U.S. SENDS BEST WISHES TO PEOPLE OF MALI ON THEIR NATIONAL DAY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Mali National Day Message

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

September 19, 2014

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States of America, I send our best wishes to the people of Mali as you celebrate your Independence Day on September 22.

The United States commends the Malian people for your peaceful return to democracy and support for the ongoing peace and reconciliation processes.

Building on the progress of the past year, we look forward to working with President Keita as he promotes national reconciliation, strengthens Mali’s democratic institutions, and undertakes security sector reform.

On the 54th anniversary of your independence, the United States stands with all Malians as you work towards a durable peace agreement and national reconciliation.

MALI NATIONAL DAY

Mali National Day
U.S. STATE DEPTRTMENT

Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State

Washington, DC
September 22, 2012
On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I am delighted to send best wishes to the people of Mali as you celebrate the 52nd anniversary of your independence this September 22. The United States stands with you as you work for peace and security, restoration of Mali's territorial integrity, and a return to democratically-elected government. The United States looks forward to many years of continued friendship.


ADDITIONAL: FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATEPROFILE

Geography
Area: 1,240,278 sq. km. (474,764 sq. mi.); about the size of Texas and California combined.
Cities: Capital--Bamako (pop. 1,728,444). Other cities--Segou (200,000), Sikasso (192,000), Mopti (103,428), Gao (65,000), Kayes (65,000), Timbuktu (38,000).
Terrain: Savannah and desert.
Climate: Semitropical in the south; arid in the north.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Malian(s).
Population (2011 est.): 14.1 million.
Annual population growth rate (2011 est.): 2.61%.
Ethnic groups: Manding (Bambara or Bamana, Malinke) 52%, Fulani 11%, Saracole 7%, Mianka 4%, Songhai 7%, Tuareg and Maur 5%, other 14%.
Religions: Islam 90%, indigenous 6%, Christian 4%.
Languages: French (official) and Bambara (spoken by about 80% of the population).
Education: Enrollment--91% (primary, 2008). Literacy--26%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--111/1,000. Life expectancy (2011 est.)--52 years.
Work force (4 million): Agriculture 70%; services 15%; industry and commerce 15%.

Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: September 22, 1960.
Constitution: Approved by referendum January 12, 1992.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state and commander in chief of the armed forces), prime minister (head of government). Legislative--National Assembly is the sole legislative arm of the government; currently consisting of 147 members. Judicial--Supreme Court with both judicial and administrative powers.
Political parties: Mali is a multiparty democracy. Sixteen political parties are represented in the National Assembly; others are active in local government.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
Administrative subdivisions: Eight regions and capital district.
Central government budget (2009): Revenues--$1.451 billion; expenditures--$2.232 billion; $781 million deficit.

Economy
GDP (2010 est.): $9 billion.
Avg. annual growth rate (2010 est.): 4.5%.
Per capita income (2010 est.): $691.
Annual skilled worker's salary: $1,560.
Avg. consumer price inflation rate (2009): 2.2%.
Natural resources: Gold, phosphate, kaolin, salt, and limestone currently mined; deposits of oil, bauxite, iron ore, manganese, lithium, and uranium are known or suspected.
Agriculture, livestock, and fishery (32.9% of GDP): Products--millet, sorghum, corn, rice, livestock, sugar, cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), and tobacco.
Industry (21.3% of GDP): Types--food processing, textiles, cigarettes, fish processing, metalworking, light manufacturing, plastics, and beverage bottling.
Services (45.8% of GDP): Telecommunications, construction.
Trade (2009): Exports--$2.079 billion: cotton and cotton products, gold, livestock, fish, tannery products, groundnuts. Major markets--France, Switzerland, Italy, Thailand, Cote d'Ivoire, and Algeria. Imports--$2.292 billion: petroleum products, foodstuffs, machinery and spare parts, vehicles, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, textiles. Major suppliers--France, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, China, U.S. ($31 million), Germany, and Japan.

Coursing through parched, landlocked Mali, the Niger River flows north through an ancient sand sea before turning sharply east to skirt the edge of the dune-striped Sahara; it then heads south, through Niger, Benin, and Nigeria, to the Gulf of Guinea. At the confluence of the Bani and Niger Rivers in Mali lies a vast Inner Niger Delta the size of Belgium and composed of narrows, twisting waterways, lagoons, and tiny islands (some of which are shown here).

HISTORY

Malians express great pride in their ancestry and pride themselves on a long history of peaceful coexistence among ethnic groups. Mali is the cultural heir to the succession of ancient African empires--Ghana, Malinke, and Songhai--that occupied the West African savannah. These empires controlled Saharan trade and were in touch with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern centers of civilization.

