to the United Nations at 111 E. 69th Street, New York, NY
10020.

ECONOMY
Mali's per capita GDP of $300 places it among the world's 10
poorest nations.  Its potential wealth lies in mining and the
production of agricultural commodities, livestock, and fish.
Agricultural activities occupy 75% of Mali's labor force and
provide 40% of the gross domestic product (GDP).  Cotton and
livestock make up 80-85% of Mali's annual exports.  Small-scale
traditional farming dominates the agricultural sector, with
subsistence farming (of cereals, primarily sorghum, millet, and
maize) on about 90% of the 1.4 million hectares (3.4 million
acres) under cultivation.

The most productive agricultural area lies along the banks of the
Niger River between Bamako and Mopti and extends south to the
borders of Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso.  Average rainfall
varies in this region from 50 centimeters per year (20 in.)
around Mopti to 140 centimeters (55 in.) in the south near
Bougouni.  This area is most important for the production of
cotton, millet, corn, vegetables, tobacco, and tree crops.

Rice is grown extensively along the banks of the Niger between
Segou and Mopti, with the most important rice-producing area at
the Office du Niger, located north of Segou toward the
Mauritanian border.  Using water diverted from the Niger, the
Office du Niger irrigates about 40,000 hectares of land for rice
and sugarcane production.  About one-third of Mali's paddy rice
is produced at the Office du Niger.

The Niger River also is an important source of fish, providing
food for riverine communities; the surplus--smoked, salted, and
dried--is exported.  Due to drought and diversion of river water
for agriculture, fish production has steadily declined since the
early 1980s.

Sorghum is planted extensively in the drier parts of the country
and along the banks of the Niger in eastern Mali, as well as in
the lake beds in the Niger delta region.  During the dry season,
farmers near the town of Dire have cultivated wheat on irrigated
fields for hundreds of years.  Peanuts are grown throughout the
country but are concentrated in the area around Kita, west of
Bamako.

Mali's greatest resource is livestock, consisting of millions of
cattle, sheep, and goats.  Approximately 40% of Mali's herds were
lost during the great drought in 1972-74.  The level was
gradually restored, but the herds were again decimated in the
1983-85 drought.  The overall size of Mali's herds is not
expected to reach pre-drought levels in the north of the country,
where encroachment of the desert has forced many nomadic herders
to abandon pastoralism and turn instead to farming.  The largest
concentrations of cattle are in the areas north of Bamako and
Segou extending into the Niger delta, but herding activity is
gradually shifting southward, due to the effects of previous
droughts.  Sheep, goats, and camels are raised to the exclusion
of cattle in the dry areas north and east of Timbuktu.

Until the late-1960s, Mali was self-sufficient in grains--millet,
sorghum, rice, and corn.  Diminished harvests during bad years, a
growing population, changing dietary habits, and, most
importantly, policy constraints on agricultural production
resulted in grain deficits almost every year from 1965 to 1986.
Production has rebounded since 1987, however, thanks to
agricultural policy reforms undertaken by the government and
supported by the Western donor nations. Liberalization of
producer prices and an open cereals market have created
incentives to production.  These reforms, combined with adequate
rainfall, successful integrated rural agriculture programs in the
south, and improved management of the Office du Niger, have led
to surplus cereal production over the past 5 years.

Annual rainfall--amount and duration--is critical for Mali's
agriculture.  Rainfall has increased since the 1983-85 drought.
The 1991-92 cereal harvest reached a record 2.5 million tons.

Mining is a rapidly growing industry in Mali, with gold
accounting for some 80% of mining activity.  There are
considerable proven reserves of other minerals not presently
exploited.  Gold has become Mali's third largest export, after
cotton and livestock.  The largest private investment in gold
mining in Mali is that of BHP Minerals, a multinational
American-Australian company.  An agreement was signed in 1992 for
an expansion of the company's mine at Syama in southern Mali.
With this expansion, the total BHP investment will reach $140
million.

During the colonial period, private capital investment was
virtually nonexistent, and public investment was devoted largely
to the Office du Niger irrigation scheme and to administrative
expenses.  Following independence, Mali built some light
industries with the help of various donors.  Manufacturing,
consisting principally of processed agricultural products,
accounted for about 8% of the GDP in 1990.

Economic Reform
With the encouragement of the major donors and the international
financial institutions, the Government of Mali initiated a series
of adjustment and stabilization programs in 1982.  Measures were
introduced to reduce budgetary deficits, public enterprise
operating losses, and public sector arrears.   Substantial
progress was made in the first few years of the adjustment
program, but the pace of reform slowed considerably in 1987 and
required the intervention of donors to avert a financial crisis.


Under the economic reform program signed with the World Bank and
the IMF in 1988, the government has taken a number of steps to
liberalize the regulatory environment and thereby attract private
investment.  For example, applications for the establishment of
business enterprises now enjoy "one window" (guichet unique)
processing through a single ministry, allowing a business to be
established in a matter of days.  In addition, price controls on
consumer goods have been eliminated steadily; the last price
control, on petroleum products, was removed on July 1, 1992.
Import quotas were eliminated in 1988, and export taxes were
dropped in 1991.  The Commerce Code was revised in 1991 to remove
impediments to commercial activity.  Also in 1991, a system of
commercial and administrative courts was established to handle
private trade complaints and claims against the government.

Another major element of reform is the government's disinvestment
from the public enterprises which dominated commerce immediately
after independence.  Already 20 of the 50 state-supported
enterprises identified for disinvestment have been sold or
liquidated, thus reducing government expenditure on this element
of the public sector.

