Mali Empire ماندين دوعوبا | ||||||
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Capital (and largest city) | Timbuktu | |||||
Other cities | Bamako, Gao | |||||
Official languages | Mandinka | |||||
Regional languages | Maghrebi Arabic, Fula, Wolof, Bambara | |||||
Religion | 97% Islam 3% Others |
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Demonym | Malian | |||||
Government | Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy | |||||
- | Mansa | Wati Keita IV | ||||
- | Prime Minister | Kamissa Camara | ||||
- | Belen-Tigui | Famakan Kanoute | ||||
Legislature | Gbara | |||||
- | Upper house | Great Assembly | ||||
- | Lower house | Common Assembly | ||||
Establishment | ||||||
- | Mali Empire established | 1230 | ||||
- | Malian discovery of the continent of Muqaddas | 1312 | ||||
- | Malian constitution ratified | 18 April 1799 | ||||
- | Last constitutional amendment | 8 November 2007 | ||||
Population | ||||||
- | 2023 census | 84,392,201 | ||||
Currency | Malian mansa (MLM) | |||||
Drives on the | right |
The Mali Empire (Mandinka: ماندين دوعوبا), commonly known as Mali or the Mande Empire in Mandinka, is a country located predominantly within West Africa. It is bordered by Algeria and Morocco to the north, Hebron, Dahomey, Vistara to the south, and Wadai and Tripolitania to the east. Mali is the largest country in Africa, with an area of over 4,900,000 square kilometres (1,892,000 sq mi).
Founded in the 13th century, the Mali Empire would grow into a transcontinental trading empire that would amass large amounts of wealth and power in the centuries following its formation. In the 21st century, Mali has emerged as a highly developed country and the 4th-largest economy in the world. It ranks high on the democracy index and HDI.
History[]
Pre-imperial Mali[]
Since the first millennium BC, there has been records of towns, cities, and settlements in the lands of what would eventually become Mali. Timbuktu, the now-capital of Mali, is believed to have been continuously inhabited since at least the 5th millennium BC, making it one of the oldest settlements in western Africa. The powerful city state of Djenne-Djenno acted as the dominant power in the region from 250 BC to approximately 900 AD.
11th century Islamic literature does provide some insight into the political landscape of pre-imperial Mali. For instance, Arab-Córdoban scholar al-Bakri references the settlements of "Pene" and "Malal" in his writings. Early Islamic scholars also document that the first Malian ruler to convert to Islam was Barmandana who did so in 1086. Prior to the ascendancy of the Keita dynasty, the two major powers in western Africa were the Ghana Empire and the various Mandinka-speaking Manden city-states which would eventually become the Mali Empire.
Early imperial history (1200-1312)[]
"Their greatest king, he who overcame the Susu, conquered their country and seized their power from their hands, was named Mari Jata." - Shaykh Uthman on the emergence of Mali.
Much of the early history of the Mali Empire is shrouded in mystery and historical uncertainty. This is due to various factors, but the most notable being that much of what African historians know about the Mali Empire comes from outside, external factors. It was Islamic scholars such as the 14th-century Carthaginian historian Ibn Khaldun, 14th-century Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta, and 16th-century Córdoban traveler Leo Africanus who have provided for much of the historiography of the Mali Empire during its early years.

A book depicting Sundiata, the legendary first Mansa of Mali
It is said that the Keita dynasty which continues to rule Mali can trace its ancestry back to Bilal, faithful muezzin of the prophet Muhammad. Malian folklore says that it was the three sons of Bilal who founded the country of Mande with the oldest son becoming its ruler. However, it was common practice during the medieval era for Christian, Muslim, and Manichaeist dynasties to claim ancestry of a pivotal historical figure, making the Keita's claims of descent rather dubious. According to the Epic of Sundiata, it was the prince Sundiata Keita who founded the Mali Empire in the year 1235. Keita was prophesized to be a great conqueror who would unite the Mandinka people. According to Mandinka oral tradition, Sundiata did not walk until he was seven years old and gained massive respect from the community once he did start walking.
After years of preparation and being exiled, Sundiata would return. He would lead the combined forces of all the rebellious Mandinka city-states against the Kaniaga Kingdom around 1234. In a pivotal battle, Sundiata would secure a decisive victory against the Kaniaga at the Battle of Kirina in 1235. With the tyrannical Kaniaga Empire defeated, the Mandinka-speaking city-states would be organized into the Mali Empire. Sundiata was declared “faama of faamas” and received the title “mansa”, which translates to emperor.
Malian wealth, trade, and expansion into the New World (1312-1400)[]
"Then the sultan ordered a house for me in which I stayed and he fixed an allowance for me... He was gracious to me at my departure, to the extent of giving me one hundred mithqals of gold." - Ibn Battuta describing the courtesy and wealth given to him by Mansa Musa
In 1312, Mansa Muhammad voyaged with a large fleet across the Atlantic Ocean and landed in what is now modern-day Al-Bayd. The tropical terrain, unlike anything within the borders of the Mali Empire, deeply shocked Muhammad and his crew. According to oral tradition, Mansa Muhammad's crew reached a group believed to be the Tupi and attempted to communicate but these efforts were largely unsuccessful. Muhammad and his crew returned back to Mali with 5 captured Tupi in early 1313 to tell the news of a new land and new people to spread Malian trade routes and the Islamic faith to. While Mali had extensive connections to the Islamic World and the rest of Afro-Eurasia due to its extensive trade networks, news about this continent was kept insular, with many outside of Mali not knowing of this discovery until years later. When Mansa Muhammad passed away in 1319, his successor, Mansa Musa, eventually revealed the existence of this new world to an Egyptian official he befriended during his haji. In 1324, Musa told this official that his predecessor, Mansa Muhammad, had set sail across the Atlantic Ocean and that Muslim worshippers and missionaries had begun venturing to the land to spread the Islamic faith. In the Islamic world, the landmass soon became known as Al-Bayd, meaning "worshipper" in Arabic and Malian expeditions to the land grew exponentially during the 1320s. Due to the vast amounts of wealth Mali was able to accumulate through the cross-Sahara trade, they were able to consistently finance these costly trans-Atlantic voyages and purchase more baghlahs in order to increase the frequency of these trips.

Mansa Musa as depicted on the Atlas of Catalan
At the time of Mansa Musa's death in 1337, the Mali Empire was by far the largest and richest empire on the African continent and one of the richest in the world. Mansa Musa was so wealthy that he would cause inflation in Egypt during his haji to Mecca due to the sheer amount of gold he had given out along the way. It possessed territory stretching from the Niger River to the western coast of Al-Bayd. By this period in history, the Mali Empire was the largest empire in the world and ruled over an estimated population of around 30 million people dispersed across its territories.
After a few earlier settlements on Al-Bayd's northern coast, the first large and permanent settlement on the continent of Muqaddas would be founded in 1330 as Nyewo (the Mandinka word for "fish") before being renamed to New Timbuktu in 1350. During this time, New Timbuktu and the Mali Empire would flourish as missionaries moved to the settlement to convert Indigenous communities to Islam and Islamic customs. At the same time, many slavers had also arrived to Muqaddas, and subsequently led raids against belligerent Indigenous communities to capture people and send them back to Mali, which had a rapidly growing Trans-Saharan slave trade. The shipment of enslaved Arawaks, Trumai, and other indigenous peoples across the Atlantic is also considered one of the starting points of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade which would only intensify upon future European involvement.

