Mali

F

Transport

The Niger is the lifeline of Mali, being navigable by small steamboats for most of its course within the country from July to January. The Sénégal River is navigable from Kayes to St-Louis, in Senegal. A railway links Koulikoro, Bamako, and Kayes with the port of Dakar, in Senegal. Mali has about 15,100 km (9,383 mi) of roads, of which about 12 per cent are paved. In 1997 there were around 3 passenger cars per 1,000 people. International airports are located near Bamako (Senou) and Mopti. Air Mali, the state airline, provides international and domestic services.

G

Communications

Telephone, telegraph, and radio and television services are publicly owned and operated. Telecommunications are in the developmental stage; there were approximately 6 telephones per 1,000 people in use in 1997, as well as an estimated 570,000 radios, and 160,000 televisions.

H

Health and Welfare

In 2004 there were 22,503 people per doctor and in 2007 the infant mortality rate was 106 deaths per 1,000 live births, one of the world’s highest. In 1990, 5.1 per cent of the country’s national budget was spent on health care.

I

International Organizations

Mali is a member of the United Nations (UN), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the African Union, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

V

Government

Until 1991, Mali was governed under a constitution drawn up in 1974 and made effective, with amendments, in 1979. Elected twice without opposition, President Moussa Traoré ruled from 1969 as a dictator, and from 1979 through the nation’s sole legal political party, the Democratic Union of the Malian People, founded in 1979. After a coup in March 1991 deposed Traoré, this party was dissolved.

A new constitution, approved by popular referendum in January 1992, established Mali as a multi-party republic with a president directly elected to a five-year term (limited to two terms). The president appoints the prime minister, who selects the other members of the council of ministers. The unicameral National Assembly consists of 160 deputies, 147 in single-seat constituencies elected for five-year terms and 13 seats representing the interests of Malians abroad. In May 2002, Amadou Toumani Touré, leader of the 1991 coup, was elected president, replacing Alpha Oumar Konaré. He was re-elected for a further term in 2007 with more than 71 per cent of the vote.