Because of you…
Even though Youth for Christ in Mali faces the challenge of a nation that is 99 percent Muslim, God is showing his face to the young people as they come to Him through the ministry efforts of Epaphras, a evangelism and prayer team, camps, caravans, music and sports ministries, training and care for children of young girls and much more.
Prayer Needs
- Unity in the body of Christ in Mali and partnership with the local churches.
- Spiritual life and integrity of the Youth for Christ Board and team in Mali.
- Stability in the government and open doors to minister.
- Successful ministry among the people.
- Provision of resources needed for ministry, including the building of an evangelical school in the capital.
About Mali
Mali
Introduction
The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a military coup - led by the current president Amadou TOURE - enabling Mali's emergence as one of the strongest democracies on the continent. President Alpha KONARE won Mali's first democratic presidential election in 1992 and was reelected in 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, KONARE stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE, who was subsequently elected to a second term in 2007. The elections were widely judged to be free and fair.
Geography
Location
Location: Western Africa, southwest of Algeria
Geographic Coordinates: 17 00 N, 4 00 W
Area
Total Area: 1,240,192 sq km Rank: 24
Land Area: 1,220,190 sq km
Water Area: 20,002 sq km
Comparison: slightly less than twice the size of Texas
Land Boundaries: 7,243 km
Bordering Countries: Algeria 1,376 km, Burkina Faso 1,000 km, Guinea 858 km, Cote d'Ivoire 532 km, Mauritania 2,237 km, Niger 821 km, Senegal 419 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Climate
subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February)
Terrain
mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast
Elevations
Lowest Point: Senegal River 23 m
Highest Point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m
Natural Resources
gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, hydropower
Note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited
Land Use
Arable land: 3.76%
Permanent Crops: 0.03%
Other: 96.21% (2005)
Irrigated Land: 2,360 sq km (2003)
Renewable Water Resources: 100 cu km (2001)
Total Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): 6.55 cu km/yr (9%/1%/90%)
Freshwater Withdrawal Per Capita: 484 cu m/yr (2000)
Environment
Natural Hazards: hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding
Environmental Issues: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching
Environmental Agreements: Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
Geography Notes
landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan
People
Population: 13,443,225 (July 2010 est.) Rank: 68
Age Structure
0-14 years: 47.6% (male 3,220,491/female 3,177,823)
15-64 years: 49.5% (male 3,241,250/female 3,406,757)
65 years and over: 3% (male 189,886/female 207,018) (2010 est.)
Median Age: 15.8 years
Population Growth
Growth Rate: 2.594% (2010 est.) Rank: 27
Birth Rate: 46.44 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 3
Death Rate: 14.96 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) Rank: 17
Net Migration Rate: -5.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 165
Urbanization
Urban Population: 32% of total population (2008)
Rate of Urbanization: 4.8% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Life and Death
Infant Mortality Rate: 115.86 deaths/1,000 live births Rank: 5
Life Expectancy at Birth: 51.78 years Rank: 207
Fertility Rate: 6.54 children born/woman (2010 est.) Rank: 3
Health and Disease
HIV/AIDS - Adult Prevalence Rate: 1.5% (2007 est.) Rank: 42
People living with HIV/AIDS: 100,000 (2007 est.) Rank: 46
HIV/AIDS Deaths: 5,800 (2007 est.) Rank: 42
Degree of Risk for Major Infectious Diseases: very high
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne disease: malaria
Water Contact Diseases: schistosomiasis
Respiratory Disease: meningococcal meningitis (2009)
Nationality and Culture
Noun: Malian(s)
Adjective: Malian
Ethnic Groups: Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5%
Religion: Muslim 90%, Christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9%
Languages: French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages
Education
Literacy (Meaning, age 15 and over can read and write): 46.4% Male: 53.5% Female: 39.6% (2003 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): 7 years Male: 8 years Female: 5 years (2005)
Education expenditures: 4.5% of GDP (2006) Rank: 88
Government
Country Name
Conventional Long Form: Republic of Mali
Conventional Short Form: Mali
Local Long Form: Republique de Mali
Local Short Form: Mali
Formerly: French Sudan and Sudanese Republic
