Mali+by+Wikipedia

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Map of Mali and its neighboring countries

===**Mali,** officially the **Republic of Mali** ([|French]: //République du Mali//,), is a [|landlocked country] in [|West Africa]. Mali is bordered by [|Algeria] to the north, [|Niger] to the east, [|Burkina Faso] and [|Côte d'Ivoire] to the south, [|Guinea] to the south-west, and [|Senegal] and [|Mauritania] to the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi) with a population of 14.5 million. Its capital is [|Bamako].===

===Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the [|Sahara], while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the [|Niger] and [|Sénégal] rivers. The country's economic structure centers on [|agriculture] and [|fishing]. Some of Mali's prominent natural resources include [|gold], being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and [|salt]. About half the population lives below the [|international poverty line] of US$1.25 a day.=== ===Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled [|trans-Saharan trade]: the [|Ghana Empire], the [|Mali Empire] (for which Mali is named), and the [|Songhai Empire]. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of [|mathematics], [|astronomy], [|literature], and [|art]. At its peak in 1300, Mali covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France, and stretched to the west coast of Africa.===

===In the late 19th century, during the [|Scramble for Africa], France seized control of Mali, making it a part of [|French Sudan]. French Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the [|Mali Federation]. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state.===

===In January 2012, an [|armed conflict broke out in northern Mali], which [|Tuareg rebels] took control by April and declared the [|secession] of a new state, [|Azawad]. The conflict was complicated by a [|military coup] that took place in March and later fighting between Tuareg and Islamist rebels. In response to Islamist territorial gains, the French military launched [|Opération Serval] in January 2013. A month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north. National elections have been scheduled for the end July...===

(The website continues with much more information...and also very useful is the Outline of Mali page:
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