Virgin Islands (2001) | Mali (2006) | |
Administrative divisions | none (territory of the US); there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are three islands at the second order; Saint Croix, Saint John, Saint Thomas | 8 regions (regions, singular - region); Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
27.27% (male 17,121; female 16,204) 15-64 years: 63.92% (male 35,391; female 42,727) 65 years and over: 8.81% (male 4,638; female 6,130) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 48.2% (male 2,857,670/female 2,787,506)
15-64 years: 48.8% (male 2,804,344/female 2,910,097) 65 years and over: 3% (male 146,458/female 210,754) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | fruit, vegetables, sorghum; Senepol cattle | cotton, millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats |
Airports | 2
note: international airports on Saint Thomas and Saint Croix (2000 est.) |
29 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
2 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 (2000 est.) |
total: 9
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 20
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 8 (2006) |
Area | total:
352 sq km land: 349 sq km water: 3 sq km |
total: 1.24 million sq km
land: 1.22 million sq km water: 20,000 sq km |
Area - comparative | twice the size of Washington, DC | slightly less than twice the size of Texas |
Background | During the 17th century, the archipelago was divided into two territorial units, one English and the other Danish. Sugarcane, produced by slave labor, drove the islands' economy during the 18th and early 19th centuries. In 1917, the US purchased the Danish portion, which had been in economic decline since the abolition of slavery in 1848. | 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 | 15.9 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 49.82 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$364.4 million expenditures: $364.4 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (1990 est.) |
revenues: $764 million
expenditures: $828 million; including capital expenditures of $NA (2002 est.) |
Capital | Charlotte Amalie | name: Bamako
geographic coordinates: 12 39 N, 8 00 W time difference: UTC 0 (5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | subtropical, tempered by easterly trade winds, relatively low humidity, little seasonal temperature variation; rainy season May to November | subtropical to arid; hot and dry (February to June); rainy, humid, and mild (June to November); cool and dry (November to February) |
Coastline | 188 km | 0 km (landlocked) |
Constitution | Revised Organic Act of 22 July 1954 | adopted 12 January 1992 |
Country name | conventional long form:
United States Virgin Islands conventional short form: Virgin Islands former: Danish West Indies |
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 | US dollar (USD) | - |
Death rate | 5.47 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 16.89 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $2.8 billion (2002) |
Dependency status | organized, unincorporated territory of the US with policy relations between the Virgin Islands and the US under the jurisdiction of the Office of Insular Affairs, US Department of the Interior | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (territory of the US) | chief of mission: Ambassador Terrence P. MCCULLEY
embassy: Rue Rochester NY and Rue Mohamed V, Bamako mailing address: B. P. 34, Bamako telephone: [223] 222-5470 FAX: [223] 222-3712 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (territory of 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 |
Disputes - international | none | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA | $472.1 million (2002) |
Economy - overview | Tourism is the primary economic activity, accounting for more than 70% of GDP and 70% of employment. The islands normally host 2 million visitors a year. The manufacturing sector consists of petroleum refining, textiles, electronics, pharmaceuticals, and watch assembly. The agricultural sector is small, with most food being imported. International business and financial services are a small but growing component of the economy. One of the world's largest petroleum refineries is at Saint Croix. The islands are subject to substantial damage from storms. The government is working to improve fiscal discipline, support construction projects in the private sector, expand tourist facilities, and protect the environment. | 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 1996-2005. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire. |
Electricity - consumption | 948.6 million kWh (1999) | 762.6 million kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh; note - recent hydropower developments may be providing electricity to Senegal and Mauritania (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 1.02 billion kWh (1999) | 820 million kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Caribbean Sea 0 m highest point: Crown Mountain 474 m |
lowest point: Senegal River 23 m
highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m |
Environment - current issues | lack of natural freshwater resources | 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
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | black 80%, white 15%, other 5%
note: West Indian (45% born in the Virgin Islands and 29% born elsewhere in the West Indies) 74%, US mainland 13%, Puerto Rican 5%, other 8% |
Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Soninke), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5% |
Exchange rates | the US dollar is used | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004), 581.2 (2003), 696.99 (2002), 733.04 (2001) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (Since 20 January 2001) head of government: Governor Dr. Charles Wesley TURNBULL (since 5 January 1999) and Lieutenant Governor Gererd LUZ James II (since 5 January 1999) cabinet: NA elections: US president and vice president elected on the same ticket for four-year terms; governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year terms; election last held 3 November 1998 (next to be held NA November 2002) election results: Dr. Charles Wesley TURNBULL elected governor; percent of vote - Dr. Charles W. TURNBULL (Democrat) 58.9%, former Governor Roy L. SCHNEIDER (ICM) 41.1% |
chief of state: President Amadou Toumani TOURE (since 8 June 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Ousmane Issoufi MAIGA (since 30 April 2004) 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 12 May 2002 (next to be held April 2007); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Amadou Toumani TOURE elected president; percent of vote - Amadou Toumani TOURE 64.4%, Soumaila CISSE 35.6% |
Exports | $NA | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | refined petroleum products | cotton, gold, livestock |
Exports - partners | US, Puerto Rico | China 25.2%, Pakistan 12.8%, Thailand 8.7%, Taiwan 6.7%, Italy 4.5% (2005) |
Fiscal year | 1 October - 30 September | calendar year |
Flag description | white, with a modified US coat of arms in the center between the large blue initials V and I; the coat of arms shows a yellow eagle holding an olive branch in one talon and three arrows in the other with a superimposed shield of vertical red and white stripes below a blue panel | three equal vertical bands of green (hoist side), yellow, and red; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $1.8 billion (2000 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 - $15,000 (2000 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 6.1% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 18 20 N, 64 50 W | 17 00 N, 4 00 W |