A portrait portraying Malian arrival in Muqaddas
The ascension of Musa Keita II in 1374 would mark a turning point in Mali imperial history. At the time of Musa II's ascension rival Muslim powers such as the Caliphate of Córdoba and the Marinid Sultanate had begun setting up extensive missionary and trade outposts in the New World while Mali was largely limited to the area surrounding New Timbuktu and had to rely on Indigenous allies to protect their settlements. The Arawaks, who had largely converted to Islam by this point were under the suzerainty of Mali, broke their allegiance to Mali and allied with the Marinids. The Marinid-allied Arawaks sacked New Timbuktu in 1376, almost destroying the settlement in the process. As retribution, Musa Keita II began extensively building up a strong naval and military presence in the New World. Rather than securing their territories through a lose set of alliances with Indigenous peoples, Musa Keita II announced a policy of waiving taxation to New World settlers. This effectively shifted the colonial policy of the Mali Empire from conversion towards settler colonialism. Musa II announced a campaign of extermination against the Arawaks for their crimes against New Timbuktu, resulting in the surviving Arawaks fleeing deep into Marinid territory and forfeiting their lands for further Malian settlement.
With the Moroccans and indigenous people neutralized, Mali would remain the hegemonic power on the continent of Muqaddas well into the late 1300s. However, as the true scale and size of the new world became known to the Europeans, Mali began to face competition from European powers such as the Portuguese and the Burgundians from the 1380s onwards.
Domestic and foreign challenges to Mali (1400-1700)[]
The 15th century saw various challenges to the Mali Empire both foreign and domestic. The arrival of the Portuguese in the Sea of the King in the 1380s was partially motivated by a desire to spread Christianity to the New World, putting Portuguese interests in direct conflict with the Malian hegemony that sought to spread Islam to the various Indigenous tribes in the area. After a century of conflict and competition, these competing interests would culminate in the "Pilgrim Crusades" in the 1500s.
Challenges to Mali in Africa[]
Back in Africa, the Mali Empire faced various existential threats to its rule. Based in the city of Gao, a rising Songhai Empire had begun to compete with the Mali Empire in West Africa and for the lucrative trans-Sahara trade routes. At around the same time, the Tuareg people had rebelled and seized the city of Takedda in 1436. While the Tuaregs were suppressed, the Songhai Empire would remain a threat to Mali in the decades to come. Even as the Mali Empire flourished due to New World resources, the Songhai Empire began to take a cut out of Malian trade and was on track to surpass the Malian trade on the African continent. The Songhai had also become a dominant military power in West Africa, defeating the Mali Empire in several high-profile battles.

An artist's depiction of Timbuktu in the 1500s
With Timbuktu left in a vulnerable state, Songhai Musa Askia Muhammad I sought to conquer the Mali Empire and absorb all its territories, including the lucrative Muqaddas colonial outposts. In what is now known as the legendary Battle of Timbuktu in 1500, Malian innovation and the arrival of gunpowder to the Empire allowed them to turn the tide of battle. Askia was slain in battle by Mansa Mahmud III and the Songhai Empire quickly fell apart afterwards, the Empire stopped being mentioned in Malian and Wattasid records by 1502. Even with the Songhai Empire gone, the immediate threats to Mali in West Africa persisted, with the largest power being the Morrocco Sultanate based out of Morocco. Despite an initial uneasy alliance between Mali and Morrocco, the fall of the Songhai in the early 1500s broke the alliance and both empires re-entered a period of mutual hostility. War would break out between the two empires in 1590, but Mali would successfully defend Timbuktu and defeat Morrocco in 1591. Due to the mutual threat of Christian empires in the New World, Morrocco and the Mali Empire would once again declare a truce and work together in a series of conflicts now known as the Pilgrim Crusades.
Challenges to Mali in Muqaddas[]
The Pilgrim Crusades marked the last serious effort by the Christian empires of Europe to seize the Malian colony of Al-Bayd. By the early 1500s, there was an estimated 2 million inhabitants within the borders of Al-Bayd, with the population largely consisting of Mandinka and Wolof settlers, as well as various indigenous peoples who had converted to Islam. In contrast, Christian colonies in Muqaddas were largely settler-colonial in nature and dominated by Christian institutions with the goal of converting Indigenous people to Christianity. With the heavily contrasted interests of these colonies, religious conflict seemed inevitable. The first of the pilgrim crusades started in 1504 against the Moroccan colonies in northern Muqaddas. A loose coalition consisting of Englishmen, Portuguese, and Hungarians laid waste to the Moroccan colonies in the New World. From 1504 to 1517, the Christian powers would capture a majority of Moroccan territories in the New World except for the Battuta Islands. With the Morrocan colonies gone, Malian Al-Bayd now shared a direct border with the belligerent Christian powers in the New World.

