Greenland (2004) | Mali (2007) | |
Administrative divisions | 3 districts (landsdele); Avannaa (Nordgronland), Tunu (Ostgronland), Kitaa (Vestgronland)
note: there are 18 municipalities in Greenland |
8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 25.5% (male 7,344; female 7,029)
15-64 years: 68.5% (male 20,894; female 17,715) 65 years and over: 6% (male 1,585; female 1,817) (2004 est.) |
0-14 years: 48.2% (male 2,921,914/female 2,853,976)
15-64 years: 48.8% (male 2,891,494/female 2,959,142) 65 years and over: 3.1% (male 149,301/female 219,575) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | forage crops, garden and greenhouse vegetables; sheep, reindeer; fish | cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats |
Airports | 14 (2003 est.) | 29 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.) |
total: 8
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 5
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 2 (2004 est.) |
total: 21
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 8 (2007) |
Area | total: 2,166,086 sq km
land: 2,166,086 sq km (410,449 sq km ice-free, 1,755,637 sq km ice-covered) (2000 est.) |
total: 1.24 million sq km
land: 1.22 million sq km water: 20,000 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than three times the size of Texas | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
Background | The world's largest island, Greenland is about 81% ice-capped. Vikings reached the island in the 10th century from Iceland; Danish colonization began in the 18th century and Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953. It joined the European Community (now the European Union) with Denmark in 1973 but withdrew in 1985 over a dispute over stringent fishing quotas. Greenland was granted self-government in 1979 by the Danish parliament. The law went into effect the following year. Denmark continues to exercise control of Greenland's foreign affairs. | 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 coup that ushered in democratic government. 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. |
Birth rate | 15.96 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 49.61 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $646 million
expenditures: $629 million, including capital expenditures of $85 million (1999) |
revenues: $764 million
expenditures: $828 million (2002 est.) |
Capital | Nuuk (Godthab) | name: Bamako
geographic coordinates: 12 39 N, 8 00 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | arctic to subarctic; cool summers, cold winters | subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February) |
Coastline | 44,087 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | 5 June 1953 (Danish constitution) | adopted 12 January 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Greenland local long form: none local short form: Kalaallit Nunaat |
conventional long form: Republic of Mali
conventional short form: Mali local long form: Republique de Mali local short form: Mali former: French Sudan and Sudanese Republic |
Currency | Danish krone (DKK) is the official legal tender. | - |
Death rate | 7.7 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) | 16.51 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $25 million (1999) | $2.8 billion (2002) |
Dependency status | part of the Kingdom of Denmark; self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark since 1979 | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) | chief of mission: Ambassador Terrence P. MCCULLEY
embassy: located just off the Roi Bin Fahad Aziz Bridge just west of the Bamako central district mailing address: ACI 2000, Rue 243, Porte 297, Bamako telephone: [223] 270-2300 FAX: [223] 270-2479 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (self-governing overseas administrative division of Denmark) | chief of mission: Ambassador Abdoulaye DIOP
chancery: 2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-2249, 939-8950 FAX: [1] (202) 332-6603 |
Disputes - international | uncontested dispute between Canada and Denmark over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $380 million subsidy from Denmark (1997) | $691.5 million (2005) |
Economy - overview | The economy remains critically dependent on exports of fish and substantial support from the Danish Government, which supplies about half of government revenues. The public sector, including publicly-owned enterprises and the municipalities, plays the dominant role in the economy. Despite several interesting hydrocarbon and minerals exploration activities, it will take several years before production can materialize. Tourism is the only sector offering any near-term potential, and even this is limited due to a short season and high costs. | Mali is among the 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 cotton, its main export, along with gold. 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's adherence to economic reform and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a sturdy 5% average in 1996-2006. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire. |
Electricity - consumption | 227.9 million kWh (2001) | 412.9 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2001) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 245 million kWh (2001) | 444 million kWh (2005) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Gunnbjorn 3,700 m |
lowest point: Senegal River 23 m
highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m |
Environment - current issues | protection of the arctic environment; preservation of the Inuit traditional way of life, including whaling and seal hunting | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Greenlander 88% (Inuit and Greenland-born whites), Danish and others 12% (January 2000) | Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5% |
