Mali (2001) | Sierra Leone (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | 8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou | 3 provinces and 1 area*; Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western* |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
47.2% (male 2,612,215; female 2,583,370) 15-64 years: 49.73% (male 2,610,142; female 2,864,127) 65 years and over: 3.07% (male 158,486; female 180,178) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 44.8% (male 1,349,878/female 1,400,297)
15-64 years: 52% (male 1,531,763/female 1,664,996) 65 years and over: 3.2% (male 92,360/female 105,268) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats | rice, coffee, cocoa, palm kernels, palm oil, peanuts; poultry, cattle, sheep, pigs; fish |
Airports | 27 (2000 est.) | 10 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
7 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
20 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 9 (2000 est.) |
total: 9
914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 2 (2007) |
Area | total:
1.24 million sq km land: 1.22 million sq km water: 20,000 sq km |
total: 71,740 sq km
land: 71,620 sq km water: 120 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | slightly smaller than South Carolina |
Background | The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 with a transitional government, and in 1992 when Mali's first democratic presidential election was held. Since his reelection in 1997, President KONARE has continued to push through political and economic reforms and to fight corruption. In 1999 he indicated he would not run for a third term. | Democracy is slowly being reestablished after the civil war from 1991 to 2002 that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people (about one-third of the population). The military, which took over full responsibility for security following the departure of UN peacekeepers at the end of 2005, is increasingly developing as a guarantor of the country's stability. The armed forces remained on the sideline during the 2007 presidential election, but still look to the UN Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - a civilian UN mission - to support efforts to consolidate peace. The new government's priorities include furthering development, creating jobs, and stamping out endemic corruption. |
Birth rate | 48.79 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 45.41 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$730 million expenditures: $770 million, including capital expenditures of $320 million (1997 est.) |
revenues: $96 million
expenditures: $351 million (2000 est.) |
Capital | Bamako | name: Freetown
geographic coordinates: 8 30 N, 13 15 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | subtropical to arid; hot and dry February to June; rainy, humid, and mild June to November; cool and dry November to February | tropical; hot, humid; summer rainy season (May to December); winter dry season (December to April) |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 402 km |
Constitution | adopted 12 January 1992 | 1 October 1991; subsequently amended several times |
Country name | 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 |
conventional long form: Republic of Sierra Leone
conventional short form: Sierra Leone local long form: Republic of Sierra Leone local short form: Sierra Leone |
Currency | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States | - |
Death rate | 18.71 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 22.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $3 billion (1999) | $1.61 billion (2003 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Michael RANNEBERGER embassy: Rue Rochester NY and Rue Mohamed V, Bamako mailing address: B. P. 34, Bamako telephone: [223] 22 54 70 FAX: [223] 22 37 12 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Thomas N. HULL
embassy: Corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets, Freetown mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [232] (22) 515 000 or [232] (76) 515 000 FAX: [232] (22) 225471 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Cheick Oumar DIARRAH chancery: 2130 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-2249, 939-8950 FAX: [1] (202) 332-6603 |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Hassan M. CONTECH
chancery: 1701 19th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 939-9261 through 9263 FAX: [1] (202) 483-1793 |
Disputes - international | none | as domestic fighting among disparate ethnic groups, rebel groups, warlords, and youth gangs in Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone gradually abate, the number of refugees in border areas has begun to slowly dwindle; UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has maintained over 4,000 peacekeepers in Sierra Leone since 1999; Sierra Leone considers excessive Guinea's definition of the flood plain limits to define the left bank boundary of the Makona and Moa rivers and protests Guinea's continued occupation of these lands including the hamlet of Yenga occupied since 1998 |
Economic aid - recipient | $596.4 million (1995) | $343.4 million (2005 est.) |
Economy - overview | Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert. 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. In 1997, the government 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 African franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a sturdy 5% average in 1996-2000. Growth should remain around 5% in 2001-02, and inflation should stay less than 2%. | Sierra Leone is an extremely poor nation with tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its physical and social infrastructure is not well developed, and serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development. Nearly half of the working-age population engages in subsistence agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market. Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency earnings accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement government revenues. The IMF has completed a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and reduce inflation. A recent increase in political stability has led to a revival of economic activity such as the rehabilitation of bauxite and rutile mining. |