The Dhariba Rainforest (pictured), the focal point of the Second Pilgrim Crusades
During the Second Pilgrim Crusade which lasted from 1520 to 1528, the English and Hungarians launched a massive assault on the Malians in Muqaddas. The aforementioned vicious campaigns of exterminations led by the English in what is now modern-day Henryland also resulted in a mass exodus of Moroccan Arabs and allied Indigenous communities into Malian territory overwhelmed Malian resources and strained Malian supply lines. Using this to their advantage, the English forces under Robert Bowes defeated the Malian army during a series of battles for control over the western Dhariba Rainforest in June 1524. For the next four years, the humid conditions of the Dhariba would prove alien to the English, who were forced into a stalemate and had to contend with indigenous resistance, malaria outbreaks, and supply line issues. Despite a land stalemate, the English were attempting to circumnavigate the harsh conditions of the rainforest by traveling through the Batinoo River with the goal of assaulting the city of Batinoo, Mali's westernmost settlement at the time. During the First Battle of Batinoo in December 1527, the British landed west of the city and sought to exploit Mali's weakened western flank, the English ultimately failed to capture the city but did not retreat. Instead, the English began the process of encircling the city with the goal of starving the Malians out. After an encirclement which lasted months, the English received reinforcements and Robert Bowes attempted another assault on Batinoo on 16 April 1528.
During the Second Battle of Batinoo, a combined Muslim army of Malians, Arabs, and Baniwa soldiers under the leadership of General Zomana Ouane defeated Bowes' army in a decisive victory. Even with English reinforcements, the Malians had superior tactics and naval hegemony among the Batinoo River. As a result, Ouane's forces were able to navigate around Bowes' army and encircle their encirclement. The Malians capitalized on this encirclement and began charging the encirled army, resulting in heavy casualties on the English side. By the end of the day, it was estimated that half of the invading English forces were killed. Surrounded and taking heavy casualties, Robert Bowes surrendered and was allowed to retreat to Henryland. This marked the end of the Second Pilgrim Crusade and solidified Malian hegemony in central and western Muqaddas. This marked the end to any formal challenges to Mali in the Western Hemisphere.
The Age of Enlightenment and Malian nationalism (1700-1900)[]
Malian Enlightenment thinkers (1700-1800)[]
Opposition to the Mansa's absolutism[]
The growth of the Mali Empire throughout the 1500s inspired internal restructuring of the empire, such as a greater emphasis placed on written history rather than oral history which had been fundamental to the culture of the Mande peoples. Malian schools and universities also began reflecting this change, with Mansa Mama Maghan decreeing in 1662 that written scripture would be given complete primacy over oral traditions. The growth of written Malian literature had also given dissidents and philosophers the opportunity to express displeasure with the Malian state. As was occurring in continental Europe at the time, several Malian philosophers began writing their complaints with the Mansa in books, articles, and secret publications. Malian philosophers would meet in bazaars and in the backrooms of Mosques to discuss their philosophies and disagreements with the government. Dissident newspapers such as the Timbuktu Gazette were also founded around this time with the goal of raising grievances against absolutism and tyranny.
Dissidents such as Malian political philosopher Mamoudou Diagne began writing and publishing his complaints against the Malian government in underground printing presses while also dodging Malian authorities. Soon, grievances against the monarchy would become widespread amongst both the educated middle-class (Malian bourgeoise) and the Malian peasantry following wheat crop failure and shortage during the spring of 1796 would worsen the situation further. Several Malian philosophers rose to prominence during this period of reformation, such as enlightenment thinker and first Prime Minister of Mali Kassoum Mariko. After the Mansa refused to devolve his powers or cooperate with the Malian liberals, a revolution would break out in 1798.
Enlightenment and Malian women[]
"The association of women with men is agreeable to us and a part of good manners, to which no suspicion attaches. They are not like the women of your country." - A Malian scholar defending the desegregated gender roles in the Mali Empire against Ibn Battuta's criticisms.
Already by the 1700s, Malian women enjoyed a wider array of freedoms in relation to other areas of the Dar-al-Islam. There was no system of gender segregation in place, in the city of Segu, women participated in the cultivation of crops rather than domestic work, women attended Qur'anic school in Malian cities, and the labor of Malian women was essential to the Malian family structure. Despite many de jure freedoms enjoyed by women, Malian women were often excluded from imperial records and prohibited from holding substantial positions of power within the Mali Empire.
These limitations would inspire Naya Moussa, an educated woman of Fula origin to begin writing about the conditions faced by Malian women. Coming from a mercantile family, Moussa would travel with her father from western Mali to Al-Bayd on various occasions. During a trade expedition deep into the Dhariba Rainforest, Moussa began observing Arawak women and the large degree of freedom and respect these women commanded in contrast to how Malian women were often ignored by leadership. This led to Moussa writing about the need for Malian women to be recognized by the state in order to strengthen Malian virtues and civic participation. Moussa also began working to translate the works of Mary Wollstonecraft and other European feminists into written Mandinka. These grievances led to Malian women playing a prominent role in the country's political enlightenment and subsequent revolution against the monarchy in 1798.
Malian Revolution (1798)[]
"If Mali is to survive, the unjust Mansa must be deposed" - Kassoum Mariko
In the leadup to the Malian Revolution, Mansa Souleyman II adamantly opposed any reforms or proposals that would have limited his power. Due to the Keita Dynasty claiming lineage from Bilal, Souleyman and conservative monarchists alleged that the Mansa's power derived from God and thus couldn't be challenged or limited. However, these notions of the Mansa's right to rule began to be openly challenged in the 1700s. Following several catastrophic wheat shortages in the 1790s, public support for Souleyman II only fell further and farmers in rural Malian communities began to refuse to pay taxes to the government in Timbuktu. Starting in May 1798, a rebellion occurred in the city of Gao which soon grew out of control as deprived Malian soldiers began defecting to the revolutionary cause.
In Gao, the revolutionaries under the leadership of Kassoum Mariko proclaimed a "shadow Gbara" which, unlike its imperial counterpart, was composed largely of bourgeoise Malians rather than strictly Mandinka noblemen. Kassoum Mariko was proclaimed as Prime Minister of Mali and the "Republic of Mali" was declared on 16 June 1798. Mansa Souleyman II had been shaken by the mutiny in Gao and had witnessed the bloodbaths that had occurred in both France and Columbia during their respective revolutions. Despite his adamant opposition to reform and revolution, he feared a prolonged conflict would embolden the non-Mandinka element to secede and for rival powers to partition and effectively destroy the Mali Empire. Under the pressure of his ambitious son and heir-apparent, Mohammed, had encouraged him to accept the demands of the revolutionaries and begin negotiations.
Despite some of the more radical revolutionaries refusing to negotiate with the Mansa, a majority of the "shadow Gbara" agreed to start negotiations with Souleyman II and his court. Negotiations were held in Timbuktu starting in August 1798 and ending 3 weeks later. Souleyman II reluctantly agreed to establish a Malian constitution, reduce the power of the Mandinka clan nobility, and democratize the Gbara. During the middle of drafting the constitution, Souleyman II was reported to have regretted his decision to negotiate with the rebels and was plotting a coup against the provisional democratic Gbara, but was mysteriously killed in December 1798 with slash marks found on his throat. While the suspect was never found, it has been speculated that either heir-apparent Mohammed or one of the Malian revolutionaries had killed Souleyman in order to ensure the reforms would be implemented uninterrupted.
From empire to nation state (1798-1900)[]
Constitution and Mande institutions (1798-1810)[]

Palace of the Gbara in southern Timbuktu, the site of the Malian constitution's ratification.
After the delegates and revolutionaries from 29 Mandinka clans met in Timbuktu, a constitution would be ratified after months of negotiations on 18 April 1799. The constitution had transformed the Gbara from an advisory body into a functioning parliament based on the London system. As a compromise between the nobility and the bourgeoisie, the Gbara was transformed into a bicameral legislature where the nobility would retain their power in the upper house (the Great Assembly) while the bourgeoise and common people were allowed to elect the Prime Minister in the lower house (the Common Assembly). The constitution also limited the Mansa's power and made him accountable to the Gbara while establishing a supreme court to act as the highest interpreters of Malian law.
The adoption of democratic institutions has also been referred to as Mali adopting more concrete "Mande institutions." Whereas non-Mande populations exercised great autonomy in the pre-constitutional days, the establishment of complex institutions and democratic governance resulted in Mandinka becoming the official working language of the Malian government. This marked the shift of the Mali Empire from a multiethnic state towards a nation state dominated strictly by the Mandinka people.
Religious reformation (1805-1850)[]

