Mali (2008) | Kuwait (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou | 5 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Al Ahmadi, Al Farwaniyah, Al 'Asimah, Al Jahra', Hawalli |
Age structure | 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.) |
0-14 years:
28.76% (male 299,080; female 288,125) 15-64 years: 68.82% (male 897,839; female 507,527) 65 years and over: 2.42% (male 31,843; female 17,547) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats | practically no crops; fish |
Airports | 29 (2007) | 8 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 8
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 (2007) |
total:
4 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | 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) |
total:
4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 1.24 million sq km
land: 1.22 million sq km water: 20,000 sq km |
total:
17,820 sq km land: 17,820 sq km water: 0 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | slightly smaller than New Jersey |
Background | 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. | Kuwait was attacked and overrun by Iraq on 2 August 1990. Following several weeks of aerial bombardment, a US-led UN coalition began a ground assault on 23 February 1991 that completely liberated Kuwait in four days. Kuwait has spent more than $5 billion to repair oil infrastructure damaged during 1990-91. |
Birth rate | 49.61 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 21.91 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $764 million
expenditures: $828 million (2002 est.) |
revenues:
$11.5 billion expenditures: $17.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY01/02) |
Capital | name: Bamako
geographic coordinates: 12 39 N, 8 00 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Kuwait |
Climate | subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February) | dry desert; intensely hot summers; short, cool winters |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 499 km |
Constitution | adopted 12 January 1992 | approved and promulgated 11 November 1962 |
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:
State of Kuwait conventional short form: Kuwait local long form: Dawlat al Kuwayt local short form: Al Kuwayt |
Currency | - | Kuwaiti dinar (KWD) |
Death rate | 16.51 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 2.45 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $2.8 billion (2002) | $6.9 billion (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | 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 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador James A. LAROCCO embassy: Bayan, near the Bayan palace, Kuwait City mailing address: P. O. Box 77 Safat, 13001 Safat, Kuwait Unit 69000, APO AE 09880-9000 telephone: [965] 539-5307 FAX: [965] 538-0282 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | 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 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador (vacant) chancery: 2940 Tilden Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 966-0702 FAX: [1] (202) 966-0517 |
Disputes - international | none | in November 1994, Iraq formally accepted the UN-demarcated border with Kuwait which had been spelled out in Security Council Resolutions 687 (1991), 773 (1993), and 883 (1993); this formally ends earlier claims to Kuwait and to Bubiyan and Warbah islands |
Economic aid - recipient | $691.5 million (2005) | $27.6 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | 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 5% average in 1996-2007. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire. | Kuwait is a small, relatively open economy with proved crude oil reserves of about 94 billion barrels - 10% of world reserves. Petroleum accounts for nearly half of GDP, 90% of export revenues, and 75% of government income. Kuwait's climate limits agricultural development. Consequently, with the exception of fish, it depends almost wholly on food imports. About 75% of potable water must be distilled or imported. Higher oil prices put the FY99/00 budget into a $2 billion surplus. The FY00/01 budget covers only nine months because of a change in the fiscal year. The budget for FY01/02, which begins 1 April, contains higher expenditures for salaries, construction, and other general categories. Kuwait continues its discussions with foreign oil companies to develop fields in the northern part of the country. |
Electricity - consumption | 412.9 million kWh (2005) | 29.357 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2005) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 444 million kWh (2005) | 31.567 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Senegal River 23 m
highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m |
lowest point:
Persian Gulf 0 m highest point: unnamed location 306 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching | limited natural fresh water resources; some of world's largest and most sophisticated desalination facilities provide much of the water; air and water pollution; desertification |
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 |
party to:
Climate Change, Desertification, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Marine Dumping |
Ethnic groups | Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5% | Kuwaiti 45%, other Arab 35%, South Asian 9%, Iranian 4%, other 7% |
Exchange rates | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 493.51 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003) | Kuwaiti dinars per US dollar - 0.3057 (January 2001), 0.3067 (2000), 0.3044 (1999), 0.3047 (1998), 0.3033 (1997), 0.2994 (1996) |
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 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% |
chief of state:
Amir JABIR al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah (since 31 December 1977) head of government: Prime Minister and Crown Prince SAAD al-Abdallah al-Salim Al Sabah (since 8 February 1978); First Deputy Prime Minister SABAH al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah (since 17 October 1992); Deputy Prime Ministers JABIR MUBARAK al-Hamud Al Sabah (since NA) and MUHAMMAD KHALID al-Hamed Al Sabah (since NA) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister and approved by the monarch elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the monarch |
Exports | 0 bbl/day (2004) | $23.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | cotton, gold, livestock | oil and refined products, fertilizers |
Exports - partners | China 26.8%, Germany 24.9%, Thailand 7.1%, Taiwan 4.9%, Bangladesh 4% (2006) | Japan 23%, US 12%, Singapore 8%, Netherlands 7% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 April - 31 March |
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 green (top), white, and red with a black trapezoid based on the hoist side |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $29.3 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 45%
industry: 17% services: 38% (2001 est.) |
agriculture:
0% industry: 55% services: 45% (1996) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $15,000 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 4.3% (2007 est.) | 6% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 17 00 N, 4 00 W | 29 30 N, 45 45 E |
Geography - note | landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan | strategic location at head of Persian Gulf |
Heliports | - | 3 (2000 est.) |
Highways | - | total:
4,450 km paved: 3,590 km unpaved: 860 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 30.2% (2001) |
lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
Imports | 4,369 bbl/day (2004) | $7.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles | food, construction materials, vehicles and parts, clothing |
Imports - partners | France 12.8%, Senegal 12.2%, Cote d'Ivoire 10.5% (2006) | US 15%, Japan 10%, UK 7%, Germany 7% (1999) |
Independence | 22 September 1960 (from France) | 19 June 1961 (from UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 1% (1997 est.) |
Industries | food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining | petroleum, petrochemicals, desalination, food processing, construction materials |
Infant mortality rate | 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.) |
11.18 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.5% (2002 est.) | 3% (2000) |
International organization participation | 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, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM, OIC, OIF, OPCW, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNWTO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | ABEDA, AfDB, AFESD, AL, AMF, BDEAC, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, GCC, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAPEC, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 3 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 2,360 sq km (2003) | 20 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme | High Court of Appeal |
Labor force | 3.93 million (2001 est.) | 1.3 million (1998 est.)