Electricity - consumption | 413.9 million kWh (1999) | 227.9 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 445 million kWh (1999) | 245 million kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
44.94% hydro: 55.06% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Senegal River 23 m highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Loma Mansa (Bintimani) 1,948 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching | rapid population growth pressuring the environment; overharvesting of timber, expansion of cattle grazing, and slash-and-burn agriculture have resulted in deforestation and soil exhaustion; civil war depleted natural resources; overfishing |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Environmental Modification |
Ethnic groups | Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5% | 20 African ethnic groups 90% (Temne 30%, Mende 30%, other 30%), Creole (Krio) 10% (descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area in the late-18th century), refugees from Liberia's recent civil war, small numbers of Europeans, Lebanese, Pakistanis, and Indians |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro | leones per US dollar - NA (2007), 2,961.7 (2006), 2,889.6 (2005), 2,701.3 (2004), 2,347.9 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Alpha Oumar KONARE (since 8 June 1992) head of government: Prime Minister Mande SIDIBE (since September 2000) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 11 May 1997 (next to be held NA May 2002); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Alpha Oumar KONARE reelected president; percent of vote - Alpha Oumar KONARE 95.9%, Mamadou DIABY 4.1% |
chief of state: President Ernest Bai KOROMA (since 17 September 2007); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Ernest Bai KOROMA (since 17 September 2007) cabinet: Ministers of State appointed by the president with the approval of the House of Representatives; the cabinet is responsible to the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 11 August 2007 and 8 September 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: second round results; percent of vote - Ernest Bai KOROMA 54.6%, Solomon BEREWA 45.4% |
Exports | $480 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 431.1 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | cotton 50%, gold, livestock (1999 est.) | diamonds, rutile, cocoa, coffee, fish |
Exports - partners | Italy 18%, Thailand 15%, Germany 7%, Portugal 4% (1999) | Belgium 52.1%, US 19.1%, Netherlands 6.8% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia | three equal horizontal bands of light green (top), white, and light blue |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $9.1 billion (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
46% industry: 21% services: 33% (1998) |
agriculture: 49%
industry: 31% services: 21% (2001 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $850 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.8% (2000 est.) | 6.8% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 00 N, 4 00 W | 8 30 N, 11 30 W |
Geography - note | landlocked | rainfall along the coast can reach 495 cm (195 inches) a year, making it one of the wettest places along coastal, western Africa |
Heliports | - | 2 (2007) |
Highways | total:
15,100 km paved: 1,827 km unpaved: 13,273 km (1996) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
1.8% highest 10%: 40.4% (1994) |
lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 43.6% (1989) |
Imports | $575 million (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | 8,864 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and equipment, construction materials, petroleum, foodstuffs, textiles | foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, fuels and lubricants, chemicals |
Imports - partners | Cote d'Ivoire 19%, France 19%, Senegal 4%, Benelux 3% (1999) | Cote d'Ivoire 9.3%, US 7.7%, China 7.7%, Brazil 6.9%, UK 6.7%, Netherlands 5.5%, South Africa 4.5%, India 4.3%, France 4.2% (2006) |
Independence | 22 September 1960 (from France) | 27 April 1961 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA | NA% |
Industries | minor local consumer goods production and food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining | diamond mining; small-scale manufacturing (beverages, textiles, cigarettes, footwear); petroleum refining, small commercial ship repair |
Infant mortality rate | 121.44 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 158.27 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 175.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 140.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0.8% (2000 est.) | 1% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, CCC, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, MIPONUH, MONUC, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACP, AfDB, AU, C, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIT, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 780 sq km (1993 est.) | 300 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | Supreme Court; Appeals Court; High Court |
Labor force | NA | 1.369 million (1981 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture and fishing 80% (1998 est.) | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
Land boundaries | 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 |
total: 958 km
border countries: Guinea 652 km, Liberia 306 km |
Land use | arable land:
2% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 25% forests and woodland: 6% other: 67% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 7.95%
permanent crops: 1.05% other: 91% (2005) |
Languages | French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages | English (official, regular use limited to literate minority), Mende (principal vernacular in the south), Temne (principal vernacular in the north), Krio (English-based Creole, spoken by the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves who were settled in the Freetown area, a lingua franca and a first language for 10% of the population but understood by 95%) |