Moussa Barre's theory of commonality was the precursor to the theory of evolution and was influential in challenging traditional religious perspectives within Mali.
Prior to the West African Islamic reformation, there were already increasing differences between the Islam practiced in Mali and Al-Bayd and the Islam practiced in the Arabian Peninsula and other parts of the Dar al-Islam. Due to the emphasis on oral tradition in Mande culture, there were already existing differences between Malian Islam and Arabian Islam including emphasis on women's roles and the relationship with Dhimmi populations within the Malian realm. There was less of an emphasis on scripture and more of an emphasis on oral tradition when contrasted to Arabia where there was stronger emphasis on scripture. There also remained strong semi-animist and Indigenous Muqaddas influences present within West African Islamic practices and traditions. These differences were noted and condemned by Ibn Battuta as early as the 14th century. The differences in Malian Islam were also noted and positively expressed by several Malian enlightenment thinkers. The writings of Malian evolutionary scientist Moussa Barre and his "theory of commonality" served as a precursor to the theory of evolution.
In the late 1700s, Malian theologian and philosopher Mamadou Konta began to emphasize a relationship with God based more on personal experience rather than strictly adhering to scripture. These teachings ultimately led to Konta being decried as a heretic and chased out of his position as an Imam at the Djinguereber Mosque. The teachings of Konta remained underground throughout the 1780s and 1790s but eventually became known as Altarafian Islam based on the Arabic word "altarafia" meaning "periphery." This name originated due to this form of Islam being most prominent in Mali and Al-Bayd, both of which laid at the peripheries of the Islamic World. The underground and taboo nature of Konta's teachings would become mainstream after the Malian Revolution in which revolutionaries began to champion its tenants. In 1805, Mansa Mohammed II officially declared Altarafian Islam as the "official doctrine of the Empire" which was supported by members of the Gbara. However, the Sharif of Mecca condemned this doctrine as haram and barred adherents of Altarafian Islam from participating in the haji to Mecca.
With state backing, the Islamic reformation would sweep across Mali, Al-Bayd, and the Battuta Islands. Significant Altarafian Islamic communities also appeared in southern Morrocco and the Wadai Sultanate but faced persecution by the Sunni Islam governments in these non-Malian lands. The reformation and subsequent Sunni-Altarafian would reach a boiling point in 1843 and result in a brief Moroccan-Malian War which lasted for 6 months. The War ultimately ended in a Moroccan victory following their capture of the city of Awsard in November 1843 and subsequent massacre of all Altarafian residents of the community.
The Industrial Revolution in Mali (1800-1870)[]

Factories in Timbuktu (c. 1830)
During the 1700s, the Malian Economy had largely relied on the trade of raw materials/resources as well as the Trans-Saharan and Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Despite the industrialization that had been occurring in other parts of the world, the Malian slave owning elite was largely hesitant to industrialize or drastically shift the economy in fears of undercutting the profits they had accumulated through the slave trade. However, the Malian Revolution had seen the bourgeoise take power of the Malian body politic, dethroning the incumbent clan leadership who traditionally thrived off of the slave trade. Using the vast amounts of wealth acquired by the slave trade, the Gbara began investing heavily in industrializing the land surrounding the Niger River through the establishment of steam mills starting in April of 1800.
The industrialization would have massive societal effects on the Malian people, including rapid urbanization, increased economic productivity and growth, and a rapidly growing middle class and an upper class of industrialists who challenged the traditional power of the Mandinka clan leaders. The rapid economic growth and increase in productivity, coupled with growing domestic humanitarian opposition to the institution, led to the value of slavery and power of slaveholders in mainland Mali declining rapidly. By 1820, slavery within Mali was a dying institution and the Gbara's Common Assembly was already discussing legislation to outlaw the slave trade. As a result, Mali would officially abolish the slave trade in 1821 and slavery as a whole by 1840.

Steel factory in Dakar (c. 1840)
While industrialization resulted in an increase in productivity and an unprecedented growth in global trade which further enriched Mali, the quality of life for the average worker remained poor. Workers who began moving into crowded urban areas to experienced poor working conditions, low wages, and unsanitary, unsafe living conditions. This resulted in the growth of the early Malian labour movement and the formation of Malian trade unions. Working class activism would continue to grow in Mali throughout the 1800s, ultimately culminating in violence and working-class riots throughout the 1850s through 1880s. During this time period, the Malian Workingmen's Association was established as the Malian wing of the International Workingmen's Association and Marxist revolutionary activism was present in Malian cities such as Timbuktu, Bamako, and Gao. To combat the fear of revolution within Mali, the Gbara began passing labor rights legislation in the 1880s including mandating weekends, 8-hour workdays, minimum wage laws, and worker's compensation laws.
Nationalist schisms within the Mali Empire (1820-1900)[]
Kingdom of Jolof (1823-1826)[]

A Wolof Waalo warrior in outfit at around the time of the Wolof Rebellion (c. 1824)
The shift towards a Mandinka-oriented nation state from a multiethnic imperial structure was met with controversy among non-Mandinka Malians and those located within the empire's peripheral territories. Starting in the 1820s, the ethnic Wolof clans located on Mali's Atlantic coast began an insurgency to avoid cultural assimilation and "Mandinkafication." Since the earliest records of their people, the Wolofs were a society which was rigid, patriarchal, endogamous, and reliant on the slave-trade. The liberal government in control of Timbuktu began implementing policies which were antithetical to the traditional hierarchy present within Wolof Society, including the outlawing of both slavery and abolition of the Wolof Caste system. As a result, the Wolof King Birayamb Kumba-Gey broke tribute to Mali and reproclaimed the Kingdom of Jolof's independence. Due to superior Malian military technology and tactics, the Wolofs were cornered and massacred in the city of Yang-Yang on 28 April 1826 after 3 years of rebellion. As punishment, the Wolof royal family was subject to regicide and royal family members were hunted down. The lands of the former Wolof Kingdom were placed under direct military rule while the Wolof language was actively persecuted. The crimes against the Wolof people remain a controversial and taboo aspect of Malian history, with the country actively denying any crimes against the Wolof people until Mansa Musa IV's public apology to the Wolof people in 1989.
Al-Bayd (1843-1850)[]

Mansa Kondo declaring Al-Bayd's independence, 1845
Outside of the Wolofs, another group which took issue with the abolition of slavery in the Mali Empire was the wealthy slaveowner class which had come to dominate Al-Bayd. Whereas the rest of Mali became subject to industrialization, the elites and plantation class of Al-Bayd were still dominated by a slave-dependent economy. As a result, the abolition of the slave trade in 1821 and the slavery in 1840 hit the plantation economy of Al-Bayd particularly hard. As a result, the Al-Bayi elite began a series of revolts starting in 1843 that ultimately culminated in a declaration of independence in 1845. The new Kingdom of Al-Bayd was led by Mansa Muhammed's brother Kondo. With a majority of Al-Baydis supporting the revolution over Malian governance, Mali formally recognized Al-Bayd's independence in 1850 and withdrew from the Western Hemisphere.
Hebron (1886-1900)[]
Following the establishment of the Church of the Living God by Frank Cherry in 1886, he proclaimed that African Columbians were actually descended of the ancient Israelites and began encouraging African Columbian settlement to Arabian Palestine. However, Arabian King Torki bin Said forbade the Church of the Living God from operating in Arabia, leading to many of them to settle in the western lands of the Mali Empire instead. Mansa Khalifa II, in cooperation with the Gbara and U.S. President William Jennings Bryan, agreed to encourage African Columbian in the western portions of Mali. The Mali Empire sought to encourage settlement due to financial benefits from taxing the African Columbians as dhimmi. The United States sought to encourage African Columbian immigration to the western Mali Empire in order to effectively deal with the massive African Columbian refugee camps in the United States and to deprive the Grand Confederation of manpower. By 1890, the members of Frank Cherry's congregation in western Mali had gone up to 140,000 with the largest settlement being Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi. For a time, there was coexistence between the indigenous people of western Mali and the African Columbian settlers, with Cherry continuing to pay the dhimmi taxes and receive Malian protection in return. However, as African Columbians and Confederates continued to pour into the colony, the Israelite settlers began engaging in violent campaigns of land acquisition against the Guerze people already living in the region. By 1895, the number of African Columbian settlers in the region had risen to 200,000 and many began refusing to pay the taxation required for dhimmi status.

