GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY

Mali has a population of some 11 million people, of whom:

65% are under 25 years of age;

20% are under the age of 5.
The average age of marriage for Malian girls: 15 years.
48% of women have their first child when they are 19.
10% of women have their first child when they are 14, and often even younger

The total area is about 1241000 km2

The history of Mali can be divided in to three parts:Pre-colonial,colonial and post-colonial.

Pre-colonial: The second sahelian kingdom was that of Mali.the territory controlled by Mali comprised three distinct regions:the Senegal regionwith people speaking Niger-Kongo languages,the central mande state ocupied by soninke and Mandinke,and the region of Gao occupied by people who speak Songhay.

The historical founder of Mali was Soundjata Keita ,who of the most legendary figures of african history,who ruled from 1230-1255.

The most significant of the Mali kings was Mansa Musa(1312-1337) who expanded Mali to the large Niger City of Timbuctu,Gao,and Djenne.His gold-laden pilgrimage to Mecca made him an historical figure even in european history writing.It was under Mansa Musa that Timbuctu became one of one of the major cultural center not only in Africa but of the entire world.

Even after the power of Mali declined ,timbuctu remain the major islamic center of sub-saharan Africa.Today,thousands of tourists coming from all other the world,visit this historical city.To learn more about Timbuctu,click here.

Colonial history :Most of the 19^th century was characterized by french colonial expansion.The whole occupation of Mali ends in 1898 with the captivation of Samory(anti-colonialist).Mali became a part of french West Africa and its name was hanged to French Sudan

Post Colonial:The former french colony of Soudan merged in april 1959 with senegal to form the federation of Mali,which became independent on 20 june 1960.On august 20,1960 the federation broke up because of major policy differences between the senegalese and soudanese.On september.22,1960 a congress of the US-RDA proclaimed the independent country of Mali with Modibo Keita as president.In 1968 Keita was deposed by coup d`etat by Moussa Traore.Trore ruled till the 22^nd of march 1991 date at wich he had been deposed by a putsch by Amadou toumani Toure .Toure led the transition,organized democratic election in 1992 and withdrawed armed forces from political life.From the election,the leader of ADEMA,Alpha oumar Konare became prsident and

BACK