Exchange rates | Danish kroner per US dollar - 6.5877 (2003), 7.8947 (2002), 8.323 (2001), 8.083 (2000), 6.976 (1999) | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen MARGRETHE II of Denmark (since 14 January 1972), represented by High Commissioner Peter LAURITEEN (since NA 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Hans ENOKSEN (since 14 December 2002) cabinet: Home Rule Government is elected by the Parliament (Landstinget) on the basis of the strength of parties elections: the monarchy is hereditary; high commissioner appointed by the monarch; prime minister is elected by Parliament (usually the leader of the majority party); election last held 3 December 2002 (next to be held December 2006) election results: Hans ENOKSEN elected prime minister note: government coalition - Siumut and Inuit Ataqatigiit |
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 29 April 2007 (next to be held April in 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% |
Exports | NA (2001) | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | fish and fish products 94% (prawns 63%) | cotton, gold, livestock |
Exports - partners | Denmark 64.7%, Japan 14.2%, China 4.4% (2003) | China 35.2%, Thailand 9.3%, Taiwan 6.5%, Bangladesh 5.3%, Australia 5% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a large disk slightly to the hoist side of center - the top half of the disk is red, the bottom half is white | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.1 billion (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA
industry: NA services: NA |
agriculture: 45%
industry: 17% services: 38% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $20,000 (2001 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.8% (2001 est.) | 5.1% (2006 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 72 00 N, 40 00 W | 17 00 N, 4 00 W |
Geography - note | dominates North Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe; sparse population confined to small settlements along coast, but close to one-quarter of the population lives in the capital, Nuuk; world's second largest ice cap | landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan |
Highways | total: NA (there are no roads between towns) (2003) | - |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.2% (2001) |
Imports | NA (2001) | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, food, petroleum products | petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles |
Imports - partners | Denmark 82.6%, Norway 7.5%, Sweden 3.5% (2003) | France 12.8%, Senegal 12.1%, Cote d'Ivoire 10.4% (2006) |
Independence | none (part of the Kingdom of Denmark; foreign affairs is the responsibility of Denmark, but Greenland actively participates in international agreements relating to Greenland) | 22 September 1960 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | NA% |
Industries | fish processing (mainly shrimp and Greenland halibut), handicrafts, hides and skins, small shipyards, mining | food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining |
Infant mortality rate | total: 16.31 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 17.62 deaths/1,000 live births female: 14.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
total: 105.65 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 115.29 deaths/1,000 live births female: 95.72 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.6% (1999 est.) | 4.5% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | NC, NIB, UPU | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 2,360 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | High Court or Landsret (appeals can be made to the Ostre Landsret or Eastern Division of the High Court or Supreme Court in Copenhagen) | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme |
Labor force | 24,500 (1999 est.) | 3.93 million (2001 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture: 80%
industry and services: 20% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 7,243 km
border 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 |
Land use | arable land: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2001) |
arable land: 3.76%
permanent crops: 0.03% other: 96.21% (2005) |
Languages | Greenlandic (East Inuit), Danish, English | French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages |
Legal system | Danish | based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Parliament or Landstinget (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 3 December 2002 (next to be held by NA December 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - Siumut 28.7%, Inuit Ataqatigiit 25.5%, Atassut Party 20.4%, Demokratiit 15.6%, Katusseqatigiit 5.3%; seats by party - Siumut 10, Inuit Ataqatigiit 8, Atassut 7, Demokratiit 5, Katusseqatigiit 1 note: two representatives were elected to the Danish Parliament or Folketing on 20 November 2001 (next to be held 8 February 2005); percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Siumut 1, Inuit Ataqatigiit 1 |
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 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 (including ADEMA 51, URD 34, MPR 8, CNID 7, UDD 3, and other 10), FDR coalition 15 (including RPM 11, PARENA 4), SADI 4, independent 15 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 69.32 years
male: 65.75 years female: 72.98 years (2004 est.) |
total population: 49.51 years