Government Type: republic
Capital: Bamako Geographic Coordinates: 12 39 N, 8 00 W
Administrative divisions
8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou
Independence: 22 September 1960 (from France)
National holiday: Independence Day, 22 September (1960)
Constitution: adopted 12 January 1992
Legal system: based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive Branch
Chief of State: President Amadou Toumani TOURE (since 8 June 2002)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Modibo SIDIBE (since 28 September 2007)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 29 April 2007 (next to be held in April 2012); prime minister appointed by the president
Election Results: Amadou Toumani TOURE reelected president; percent of vote - Amadou Toumani TOURE 71.2%, Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA 19.2%, other 9.6%
Legislative Branch
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held on 1 and 22 July 2007 (next to be held in July 2012)
Election Results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ADP coalition 113 (ADEMA 51, URD 34, MPR 8, CNID 7, UDD 3, and other 10), FDR coalition 15 (RPM 11, PARENA 4), SADI 4, independent 15
Judicial branch
Supreme Court or Cour Supreme
Politics
Political Parties and Leaders: African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence or SADI [Oumar MARIKO, secretary general]; Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Diounconda TRAORE]; Alliance for Democracy and Progress or ADP (a coalition of political parties including ADEMA and URD formed in December 2006 to support the presidential candidacy of Amadou TOURE); Alliance for Democratic Change (political group comprised mainly of Tuareg from Mali's northern region); Convergence 2007 [Soumeylou Boubeye MAIGA]; Front for Democracy and the Republic or FDR (a coalition of political parties including RPM and PARENA formed to oppose the presidential candidacy of Amadou TOURE); National Congress for Democratic Initiative or CNID [Mountaga TALL]; Party for Democracy and Progress or PDP [Mady KONATE]; Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Tiebile DRAME]; Patriotic Movement for Renewal or MPR [Choguel MAIGA]; Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT [Amadou Ali NIANGADOU]; Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA]; Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Basir GOLOGO]; Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Moussa Balla COULIBALY]; Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Soumaila CISSE]
Political pressure groups and leaders: the army; Islamic authorities; rebels in the northern region; state-run cotton company CMDT; tuaregs
International Organization Participation: ACP, AfDB, AU, CD, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Flag Description: three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red
Note: uses the popular Pan-African colors of Ethiopia; the colors from left to right are the same as those of neighboring Senegal (which has an additional green central star) and the reverse of those on the flag of neighboring Guinea
Economy
Economy Overview: Mali is among the 25 poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert and with a highly unequal distribution of income. Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10% of the population is nomadic and some 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. Mali is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for gold and cotton, its main exports. The government has continued its successful implementation of an IMF-recommended structural adjustment program that is helping the economy grow, diversify, and attract foreign investment. Mali has invested in tourism and a tractor assembly factory. Mali's adherence to economic reform and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a 5% average in 1996-2008. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire, however, Mali is building a road network that will connect it to all adjacent countries and it has a railway line to Senegal.
Gross Domestic Product
GDP (purchasing power parity): $15.7 billion (2009 est.) Rank: 133
GDP - real growth rate: 4.4% (2009 est.) Rank: 40
GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,200 (2009 est.) Rank: 205
GDP - Composition by Sector: Agriculture: 45% Industry: 17% Services: 38% (2001 est.)
Labor Force
Labor Force: 3.241 million (2007 est.) Rank: 98
Labor force - by occupation: Agriculture: 80% Industry and Services: 20% (2005 est.)
Unemployment Rate: 30% (2004 est.) Rank: 177
Poverty
Population below poverty line: 36.1% (2005 est.)
Transnational Issues
International Disputes: none
Refugees and internally displaced persons - refugees (country of origin): 6,300 (Mauritania) (2007)
