Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over 1,241,238 square kilometres (479,245 sq mi). The country is bordered on the north by Algeria, on the east by Niger, on the northwest by Mauritania, on the south by Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, and on the west by Guinea and Senegal. The population of Mali is 21.9 million. 67% of its population was estimated to be under the age of 25 in 2017. Its capital and largest city is Bamako. It has 13 official languages, of which Bambara is the most spoken one.
The Malian Armed Forces consists of the Army, Republic of Mali Air Force, and National Guard. They number some 7,000 and are under the control of the Minister of Armed Forces and Veterans. The Library of Congress as of January 2005 stated that "[t]he military is underpaid, poorly equipped, and in need of rationalization. Its organisation has suffered from the incorporation of Tuareg irregular forces into the regular military following a 1992 agreement between the government and Tuareg rebel forces."
Bamako is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country.
Modibo Keïta was a Malian politician who served as the first President of Mali from 1960 to 1968. He espoused a form of African socialism. He was deposed in a coup d'état in 1968 by Moussa Traoré.
The Mali national football team represents Mali in men's international football and is governed by the Malian Football Federation. The team's nickname is Les Aigles. They represent both FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Moussa Traoré was a Malian soldier, politician, and dictator who was President of Mali from 1968 to 1991. As a lieutenant, he led the military ousting of President Modibo Keïta in 1968. Thereafter he served as head of state until March 1991, when he was overthrown by popular protests and a military coup.
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, often known by his initials IBK, was a Malian politician who served as the president of Mali from September 2013 to August 2020, when he was forced to resign in the 2020 Malian coup d'état. He served as Mali's prime minister from February 1994 to February 2000 and as president of the National Assembly of Mali from September 2002 to September 2007.
Garan Fabou Kouyaté was a Malian civil and social figure. He was a member of Mali's Association for Unity and the Progress of Islam (AMUPI), Director of Mali's first Islamic radio La Voix du Coran et du Hadith and a member of Mali's National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) as representative of religious associations. Prior to that civil society career, he was very much involved with soccer, having been referee, founder and first President of the Ligue Régionale de Football de Ségou, and founding member and Vice-Chair of Referee Commission of Malian Football Federation. He was commonly called "Ba Garan".
Baba Sissoko is a Malian percussionist.
Habib Dembélé is a Malian actor, director, and author, and a candidate for the Malian Presidential elections of 2002 and 2018.
Noé Sissoko is a Malian footballer playing as a midfielder for Dreux, and has also played in Football League for Notts County. He is the brother of Mali international footballer Mohamed Sissoko and Abdoulwhaid Sissoko.
Amadou Haya Sanogo is a Malian military officer who was leader of the 2012 Malian coup d'état against President Amadou Toumani Touré. He proclaimed himself the leader of the National Committee for Recovering Democracy and Restoring the State (CNRDRE). Sanogo was also said to be involved in the arrest and resignation of acting Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra in December 2012, leading to the appointment of civil servant Django Sissoko as Prime Minister. According to Human Rights Watch, Sanogo’s forces were implicated in serious human rights abuses including torture, sexual abuse, and intimidation against journalists and family members of detained soldiers.
Django Sissoko was a Malian civil servant who was Prime Minister of Mali from December 2012 to September 2013. He was Minister of Justice from 1984 to 1988 and subsequently served twice as Secretary-General of the Presidency, from 1988 to 1991 and from 2008 to 2011. He also served as Ombudsman from 2011 to 2012.
Red Earth is a 2007 studio album by Dee Dee Bridgewater. It carries the subtitle "A Malian Journey" to celebrate and explore her African and Malian ancestry. The album brought her the seventh nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the 2008 Grammy Awards. On Billboard's Top Jazz Album chart it reached Number 16.
Air Dabia was a short-lived Gambian airline which flew between 1996 and 1998; it had a three-ship fleet. It was run by alleged fraudster Foutanga Babani Sissoko, whose conspicuous personal wealth had murky origins. In its short period of operation, there were allegations from numerous employees of excessive hours, improper rest provisions for crews and pay discrepancies.
The 1968 Malian coup d'état was a bloodless military coup in Mali staged on 19 November 1968 against the government of President Modibo Keïta. The coup was led by Lieutenant Moussa Traoré, who then became the head of state.
The 2021 Malian coup d'état began on the night of 24 May 2021 when the Malian Army led by Vice President Assimi Goïta captured President Bah N'daw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and Minister of Defence Souleymane Doucouré. Assimi Goïta, the head of the junta that led the 2020 Malian coup d'état, announced that N'daw and Ouane were stripped of their powers and that new elections would be held in 2022. It is the country's third coup d'état in ten years, following the 2012 and 2020 military takeovers, with the latter having happened only nine months earlier.
Mamadou Sinsy Coulibaly, nicknamed ‘’’Coulou’’’, is a Malian business leader. He has been the president of the National Council of Employers of Mali (CNPM) from 2015-2019 and, following a two year legal dispute, from December 2021 claimed control of the organization.
New Ancient Strings is a studio album by the Malian musicians Toumani Diabaté and Ballaké Sissoko, released on 22 June 1999 by the British label Hannibal Records. The album comprises eight instrumental duets composed by Diabaté for kora, a stringed instrument of West African music. Diabaté and Sissoko are esteemed as the best and the second-best kora players of their generation, respectively. Their duets were recorded in a single live take within a marble hallway of Bamako's conference centre on the night of 22 September 1997, coinciding with Mali's Independence Day.
Kassé Mady Diabaté was a Malian singer, musician and griot. His soft and particular voice with deep undertones – an atypical characteristic for a griot – earned him the nickname "The golden voice of Mali". He is considered, together with Salif Keita, as one of the greatest Mandinka artists of his generation.