male: 47.6 years female: 51.46 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: NA male: NA female: NA note: similar to Denmark proper |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 46.4% male: 53.5% female: 39.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Northern North America, island between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada | Western Africa, southwest of Algeria |
Map references | Arctic Region | Africa |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 3 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm or agreed boundaries or median line |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | total: 3 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 4,593 GRT/3,640 DWT
by type: cargo 2, passenger 1 foreign-owned: Denmark 1 (2004 est.) |
- |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of Denmark | - |
Military branches | - | Malian Armed Forces: Army, Republic of Mali Air Force (Force Aerienne de la Republique du Mali, FARM), National Guard (2007) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.9% (2006) |
National holiday | June 21 (longest day) | Independence Day, 22 September (1960) |
Nationality | noun: Greenlander(s)
adjective: Greenlandic |
noun: Malian(s)
adjective: Malian |
Natural hazards | continuous permafrost over northern two-thirds of the island | hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding |
Natural resources | coal, iron ore, lead, zinc, molybdenum, gold, platinum, uranium, fish, seals, whales, hydropower, possible oil and gas | gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, hydropower
note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited |
Net migration rate | -8.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) | -6.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Atassut Party (Solidarity, a conservative party favoring continuing close relations with Denmark) [Augusta SALLING]; Demokratiit [Per BERTHELSEN]; Inuit Ataqatigiit or IA (Eskimo Brotherhood, a leftist party favoring complete independence from Denmark rather than home rule) [Josef MOTZFELDT]; Issituup (Polar Party) [Nicolai HEINRICH]; Kattusseqatigiit (Candidate List, an independent right-of-center party with no official platform [leader NA]; Siumut (Forward Party, a social democratic party advocating more distinct Greenlandic identity and greater autonomy from Denmark) [Hans ENOKSEN] | African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence or SADI [Oumar MARIKO, secretary general]; 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 Democracy or ADEMA [Diounconda TRAORE]; 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 [Me Idrissa TRAORE]; Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Tiebile DRAME]; Patriotic Movement for Renewal or MPR [Choguel MAIGA]; Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT; Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA]; Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Bamou TOURE]; Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Moussa Balla COULIBALY]; Union for Republic and Democracy or URD [Soumaila CISSE] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | Alliance for Democratic Change or ACD; Patriotic Movement of the Ghanda Koye or MPGK; United Movement and Fronts of Azawad or MFUA |
Population | 56,384 (July 2004 est.) | 11,995,402 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 64% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.01% (2004 est.) | 2.681% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Aasiaat (Egedesminde), Ilulissat (Jakobshavn), Kangerlussuaq, Nanortalik, Narsarsuaq, Nuuk (Godthab), Qaqortoq (Julianehab), Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg), Tasiilaq | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM 12, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 28, shortwave 1 (the shortwave station in Bamako has seven frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts for China Radio International) (2001) |
Railways | - | total: 729 km
narrow gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Evangelical Lutheran | Muslim 90%, Christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.18 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.024 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.977 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female total population: 0.988 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: adequate domestic and international service provided by satellite, cables and microwave radio relay; totally digitalized in 1995
domestic: microwave radio relay and satellite international: country code - 299; satellite earth stations - 12 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 2 Americom GE-2 (all Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment: domestic system unreliable but improving; provides only minimal service
domestic: network consists of microwave radio relay, open-wire, and radiotelephone communications stations; expansion of microwave radio relay in progress international: country code - 223; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 26,000 (2001) | 82,500 (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 16,747 (2001) | 1.513 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 publicly-owned station, some local low-power stations, and three AFRTS (US Air Force) stations (1997) | 1 (plus repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | flat to gradually sloping icecap covers all but a narrow, mountainous, barren, rocky coast | mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast |
Total fertility rate | 2.42 children born/woman (2004 est.) | 7.38 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 10% (2000 est.) | 14.6% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | - | 1,800 km (2007) |