William Saunders Crowdy, an early Hebronian statesman, Black Hebrew Israelite, and a trusted advisor to the King of Hebron.
With Cherry’s congregation refusing to no longer cooperate, the Malian Gbara passed legislation officially revoking their protected status as dhimmi and increased taxation on the Church of the Living God and its institutions. In response, Cherry proclaimed that the Malian Empire had become “subservient to its white masters” and proclaimed a new Davidic dynasty in western Mali with himself as ruler. The Davidic State of Hebron came into existence and Cherry was crowned King Hezekiah IV of Hebron. While many Hebronian settlements were crushed by Mali during the early phases of the rebellion, many rival powers began to hesitantly supply the Hebronian rebels to divide and internally weaken the Mali Empire. Due to French assistance in terms of weaponry, Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi was able to repel a Malian offensive on 7 June 1898. After 4 years of rebellion, a stalemate was eventually declared, and Hebron achieved de-facto independence. Mali would formally recognize Hebron’s independence a few years later in 1904.
Scramble for Africa (1890-1900)[]
Nationalist schisms within the Mali Empire also weakened the empire's standing in West Africa and the African continent as a whole. By 1893, Malian protectorates such as the Kingdom of Orungu in modern-day Vesperia were already conquered by Henryland and the French had achieved a de facto protectorate status over Hebron. Mansa Khalifa II had come to view European presence in Africa as an inevitability and sought to hold a Conference between the major European powers in the city of Timbuktu in order to set guidelines and restrictions on potential European expansion into the continent. On 16 June 1894, European and Malian delegations met in the city of Timbuktu to discuss regulations and establish protocol over European colonies in Africa as part of the age of New Imperialism. The Malian government was seeking to prevent English or French expansion into West Africa, instead favoring Polish or Cordoban presence in western Africa to counteract the English and French. While Morrocco became a Cordoban protectorate and Poland claimed land to the south of Mali, the Malians still shared a hard border with France through their presence in Algeria. Outside of the European powers, Mali also engaged in the Scramble for Africa, successfully establishing a protectorate in Dahomey and invading the Sultanate of Wadai by 1900.
Modern Mali (1900-present)[]
Conflict with Hebron, GW3, and GW4 (1900-1946)[]
In the immediate aftermath of Hebron’s independence, relations between Hebron and Mali would only continue to worsen. Throughout the 1900s and into the 1910s, border skirmishes between Mali and Hebron would continue along the Niger and Niandi rivers but never escalated into a large-scale war. However, by 1913 the border skirmishes were intensifying, and the likelihood of war was greatly increased. Despite efforts to reduce tensions between diplomats on both sides, it was continued Hebronian settlement of lands beyond their borders which ultimately led to a declaration of war by the Malian Gbara on 17 June 1916, bringing West Africa into the Third Great War.

Malian soldiers patrolling the Niger River (June 1916)
Hebron made minimal advances into Malian territory, including capturing the city of Kankan by 1917. However, despite military aid from the French, the young Hebronian nation’s military was still underdeveloped and had inferior tactics compared to the seasoned Malian army. As a result, the Hebronians were overextended quite easily and became increasingly reliant on French support to hold their increasingly vulnerable territories. In 1918, following a devastating Malian counteroffensive and France’s stagnation in Europe, the Hebronians were forced to retreat from Mali and officially withdrew from the war, leaving the West African front of GW3 as a decisive Malian victory. After Hebron’s exit from the war, Mali would assist in counteroffensives into French Algeria through the Sahara, allowing them to capture the southern portions of French Algeria and annex those lands following the official French surrender in GW3. Mali had lost a total of 36,900 men fighting in GW3, with a majority dying on the Hebronian front.
During the interwar years, the Mali Empire began to rebuild infrastructure damaged infrastructure and fortify their positions along the Hebronian border. These efforts were complicated by the Great Depression starting in 1929, which deeply impacted Mali’s trade-based economy. The Malian economy would continue to lag throughout the early 1930s and urban poverty ultimately skyrocketed. During this time, the Communist Party of Mali and the Malian Union of Fascists had gained traction and were organizing militant rallies throughout large Malian cities. This militant organizing culminated in the Battle of Batinoo Street, which saw fascists rally on Batinoo Street in Timbuktu and attempt an overthrow of the Gbara. This failed attempt was broken up by riot police and ultimately ended in bloodshed and the outlawing of all openly militant political parties in Mali in 1937.
In May 1940, a telegram was intercepted by the Malian government which revealed Mohammed Barre, the leader of the Malian Union of Fascists, had sent a letter to the King of Hebron asking for his assistance in an invasion of Mali to install himself as fascist dictator of the country. A subsequent telegram was intercepted showing that King Hezekiah VI had agreed to assist Barre and was building up the Hebronian military with the goal of intervening in Malian affairs. Soon, these telegrams were leaked to the Malian government and public via the Timbuktu Gazette and public outcry spread across Mali. A declaration of war against Hebron was issued by the Malian government on 16 November 1940 and Mali launched a preemptive invasion of Hebron.

Malian battleship fires on Hebronian pirates in the Niandi River (1950)
Hebron was caught off guard by the preemptive Malian assault and was forced on the retreat. The Malians captured the city of Korhogo and began recruiting non-African Columbians within Hebron to assist in the fight against the Hebronian monarchy. Anti-fascist militias consisting of the Mende and Temne peoples began assaulting Hebron's supply lines and sabotaging infrastructure along the Niandi river. Despite improved Hebronian military tactics, the country still lacked up-to-date army equipment and was not able to match the strategy and skill put into the Malian offensive. The Malian navy had successfully defeated the defending Hebronian forces on the Niandi river during the Battle of Deina on 15 May 1943. Following the destruction of Hebron's navy in Deina, Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi was once against left vulnerable to a Malian attack. 6 months later, Mali launched an amphibious assault on Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi with over 40,000 soldiers landing in the city's bay. After weeks of vicious urban warfare, Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi fell, and King Hezekiah IV fled into the Lion Mountains. Following the fall of Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi, the Federation of Akal n-Iguinawen was proclaimed under a republican government and Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi was renamed to Federation City.
Mali during the Cold War (1946-1994)[]
Hebron insurgency and war in Akal n-Iguinawen (1946-1961)[]
Despite the abolition of Hebron's monarchy and establishment of Akal n-Iguinawen receiving international backing and recognition, African Columbian settlers continued an insurgency against the newly established Akal n-Iguinawen as they feared its indigenous-dominated governance would enact land reclamation policies against them. King Hezekiah IV continued to assert his title as King of Hebron while in exile in the Lion Mountains, occasionally leading ambushes against Akal n-Iguinawen soldiers present at the mountain basin. With over 100 ethnic groups present within the federation, Akal n-Iguinawen proved to be very unstable and was suffering from ethnic infighting between the Mende, Tenme, Guerze, and Krahn people while simultaneously dealing with the African Columbian Black Hebrew Israelite insurgency. As a result, constant Malian military presence in the country was required in order to keep the federation intact.