Geography - note | important location along the Anegada Passage - a key shipping lane for the Panama Canal; Saint Thomas has one of the best natural, deepwater harbors in the Caribbean | landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan |
Highways | total:
856 km paved: NA km unpaved: NA km (2000) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 40.4% (1994) |
Imports | $NA | NA bbl/day |
Imports - commodities | crude oil, foodstuffs, consumer goods, building materials | petroleum, machinery and equipment, construction materials, foodstuffs, textiles |
Imports - partners | US, Puerto Rico | France 13.1%, Senegal 13.1%, Cote d'Ivoire 8.5% (2005) |
Independence | - | 22 September 1960 (from France) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | tourism, petroleum refining, watch assembly, rum distilling, construction, pharmaceuticals, textiles, electronics | food processing; construction; phosphate and gold mining |
Infant mortality rate | 9.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 107.58 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 117.32 deaths/1,000 live births female: 97.54 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | NA% | 4.5% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ECLAC (associate), Interpol (subbureau), IOC | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OIF, ONUB, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 50 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 2,360 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | US District Court of the Virgin Islands (under Third Circuit jurisdiction); Territorial Court (judges appointed by the governor for 10-year terms) | Supreme Court or Cour Supreme |
Labor force | 47,443 (1990 est.) | 3.93 million (2001 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture 1%, industry 20%, services 79% (1990 est.) | 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:
15% permanent crops: 6% permanent pastures: 26% forests and woodland: 6% other: 47% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 3.76%
permanent crops: 0.03% other: 96.21% (2005) |
Languages | English (official), Spanish, Creole | French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages |
Legal system | based on US laws | 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 |
Legislative branch | unicameral Senate (15 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections: last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held NA November 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Democratic Party 6, ICM 2, independents 7 note: the Virgin Islands elects one non-voting representative to the US House of Representatives; election last held 7 November 2000 (next to be held NA November 2002); results - Donna M. CHRISTIAN-CHRISTENSON (Democrat) elected |
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (147 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 14 and 28 July 2002 (next to be held July 2007) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Hope 2002 coalition 66, ADEMA 51, other 30 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
78.27 years male: 74.38 years female: 82.39 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 49 years
male: 47.05 years female: 51.01 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
NA total population: NA% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 46.4% male: 53.5% female: 39.6% (2003 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of Puerto Rico | Western Africa, southwest of Algeria |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Africa |
Maritime claims | exclusive economic zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
none (landlocked) |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | - |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the US | - |
Military branches | - | Army, Air Force, National Guard |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $106.3 million (2005 est.) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.9% (2005 est.) |
National holiday | Transfer Day (from Denmark to the US), 27 March (1917) | Independence Day, 22 September (1960) |
Nationality | noun:
Virgin Islander(s) adjective: Virgin Islander |
noun: Malian(s)
adjective: Malian |
Natural hazards | several hurricanes in recent years; frequent and severe droughts and floods; occasional earthquakes | hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding |
Natural resources | sun, sand, sea, surf | 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 | 0.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -6.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Political parties and leaders | Democratic Party [Arturo WATLINGTON]; Independent Citizens' Movement or ICM [Usie RICHON]; Republican Party [Gary SCROUVE] | Alliance for Democracy or ADEMA [Diounconda TRAORE, party chairman]; Hope 2002 (a coalition of CNID, MPR, RDT, and RPM); 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 [Tiebile DRAME, secretary general]; Patriotic Movement for Renewal or MPR [Choguel MAIGA]; Rally for Democracy and Labor or RDT; Rally for Mali or RPM [Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA, chairman]; Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally or US/RDA [Mamadou Bamou TOURE, secretary general]; 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 | Patriotic Movement of the Ghanda Koye or MPGK; United Movement and Fronts of Azawad or MFUA |
Population | 122,211 (July 2001 est.) | 11,716,829 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 64% (2001 est.) |
Population growth rate | 1.06% (2001 est.) | 2.63% (2006 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Charlotte Amalie, Christiansted, Cruz Bay, Port Alucroix | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 5, FM 11, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 1, FM 28, shortwave 1
note: the shortwave station in Bamako has seven frequencies and five transmitters and relays broadcasts for China Radio International (2001) |
Radios | 107,000 (1997) | - |
Railways | 0 km | total: 729 km
narrow gauge: 729 km 1.000-m gauge (2005) |
Religions | Baptist 42%, Roman Catholic 34%, Episcopalian 17%, other 7% | Muslim 90%, indigenous beliefs 9%, Christian 1% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.83 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 0.88 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal; note - indigenous inhabitants are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
NA domestic: modern, uses fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay international: submarine cable and satellite communications; satellite earth stations - NA |
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 and 1 Indian Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 62,000 (1997) | 75,000 (2005) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 2,000 (1992) | 869,600 (2005) |
Television broadcast stations | 2 (1997) | 1 (plus repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | mostly hilly to rugged and mountainous with little level land | mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast |
Total fertility rate | 2.25 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 7.42 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 4.9% (March 1999) | 14.6% (2001 est.) |
Waterways | none | 1,815 km (2005) |