Political Map of Mali shows the international boundaries, regional boundaries with names, the national capital, regional capitals and major cities of the country.
Geography of Mali
The 7th biggest countries across Africa, Mali has a thin population comparatively and is situated alongside the ‘Niger River’. Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa; situated in the southwestern part of Algeria, stretched to the Sahara Desert in the South-west and Sahel towards the Savanna zone in Sudan. The total area of Mali is 1,240,192 Sq Km and around 65% of this area is covered by desert or semi-desert. Mali is bordered by Algeria (in the North); Niger (in the East); Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso (in the South); Guinea (in the South-west) and Mauritania and Senegal (in the West). The landscape of Mali is hugely flat and it can be described as plains and plateaus; crossed by 2 major rivers of Africa: ‘the Senegal’ and ‘the Niger’.
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Demography of Mali
The total population of Mali, as per the UN data is 20,250,833 as of Aug 2020; that is equal to 0.26% of the overall population of the world. The density of the population of Mali is 17/SqKm on the overall landmass of 1,220,190SqKm and around 44.0% of the total population is urban here. The life expectancy at birth is 60.5 years for both males and females. The infant mortality rate is 57.2 deaths/1000 births and the death rate under age 5 is 91.9deaths/1000 births.
Culture of Mali
The culture of Mali is quite vibrant and colourful, reflecting the nation’s geographic and ethnic diversity. The majority of the people in Mali, wear colourful and flowing robes known as ‘boubloveous’ which is typical of West African culture. Malians love to take part in ethnic dances, festivals and ceremonies. Mali has several ethnic groups including Fulani, Tuareg, Bambara, Dogon farmers, Bozo fishers and many more and each has its own unique culture, history and language; still, all of them communicate and live in harmony with each other. Around 98% of people in Mali are Muslims and the remaining 2% follow Christianity.
Top attractions in Mali
Timbuktu
Timbuktu has situated around 13Km North part of the Niger River in the Southern Saharan border. The place was proclaimed as the ‘World Heritage site’ by UNESCO in 1988; in 2012, in retort to an armed battle across the region, Timbuktu joined the ‘UNESCO Chart of the World Heritage in Danger’.
Gao
Historically called ‘KawKaw’, Gao is situated in the Eastern part of Mali in West Africa. Located on the Niger River at the southern border of the Sahara, Gao is around 320Km away from the Southeast-east of Timbuktu. Gao was discovered by the fishermen somewhere in the seventh century and is one of the oldest commercial hubs across West Africa
Bamako
Bamako, situated on the Niger River is the capital city of Mali and is located in the southwestern area of the country. Being the capital city, it is a bustling town with a huge market, zoological and botanical gardens, a vigorous craftsperson society and various research institutes. The city has 4 colleges as well as most of the industrial enterprises of Mali.
Djenné
Djenné is a small and urban town situated in the internal area of the Niger Delta part of central Mali. It is the administrative hub of the Djenné Circle and is popular for its unique architecture and the most popular the ‘Great Mosque’, built in the year 1907, attractive several visitors even today.
Best time to visit Mali
October through January is the best time to visit Mali as the climate gets drier and pleasant during that time; you would also be able to avoid the hot, ‘harmattan’ wind during these months.