Malian soldiers stationed within Akal n-Iguinawen (1954)
Throughout the 1950s, the Malian troop presence within Akal n-Iguinawen had only increased, going up from 40,000 in 1946 to 160,000 by 1953. Hebron terrorist attacks only became more frequent throughout the 1950s as Akal n-Iguinawen President William Tubman passed a series of "secularization laws" that sought to eliminate the power of the old Black Hebrew Israelite institutions and encourage freedom of religion within the country. These laws helped ingrain the idea of persecution in the mind of African Columbian Israelite settlers who, in turn, began joining the Hebron loyalist militias in large numbers. A bombing against the Akal n-Iguinawen Parliament Building on 17 July 1956 resulted in further Malian troops being deployed to the country and the Malian military to actively begin bombing campaigns against Hezekiah VI's forces in the Lion Mountains.
Then-Prime Minister of Mali, Yoro Diankite (1949-1960), was a staunch militarist and was supportive of Malian presence in Akal n-Iguinawen in order to secure Malian interests in the country and fully defeat the Hebronian threat. This position was also very popular among the Malian people initially, with polling from 1946 to 1956 showing a majority of Malians favored continued prescence in Akal n-Iguinawen. However, following the Federation City massacre of 1956, which saw a Hebronian suicide bomber kill 25 Malian troops in the city. The security failure to prevent the bombing, coupled with the growing animosity towards Malian troops in the federation, helped fuel anti-war protests in Mali and discredit Diankite's government. After years of occupation, Yoro Diankite and his ruling Fatherland Party would lose the 1960 Malian general election to Modibo Keita and the Socialist Party. Unlike Diankite, Keita was skeptical of continued Malian prescence in Akal n-Iguinawen and made withdrawing from the country a key part of his campaign for Prime Minister. Upon taking office in 1960, Keita began taking the steps to withdraw Malian troops from Akal n-Iguinawen and the last Malian soldiers left the country on 12 May 1961. Only 2 months after Malian withdrawal, the Federation of Akal n-Iguinawen collapsed into civil war and King Hezekiah IV led a counteroffensive which recaptured Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi and officially re-established the Davidic State of Hebron on 6 July 1961.
Pan-Africanism and Mali in the age of decolonization (1950-1980)[]
During the Cold War, the Mali Empire had established itself as a leading power in the Non-Aligned Movement which sought to consolidate the Global South into a unified bloc separate from the influences of the capitalist, communist, and fascist blocs. At the League to Enforce Peace General Assembly, Mali and the Non-Aligned Movement became "kingmakers" and became required to pass resolutions through the LTP. As a result, Mali became actively courted by the capitalist and communist blocs and made inroads with both the United States and Germany. Due to fascist support of Hebron, Malian relationship with fascist powers such as China and England had deteriorated by this time.

Mali is the only permanent member of the League to Enforce Peace Security Council (pictured) from the African continent.
Due to its wealth and status, Mali had also emerged a leader on the African continent and Malian political leaders began to champion the ideology of Pan-Africanism. Mali began encouraging and pressuring European countries to withdraw from the African continent and support decolonization efforts. Mali itself would also decolonize when it revoked its protectorate over Dahomey in 1952 and withdrew from Wadai on 12 May 1956. The Organization of African Unity, founded in 1963, was headquartered in Timbuktu. Mali also emerged as the largest donator to the African Space Agency and became home to the League to Enforce Peace's Africa headquarters in 1966. Through its seat on the Security Council, Mali proposed several resolutions to resolve racial-colonial conflicts in South Africa and Vesperia and acted as a mediator between the United States and Germany on African affairs.
Despite a foreign policy which focused on African unity, Mali still faced opposition from other African countries on the continent. Outside of the obvious antagonism with Hebron, Ethiopia (another African country that resisted colonization) often butted heads with Mali over what Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie perceived to be as "Mali speaking over other African countries" and denounced Malian hypocrisy in allowing the European powers onto the continent in the first place. Similar tension also existed between Mali and the Hindu-speaking African countries of Vijay, Yuuganda, and Somalia over the "promotion of indigenous languages" initiative led by Mali in the Organization of African Unity. Even with these tensions, Mali was still the largest African power and was therefore treated as the "face of Pan-Africanism" by non-African countries during negotiations.
Social changes in Malian society (1960-1994)[]
The latter half of the 20th century brought on many social changes in the country brought on by both political and economic developments. In 1960, democratic socialist Modibo Keita was elected on a campaign championing youth-based activism, pacificism, and anti-militarism. Keita's victory was attributed to the frustration of poor and young Malians, many who felt that the government was too focused on militarism and not doing enough to address the challenges faced by Malians domestically, including income inequality and urban poverty. Journalist George Randolph Hearst of the Fort Dearborn Tribune attributed Keita's win as "a challenge to the religious, pro-military conservatism, which has traditionally dominated Mali's political system."
Keita’s victory also coincided with a youth-led countercultural movement. Throughout the 1960s, students became more involved politically and advocated for a wide array of issues from reducing ethnic and gender inequality to supporting nuclear disarmament. The counterculture movement was also influenced by similar countercultural movements occurring in the United States, Europe, and the rest of Africa. The introduction of mass media, such as televisions, also helped alter Malian and Mandinka culture as mass media began to replace traditional west African oral storytelling in many aspects.

Prime Minister Aoua Kéita in 1977
Another large change which occurred in Malian society was the status of women. While women had gained suffrage in Mali in 1904, laws still existed which limited women’s ability to work in the workplace and hold economic wealth. Due to shifting social rules, women started to enter the workplace by the 1960s into the 1990s. This resulted in anti-discrimination laws being passed with the goal of ensuring Malian women have an easy transition into the workplace. However, the issue of Mali women in the workplace became a culture war issue as many rural communities and more patriarchal non-Mandinka communities had opposed these egalitarian efforts by the Gbara. The progression of women in the workplace ultimately culminated in the election of Aoua Keita as the first female Prime Minister of Mali in 1976. This period also saw persistent proxy wars fought between Mali and Arabia throughout mid-northern Africa, sparked by the rise of Saddam Hussein.
Detente and end of the Cold War (1973-1994)[]
Despite tensions with the fascist bloc throughout the early Cold War, there was a concerted effort by both Chinese and Malian diplomats to normalize relations. During this time period, the fascist-aligned Hebron also began to normalize relations with Mali despite decades of tension. On 12 May 1973, under Chinese and English guidance, Malian Prime Minister Mamadou Dembelé would meet Hebronian King Hezekiah VII in Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi, marking the first official meeting between Malian and Hebronian leadership. After the Hebron-Mali Summit, both sides agreed to troop reductions on the border and agreed to a commitment of denuclearization. On 12 October 1980, Mali would establish its first embassy in Hebron in Jerusalem-on-the-Niandi and Hebron would establish an embassy in Timbuktu 3 months later. Despite the progress in diplomatic relations made between both countries, the collapse of fascist England in 1983 and internal Chinese reformation would lead to this period of detente ending as the Cold War came to an end.
Late 20th century and 21st century (1994-present)[]

Hebronian nuclear missile test (2006)
While the end of the Cold War was marked by a period of reduced worldwide military spending, the volatile situation between Hebron and Mali meant that West Africa was not afforded such luxuries. In 1996, Malian intelligence leaked that Hebron had begun to develop their nuclear weapons after China waived their mutual defense pact in 1990. This harmed the nuclear disarmament efforts led by Mali and the rest of the African Union, and many hawks within the Malian government began calling for an increased military budget to counteract Hebronian nuclear ambitions. Despite efforts by the League to Enforce Peace to negotiate peace between both countries, these efforts were largely fruitless. Hebron did not want to give up their nuclear weapons because they believed not having nuclear weapons would make them vulnerable to a Malian invasion. Likewise, Mali did not want to reduce its military presence out of fear of a Hebronian nuclear ambush. As a result, the conflict with Hebron has remained an issue between both countries from 1996 going into the 21st century.