note: 68% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (July 1998 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 80%
industry and services: 20% (2001 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:
464 km border countries: Iraq 242 km, Saudi Arabia 222 km |
Land use | arable land: 3.76%
permanent crops: 0.03% other: 96.21% (2005) |
arable land:
0% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 8% forests and woodland: 0% other: 92% (1993 est.) |
Languages | French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages | Arabic (official), English widely spoken |
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 | civil law system with Islamic law significant in personal matters; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | 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 |
unicameral National Assembly or Majlis al-Umma (50 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 3 July 1999 (next to be held NA 2003) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 50; note - all cabinet ministers are also ex officio members of the National Assembly |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 49.51 years
male: 47.6 years female: 51.46 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
76.27 years male: 75.42 years female: 77.15 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 46.4% male: 53.5% female: 39.6% (2003 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 78.6% male: 82.2% female: 74.9% (1995 est.) |
Location | Western Africa, southwest of Algeria | Middle East, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iraq and Saudi Arabia |
Map references | Africa | Middle East |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea:
12 NM |
Merchant marine | - | total:
45 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,461,072 GRT/3,966,645 DWT ships by type: bulk 1, cargo 6, container 6, liquefied gas 7, livestock carrier 5, petroleum tanker 20 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Malian Armed Forces: Army, Republic of Mali Air Force (Force Aerienne de la Republique du Mali, FARM), National Guard (2007) | Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police Force, National Guard, Coast Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $1.9 billion (FY00/01) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.9% (2006) | 8.7% (FY00/01) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
780,559 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
466,521 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 18 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
18,309 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Independence Day, 22 September (1960) | National Day, 25 February (1950) |
Nationality | noun: Malian(s)
adjective: Malian |
noun:
Kuwaiti(s) adjective: Kuwaiti |
Natural hazards | hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding | sudden cloudbursts are common from October to April; they bring inordinate amounts of rain which can damage roads and houses; sandstorms and dust storms occur throughout the year, but are most common between March and August |
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 |
petroleum, fish, shrimp, natural gas |
Net migration rate | -6.28 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 14.31 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 877 km; petroleum products 40 km; natural gas 165 km |
Political parties and leaders | Alliance for Democratic Change (political group comprised mainly of Tuareg from Mali's northern region); 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] | none; formation of political parties is illegal |
Political pressure groups and leaders | - | several political groups act as de facto parties: Bedouins, merchants, Sunni and Shi'a activists, and secular leftists and nationalists |
Population | 11,995,402 (July 2007 est.) | 2,041,961
note: includes 1,159,913 non-nationals (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 64% (2001 est.) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 2.681% (2007 est.) | 3.38% (2001 est.)
note: this rate reflects a return to pre-Gulf crisis immigration of expatriates |
Ports and harbors | - | Ash Shu'aybah, Ash Shuwaykh, Kuwait, Mina' 'Abd Allah, Mina' al Ahmadi, Mina' Su'ud |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 230 (27 regional and government stations, and 203 private stations), shortwave 1 (2001) | AM 6, FM 11, shortwave 1 (1998) |
Radios | - | 1.175 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 729 km
narrow gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
0 km |
Religions | Muslim 90%, Christian 1%, indigenous beliefs 9% | Muslim 85% (Sunni 45%, Shi'a 40%), Christian, Hindu, Parsi, and other 15% |
Sex ratio | 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.) |
at birth:
1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.77 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.81 male(s)/female total population: 1.51 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | adult males who have been naturalized for 30 years or more or have resided in Kuwait since before 1920 and their male descendants at age 21
note: only 10% of all citizens are eligible to vote; in 1996, naturalized citizens who do not meet the pre-1920 qualification but have been naturalized for 30 years were eligible to vote for the first time |
Telephone system | general assessment: domestic system unreliable but improving; provides only minimal service
domestic: fixed-line availability is gradually increasing, but subscribership remains less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular subscribership has increased sharply to 13 per 100 persons international: country code - 223; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Indian Ocean) |
general assessment:
the quality of service is excellent domestic: new telephone exchanges provide a large capacity for new subscribers; trunk traffic is carried by microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, open wire, and fiber-optic cable; a cellular telephone system operates throughout Kuwait, and the country is well supplied with pay telephones international: coaxial cable and microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia; linked to Bahrain, Qatar, UAE via the Fiber-Optic Gulf (FOG) cable; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean, 2 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 2 Arabsat |
Telephones - main lines in use | 82,500 (2006) | 412,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 1.513 million (2006) | 210,000 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (plus repeaters) (2007) | 13 (plus several satellite channels) (1997) |
Terrain | mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast | flat to slightly undulating desert plain |
Total fertility rate | 7.38 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 3.2 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 14.6% (2001 est.) | 1.8% (official 1996 est.) |
Waterways | 1,800 km (2007) | none |