Mali

Lore & Background

Mali was part of three successive powerful and wealthy West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. At its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire was the wealthiest country in Africa with 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.

The Songhai Empire absorbed much of the Mali Empire in 1468, but the Mali Empire continued to exist in reduced form until the late 16th century, 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. From this, Mali experienced economic growth and increased civil liberties, though this began to reverse after 2012. Since independence, there have been four rebellions involving Tuareg people, which occurred from 1962 to 1964, 1990 to 1995, 2007 to 2009, and since 2012.

Reader's Guide

Mali's northern borders reach deep into the middle of the Sahara Desert. Southern Mali, where the majority of inhabitants live, is in the Sudanian savanna and has the Niger and Senegal rivers running through it. The economy centres on agriculture and mining with its most prominent natural resources including gold (which represents 80% of its exports) and cotton. Mali is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.

Did You Know?

• The name Mali is taken from the name of the Mali Empire, originally meaning 'hippopotamus', the clanic symbol of the Keita Dynasty.
• In January 2012, an armed conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of territory and declared the secession of a new state, Azawad.
• Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was elected president in 2013, but was removed in a coup led by Assimi Goïta in 2020; Goïta established himself as military ruler after another coup in 2021.