Mobido Sidibe, Prime Minister of Mali (2007-2020)
During the late 20th and early 21st century, the Malian economy had also emerged as the largest African technology center. Companies such as Jeliba Futuristics (founded 1992), Dambali (founded 1997), and Space Voyager (founded 2000) had begun to establish Mali as a leading exporter of a wide array of technology and technology-based products. The Malian Economy experienced consistent growth throughout the early 21st century, only slightly derailed by the 2008 recession. The recession saw a dip in Malian GDP and quality of life, but Prime Minister Modibo Sidibé took a Keynesian approach to the country's economic recovery, bolstering welfare programs and increasing aggregate demand through increased government intervention. Despite the Malian economy stagnating for a few years, it had reached pre-recession levels of growth by 2016.
Despite continued economic growth, Prime Minister Modibo Sidibé's popularity began to wane by 2018. This was largely due to his approving of the 2019 Wolof independence referendum. While allowing the referendum gained him some popularity among the Wolof electorate, it resulted in him burning bridges with the majority Mainka electorate and caused a collapse in his approval ratings. When the independence referendum failed and protests continued in the province of Jolof, Sidibé ordered the military to be sent in and crack down on the protests, resulting in the injuring of 14 protestors. By late 2019, Sidibé had burned bridges with both the Wolof and Maninka voter bases and had to rely on Fula and Songhai voters in his plan to retain his parliamentary majority. In 2020, Kamissa Camara and her Social Democratic Party had defeated Modibo Sidibé and his Malian Development Party in a landslide victory, officially becoming Prime Minister on 29 August 2020.
Government[]
Structure of government[]
Politics in the Mali operate under the framework laid out in the 1799 Constitution and its subsequent amendments. Since 1799, Mali has been a constitutional monarchy with a representative bicameral legislative body. Officially, the Mansa (king) exercises some limited executive power and is in charge of presiding over the Great Assembly, the upper house of the legislative Gbara. In practice, however, the Mansa's power is completely ceremonial and mostly deals with formalities such as dismissing the Prime Minister or cabinet members.

Kamissa Camara, current Prime Minister of Mali
The head of government within Mali is the Prime Minister, who is elected by a majority of the lower house of the Gbara, the Common Assembly. If the Prime Minister's party secures a majority in the Common Assembly, then they are able to safety and securely pass legislation and push their agenda through the Gbara. However, when a Prime Minister does not have a majority in parliament, this is known as a minority government and often requires coalition building with other likeminded parties to secure their position. If members of the Common Assembly lose faith in the ability for the Prime Minister to perform their duties, a Prime Minister can be removed via a vote of no confidence. The Prime Minister is in charge of appointing cabinet members to assist them in the facilitation of policy and governance.
Mali is a federal state, meaning that the various provinces have been given devolved power including their own provincial governments and the ability to determine some policy for their regions such as linguistic policy or transportation policy. However, due to the supremacy clause in the Malian Constitution, it is the federal government in Timbuktu which often has the final say on legislative policy and is able to override policy decisions made at the provincial level.
Political parties[]

Prime Minister Camara at the Social Democratic Party's leadership conference (c. 2022)
Mali's parliamentary structure is one of proportional representation, meaning if parties cross a certain polling threshold, they will gain seats in parliament. The current threshold is at 4%. As of 2024, there are 9 political parties represented within the Malian Gbara. Of these nine parties, three are considered "electorally viable" while the other six are largely regionalist and ethnic interest parties. The three dominant Malian political parties are the center-left Social Democratic Party of Mali, the center-right Malian Development Party, and the centrist Malian Liberal Democrats. As of the 2024 Malian general election, the Social Democrats hold 150/300 seats in the Common Assembly, the Malian Development Party holds 86/300 seats, the Malian Liberal Democrats hold 30/300 seats, and the rest of the seats are held by various minor parties within Mali.
The "minor parties" in Mali represented within the Gbara include the Wolof People's Party, the Party for Timbuktu and Urban Mali, the Songhai Party, the Communist Party of Mali, the Bambara Bloc, and the Dhimmi Interests Alliance. Of these parties, a majority of them are regionalist or focused on minority interests. While not viable for securing a majority in the Gbara, these parties are often courted by the larger governing parties to form coalitions and be included in Malian governments.
Foreign relations[]
As a leader of the African Union, the African Space Program, and the non-aligned movement, many of Mali's immediate close allies lay within the African continent and the Global South. Many Malian analysts and geopolitical experts, such as Victoria Nuland often consider Vistara to be Mali's closest ally due to their shared border and the interborder commerce, migration, and tourism which comes through said border. Mali has also built strong relations with neighboring Algeria as part of the Trans-Sahara initiative which seeks to strengthen and extend the Trans-African Highway network through both countries in an attempt to revitalize the lucrative trans-Sahara trade routes. Despite strong ties on the African continent, Mali has a rivalry with Ethiopia within the African Union as both countries compete for economic and political influence over other AU members. However, this has been categorized more as a friendly rivalry rather than completely hostile diplomatic relations.

A Scottish flag flies outside the Scottish Embassy in Timbuktu
Outside of the African continent, Mali has many strategic allies in both Europe and Columbia. Mali's oldest continuous ally is Scotland, with the alliance officially beginning upon the arrival of Scottish explorer and diplomat Mundo Park in Timbuktu around 1796. Since then, Mali and Scotland have coordinated on various issues relating to trade and military support. In Columbia, Mali has been one of the biggest supporters of Afrocolumbia and provided the country with large amounts of financial and developmental aid during its early years throughout the 1950s.

The Malian delegation addressing the League to Enforce Peace Security Council regarding the crisis in Hebron (2018)
While Mali has many close allies and beneficial partnerships, Mali still has hostile relations with its immediate neighbor, Hebron. Despite both countries enjoying a period of detente throughout the 1970s and 1980s as mediated by China, relations between both countries began to once again deteriorate by the 1990s. The fall of fascist England and the abandonment of arm shipments to Hebron by China left Hebronian leadership in an insecure and scared position. Many feared that, without English or Chinese support, Hebron would be susceptible to a Malian ground invasion which would once again topple the monarchy in the country. As a result, Hebron had begun developing nuclear weapons as early as 1998, causing a shift deterioration in Hebronian-Malian relations and the quick rearmament of Mali. Despite mediation efforts by the League to Enforce Peace, the conflict remains volatile and hostilities between both countries are high.
Economy[]
Trade[]

Cargo ship pulling into the Port of Dakar (c. 2007)
With a GDP of 4.75 trillion USD, the Malian Economy is the fourth largest in the world behind Bharat, the United States, and Russia. Mali has often been considered the "chief financier" of the African Union, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the African Space Agency. While pre-industrial Mali's economy was dependent on agriculture and rare resource mining for trade, since the 1800s, Mali has emerged as an advanced and industrialized economy. As a result, Mali has been the center of African trade since the 1700s, with port cities such as Dakar and Nwakcoṭ still being crucial stopping points for trans-Atlantic bound cargo freights and other trading ships.
Technology[]