Foreign Aid
Mali is a major recipient of foreign aid from many sources,
including multilateral organizations (most significantly the
World Bank), Western nations (led by France and including the
United States), China, and Arab donors.  Before 1991, the former
Soviet Union had been a major source of economic and military
aid, including construction of a cement plant and the Kalana gold
mine.  Currently, aid from Russia is restricted mainly to
training and provision of spare parts. Chinese aid and
Chinese-Malian joint venture companies have become more numerous
in the last 3 years.  The Chinese are major participants in the
textile industry and in large-scale construction projects,
including a bridge across the Niger, completed in April 1992.
Private voluntary organizations (including several based in the
US) are very active in Mali.

In 1991, US assistance to Mali reached $51 million.  This
included $34 million in project and budget support through United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs.
USAID is Mali's fourth largest bilateral donor after France,
Italy, and Japan.  Mali also received $5 million in PL 480 Title
III (Food for Peace) commodities and $8 million in Title II
commodities, primarily to meet food needs in the North.  Other US
programs funded in FY 1991 include democratization ($1.1
million), Peace Corps ($2.7 million), and the Ambassador's
Special Self-Help fund ($135,000).  In addition, $260,000 was
allocated to Mali under the International Military Education
Training (IMET) program.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Since independence in 1960, Malian governments have shifted from
an ideological commitment to socialism to a pragmatism that
welcomes all aid donors and encourages private investment.  The
present government, which assumed office in June 1992, professes
its commitment to economic reform, structural adjustment, free
market policies, and regional integration.  Mali's relations with
the United States and other Western nations are good.

Mali is a member of the UN and many of its specialized agencies,
including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank; International Labor Organization; International
Telecommunications Union; Universal Postal Union; Senegal River
Valley Development Organization (OMVS); Organization of African
Unity (OAU); Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC); Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM); Economic Community of West Africa States
(ECOWAS); West African Monetary Union (WAMU); West African
Economic Community (CEAO); is an associate member of the European
Community (EC); African Development Bank (ADB); and INTELSAT.

Mali is active in the OAU and ECOWAS.  It participates in the
Liptako-Gourma Authority, which seeks to develop the contiguous
areas of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso; the Niger River
Commission; and the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought
Control in the Sahel (CILSS).

DEFENSE
Mali's armed forces number some 7,000 and are under the control
of the Minister of Defense.  The gendarmerie (paramilitary
police) and local police forces (under the Ministry of
Territorial Administration) maintain internal security.  Mali's
army and air force until recently relied primarily on the Soviet
Union for materiel and training.  A few Malians receive military
training in the United States, France, and Germany.  Military
expenditures total about 2% of GNP.

US-MALIAN RELATIONS
The United States wishes to see Mali pursue its national goals in
an atmosphere of stability and freedom from outside interference.
The US Agency for International Development and Peace Corps share
the joint goal of promoting sustainable economic development.  US
programs are active in the areas of economic policy reform,
agriculture and natural resources management, health and family
planning, and education. Specifically, the United States works
with the Malian Government to:

-- Achieve food security and help break the cyclical connection
between low agricultural production and poor health;
-- Support private-sector development through policy change and
institutional development; and
-- Improve management and planning.

In addition, the United States helps address recurrent problems
of drought, disease, and insect infestations.

Principal US Officials
Ambassador--Herbert Donald Gelber Counselor of the Embassy--Peggy
Blackford
Political Officer--David Alarid
Economic Officer--Rob Merrigan
Public Affairs Officer (USIS)--William G. Crowell
Director, AID Mission--Chuck Johnson Director, Peace
Corps--Howard Anderson

The US embassy is located at Rue Mohamed V and Rue Rochester NY,
Bamako, tel. [phone], Fax:  [phone], telex No. 2448
MJ.  The mailing address is BP 34, Bamako.  Hours are 7:30-4:00
Monday through Friday.

Travel Notes
Customs:  A visa is required for entry and may be obtained at any
Malian embassy abroad.  Yellow fever inoculations are required
prior to arrival.

Health:  Suppressants for chloroquine-resistant malaria are
strongly recommended.  Emergency medical care is available in
Bamako, but medical facilities are limited.  Bring an adequate
supply of personal prescription medicines and health-care
products, including insect repellent and sun screen.  Tap water
must be boiled and filtered.  Bottled water is available.  Meats
should be thoroughly cooked.  Inquire at the US Public Health
Service prior to departure from the United States for latest
health information and requirements.

Climate and clothing:  Summer clothing is suitable for Bamako.
Wash-and-wear clothing and sturdy shoes are recommended.  Hats
and sunglasses should be worn outdoors to protect against
over-exposure to the sun.

Telecommunications:  Long-distance telephone and telegraphic
service is limited.  Public-use telephone, telex, and FAX
facilities are available.  Mali is on Greenwich Mean Time, 5
hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Money and Banking:  Banks are open from 7:30-11:30 A.M. and from
1:15-3:30 P.M. Monday through Thursday and from 7:30-12:00 noon
on Fridays.  Personal checks and credit cards cannot be used for
banking transactions, though the major hotels in Bamako do accept
credit cards for payment of hotel bills.

Transportation:  Privately owned automobiles are the principal
means of transportation in Bamako for Americans.  Bus service
within Bamako and to the suburbs was started in 1992.  Taxis are
also readily available, and vehicles (with drivers) may be
chartered for long trips.  Roads between major cities in Mali are
paved.  Bamako is serviced by international flights from Paris,
Brussels, and from New York via Dakar. One private airline
(Malitas) offers regularly-scheduled internal flights, and two
charter airline companies operate in Mali.


Published by the United States Department of State -- Bureau of
Public Affairs  -- Office of  Public Communication -- Washington,
DC -- April 1993 --  Managing Editor -- Peter A. Knecht --
Editor:  Anita Stockman

Department of State Publication 8056
Background Notes Series -- This material is in the public domain
and may  be reprinted without permission; citation of this source
is appreciated.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC  20402.