The Ghana Empire, dominated by the Soninke or Saracole people and centered in the area along the Malian-Mauritanian frontier, was a powerful trading state from about A.D. 700 to 1075. The Malinke Kingdom of Mali had its origins on the upper Niger River in the 11th century. Expanding rapidly in the 13th century under the leadership of Soundiata Keita, it reached its height about 1325, when it conquered Timbuktu and Gao. Thereafter, the kingdom began to decline, and by the 15th century, it controlled only a small fraction of its former domain.

The Songhai Empire expanded its power from its center in Gao during the period 1465-1530. At its peak under Askia Mohammad I, it encompassed the Hausa states as far as Kano (in present-day Nigeria) and much of the territory that had belonged to the Mali Empire in the west. It was destroyed by a Moroccan invasion in 1591. Timbuktu was a center of commerce and of the Islamic faith throughout this period, and priceless manuscripts from this epoch are still preserved in Timbuktu. The United States and other donors are making efforts to help preserve these priceless manuscripts as part of Mali's cultural heritage.

French military penetration of the Soudan (the French name for the area) began around 1880. Ten years later, the French made a concerted effort to occupy the interior. The timing and resident military governors determined methods of their advances. A French civilian governor of Soudan was appointed in 1893, but resistance to French control did not end until 1898, when the Malinke warrior Samory Toure was defeated after 7 years of war. The French attempted to rule indirectly, but in many areas they disregarded traditional authorities and governed through appointed chiefs. As the colony of French Soudan, Mali was administered with other French colonial territories as the Federation of French West Africa.

In 1956, with the passing of France's Fundamental Law (Loi Cadre), the Territorial Assembly obtained extensive powers over internal affairs and was permitted to form a cabinet with executive authority over matters within the Assembly's competence. After the 1958 French constitutional referendum, the Republique Soudanaise became a member of the French Community and enjoyed complete internal autonomy.

In January 1959, Soudan joined Senegal to form the Mali Federation, which became fully independent within the French Community on June 20, 1960. The federation collapsed on August 20, 1960, when Senegal seceded. On September 22, Soudan proclaimed itself the Republic of Mali and withdrew from the French Community.

President Modibo Keita--whose party Union Soudanaise du Rassemblement Democratique Africain (US/RDA) had dominated preindependence politics--moved quickly to declare a single-party state and to pursue a socialist policy based on extensive nationalization. A continuously deteriorating economy led to a decision to rejoin the Franc Zone in 1967 and modify some of the economic excesses.

On November 19, 1968, a group of young officers staged a bloodless coup and set up a 14-member Military Committee for National Liberation (CMLN), with Lt. Moussa Traore as President. The military leaders attempted to pursue economic reforms but for several years faced debilitating internal political struggles and the disastrous Sahelian drought.

A new constitution, approved in 1974, created a one-party state and was designed to move Mali toward civilian rule. However, the military leaders remained in power. In September 1976, a new political party was established, the Democratic Union of the Malian People (UDPM), based on the concept of democratic centralism. Single-party presidential and legislative elections were held in June 1979, and Gen. Moussa Traore received 99% of the votes. His efforts at consolidating the single-party government were challenged in 1980 by student-led, anti-government demonstrations, which were brutally put down, and by three coup attempts.

The political situation stabilized during 1981 and 1982 and remained generally calm throughout the 1980s. The UDPM spread its structure to cercles and arrondissements (administrative subdivisions) across the land. Shifting its attention to Mali's economic difficulties, the government approved plans for cereal marketing liberalization, reform in the state enterprise system, and new incentives to private enterprise, and worked out a new structural adjustment agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, by 1990, there was growing dissatisfaction with the demands for austerity imposed by the IMF's economic reform programs and the perception that the President and his close associates were not themselves adhering to those demands.

As in other African countries, demands for multiparty democracy increased. The Traore government allowed some opening of the system, including the establishment of an independent press and independent political associations, but insisted that Mali was not ready for democracy. In early 1991, student-led, anti-government rioting broke out again, but this time government workers and others supported it. On March 26, 1991, after 4 days of intense anti-government rioting, a group of 17 military officers arrested President Traore and suspended the constitution. Within days, these officers joined with the Coordinating Committee of Democratic Associations to form a predominantly civilian, 25-member ruling body, the Transitional Committee for the Salvation of the People (CTSP). The CTSP then appointed a civilian-led government. A national conference held in August 1991 produced a draft constitution (approved in a referendum January 12, 1992), a charter for political parties, and an electoral code. Political parties were allowed to form freely. Between January and April 1992, a president, National Assembly, and municipal councils were elected. On June 8, 1992, Alpha Oumar Konare, the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA), was inaugurated as the President of Mali's Third Republic.