Legal system | based on French civil law system and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Court (which was formally established on 9 March 1994); has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | based on English law and customary laws indigenous to local tribes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 20 July and 3 August 1997 (next to be held in two rounds in 2002); note - much of the opposition boycotted the election election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - ADEMA 130, PARENA 8, CDS 4, UDD 3, PDP 2 |
unicameral Parliament (124 seats; 112 members elected by popular vote, 12 filled by paramount chiefs elected in separate elections; to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held on 11 August 2007 (next to be held in 2012) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - APC 59, SLPP 43, PMDC 10 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
47.02 years male: 45.84 years female: 48.24 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 40.58 years
male: 38.36 years female: 42.87 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 31% male: 39.4% female: 23.1% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write English, Mende, Temne, or Arabic
total population: 35.1% male: 46.9% female: 24.4% (2004 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, southwest of Algeria | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Liberia |
Map references | Africa | Africa |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | - | total: 113 ships (1000 GRT or over) 314,549 GRT/419,409 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 1, cargo 85, chemical tanker 4, combination ore/oil 1, container 4, liquefied gas 1, livestock carrier 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 4, petroleum tanker 7, roll on/roll off 4 foreign-owned: 47 (Belgium 1, China 8, Greece 1, Romania 2, Russia 5, Syria 8, Turkey 7, Ukraine 8, UAE 7) (2007) |
Military branches | Army, Air Force, Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Guard, National Police (Surete Nationale) | Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF): Army (includes Air Wing, Navy (Maritime Wing)) (2007) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $49 million (FY96) | - |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 2% (FY96) | 2.3% (2006) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
2,284,632 (2001 est.) |
- |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
1,309,612 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 22 September (1960) | Independence Day, 27 April (1961) |
Nationality | noun:
Malian(s) adjective: Malian |
noun: Sierra Leonean(s)
adjective: Sierra Leonean |
Natural hazards | hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts | dry, sand-laden harmattan winds blow from the Sahara (December to February); sandstorms, dust storms |
Natural resources | gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, hydropower
note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited |
diamonds, titanium ore, bauxite, iron ore, gold, chromite |
Net migration rate | -0.36 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: refugees currently in surrounding countries are slowly returning (2007 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA, party chairman]; Block of Alternative for the Renewal of Africa or BARA [Yoro DIAKITE]; Democratic and Social Convention or CDS [Mamadou Bakary SANGARE, chairman]; Movement for the Independence, Renaissance and Integration of Africa or MIRIA [Mohamed Lamine TRAORE, Mouhamedou DICKO]; National Congress for Democratic Initiative or CNID [Mountaga TALL, chairman]; Party for Democracy and Progress or PDP [Me Idrissa TRAORE]; Party for National Renewal or PARENA [Yoro DIAKITE, chairman; Tiebile DRAME, secretary general]; Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT [Ali GNANGADO]; Rally for Democracy and Progress or RDP [Almamy SYLLA, chairman]; Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Bamou TOURE, secretary general]; Union of Democratic Forces for Progress or UFDP [Youssouf TOURE, secretary general]; Union for Democracy and Development or UDD [Moussa Balla COULIBALY] | All People's Congress or APC [Ernest Bai KOROMA]; Peace and Liberation Party or PLP [Darlington MORRISON]; People's Movement for Democratic Change or PMDC [Charles MARGAI]; Sierra Leone People's Party or SLPP [Solomon BEREWA]; numerous others |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Patriotic Movement of the Ghanda Koye or MPGK; United Movement and Fronts of Azawad or MFUA | trade unions and student unions |
Population | 11,008,518 (July 2001 est.) | 6,144,562 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 70.2% (2004) |
Population growth rate | 2.97% (2001 est.) | 2.292% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Koulikoro | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 14, shortwave 7 (1998) | AM 1, FM 9, shortwave 1 (2001) |
Radios | 570,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
729 km (linked to Senegal's rail system through Kayes) narrow gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge |
- |
Religions | Muslim 90%, indigenous beliefs 9%, Christian 1% | Muslim 60%, Christian 10%, indigenous beliefs 30% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 0.964 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.877 male(s)/female total population: 0.938 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 21 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
domestic system poor 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: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean) |
general assessment: marginal telephone service
domestic: the national microwave radio relay trunk system connects Freetown to Bo and Kenema international: country code - 232; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2000) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 23,000 (1997) | 24,000 (2002) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,842 (1997) | 113,200 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (plus two repeaters) (1997) | 2 (1999) |
Terrain | mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast | coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east |
Total fertility rate | 6.81 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 6.01 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | NA% | NA% |
Waterways | 1,815 km | 800 km (600 km year round) (2005) |