The Jeliba Futuristics Sinnaphone smartphone (released in 2006) revolutionized smartphone technology and became a popular product across the world.
Since the mid-20th century, research and collaboration between the Malian government, private sector, and academic researchers resulted in the growth and innovation of the Malian technology sector. Since then, Mali has become a producer of many vital technology products such as laptops, smartphones, semiconductors, and advanced circuitry. Mali's rich supply of natural resources also assisted in fueling the technology sector. By the 1980s, several massive technology companies with Malian origin such as Jeliba Futuristics began rising to prominence in international markets. Estimates have placed the total worth of the Malian tech sector at around 800 billion as of 2024.
Due to the growth of the Malian tech industry, non-Malian technology and telecommunication companies have also established regional headquarters in Mali, such as the Irish tech giant Eir opening their African headquarters in Bamako, Mali. The city of Bamako, due to low corporate tax rates, has attracted several telecommunications companies and has gained the nickname of the "technology capital of Africa."
Mining[]
Due to Mali's abundance of gold, uranium, diamonds, and gemstones; the Mining industry has always remained a large part of the Malian economy. Mining products and precious earth minerals remain the largest Malian export and are often sought-after products in non-Malian markets. In 2020 alone, the mining sector of Mali's economy generated over 500 billion USD in export revenue for the country. While mining use to be the largest sector in Mali's economy, the growth of trade and technology, coupled with labor and environmental concerns, has seen the industry shrink in prominence going into the 21st century.

Wheat crops being grown in Mali.
Agriculture[]
While Mali remains a largely urbanized society, the economy of rural Mali is still largely dependent on agriculture and agricultural products. The main crops harvested in Mali include wheat, cotton, rice, and millet. Wheat has remained Mali's largest export crop and has garnered the country the nickname of "the breadbasket of Western Africa." As of 2023, agriculture accounts for 12% of Mali's GDP.
Demographics[]
Ethnic groups[]

A Tuareg woman in the Malian Sahara
As of the 2021 census, there are over 40 different ethnic groups present throughout the vast territory of the Mali Empire. The ethnic group with the plurality are the Mandinka people, who make up roughly 30% of Mali's population. The second largest group are Bambara people, another Mande ethnic group, making up roughly 12% of Mali's population and largely concentrated around the region of Wassoulou. Due to this large Mande plurality and political domination of the Malian state, Mali has often be described as a Mande-dominated state, with its name being the "Mande Empire" in Mandinka. The Wolof people are the third largest ethnic group in Mali and are largely concentrated around the Province of Jolof and the city of Dakar. Other notable groups in Mali include the Songhai, Fula, Serer, Tuareg, Jola, Sonike, Maninka, and Loma people.

Chinese gold miners in the Taoudeni Basin (c. 1850)
Aside from ethnic groups indigenous to West Africa, Mali has also experienced limited immigration waves due to a laxing of immigration laws in the 1940s. The majority of Malian immigrants are from other parts of the Islamic World, with the largest immigrant communities being Moroccans, Levantine Arabs, Cordobans, and Mexicans. However, there have also been small yet notable non-Muslim immigrant communities that have moved to Mali. Following the discovery of gold in the Taoudeni Basin, many Chinese immigrants began moving to Mali to gain wealth and fortune, with there still being around 30,000 Chinese living in Mali in the present.
Religion[]
As of the 2021 census, over 97% of Malians identified as Muslim.
Education[]
As of 2024, 98.8% of Malians are literate and about 31% of Malian men and 29% of Malian women have received a college bachelor's degree. Despite the overwhelming presence of oral tradition in Mande culture and storytelling, there were serious pushes for Malian literacy led by the post-revolutionary Malian government led to the establishment of a centralized school system in 1830 which emphasized literature, science, history, mathematics, religion, and trade skills. The University of Timbuktu was also consolidated in 1835 and has since emerged as one of the leading academic research institutions in the world. As of 2023, the University of Timbuktu enrolls over 30,000 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students while being a top research university in regard to nuclear physics and space exploration.

A Malian woman of Fula origin
Gender and sexuality[]
While Mali has never officially criminalized homosexuality, the status of LGBT rights has remained rather contentious in Mali. While some Malian cities and provinces such as Timbuktu have recognized civil unions, there is no federal recognition of Malian same-sex couples as of 2023. However, legislation passed by the Gbara in 2012 does recognize foreign same-sex civil unions in order to strengthen diplomatic ties with other countries. A 2023 poll by the Timbuktu Gazette found that roughly 41% of Malians supported greater tolerance towards LGBT people with the biggest group of supporters primarily being younger Malians. Given this shift, some political analysts have suggested that Mali could be on track to legalize civil unions federally, but these prospects have faced opposition from more conservative elements in Malian society such as the Wolof people, Mandinka traditionalists, and members of the religious right.
Women's rights in Mali have improved substantially since the 19th century, with women gaining the right to vote in 1896 and the first female member of the Gbara being elected in 1928. Since then, two women have gone on to serve as Prime Minister and legislation granting women equal employment protection to men have been achieved. As of 2024, 37% of the Gbara are women. Despite this progress, there are still discrepancies between rural Malian women and their male counterparts in terms of wages and employment opportunities.

Timbuktu, the capital and largest city in Mali
Culture[]
The varied everyday culture of Malians reflects the country's ethnic and geographic diversity. Most Malians wear flowing, colorful robes called boubous that are typical of West Africa. Malians frequently participate in traditional festivals, dances, and ceremonies.
Sports[]
Football is the most popular sport in Mali and the Malian national team has hosted the IFF World Cup in 1954 and 1990. The Malian team won the 1974 World Cup against Mexica and has remained a formidable team in the years following. Mali has also been a frequent host of the Africa Cup of Nations and has held the sporting event on 6 different occasions. Outside of football, volleyball has also become a popular sport in Mali, with the Malian men's volleyball team winning the country a silver medal at the 1924 Summer Olympics, which Mali also hosted.
Clubs in Mali have been changing, but there have been 5 that stand out from the bunch, with Timbuktu FC, South Timbuktu, Al-Dakar, Gao FC, and Al-Bamako all being key pieces of Malian football. These 5 have been elite across Africa and are considered the best unit of clubs in all of Africa say for Morocco, who play with the European Football Union and therefore the EFU Champions Cup.
Rugby is also played at large, with the team being one of the best in the world, but a consistent letdown at the Rugby World Cup. They have won once in 1959 when they hosted the competition, but have gotten back to prominence with a finals appearance in 2019, losing to Henryland in the final.
Chariot Racing has been growing massively in Mali over the past century, starting from nothing more than minnows at the sport in the 1920s to becoming a strong team for the sport in the 2020's. Mali itself is consdiered to be one of the toughest atmospheres for a derby, but they have the Timbuktu Derby, a derby that is not just a part of the Top 20 Derbies, but also a big part of Malian culture in the modern days, with over 50 million Malians alone watching the event.
Music[]

A Malian music class being taught by a jeli (c. 2010)
The Mande understanding of music differs from how music is understood in the Western world and other parts of Africa. For instance, traditional Malian music was used as means of record-keeping and telling history through jelis or "storytellers." Due to this important role in archival records, jelis were often very close to the royal family and held an elevated status in Malian society up until the 1799 Revolution. Popular instruments in Malian music include the kora, tama, and djembe. Outside of the dominant Madinka and Mande influences, there are also distinctive music traditions developed by ethnic minorities within Mali such as Tuareg music and Songhay music.
Cuisine[]
Rice and millet are the staples of Malian cuisine, which is heavily based on cereal grains. Grains are generally prepared with sauces made from edible leaves, such as spinach or baobab, with tomato peanut sauce, and may be accompanied by pieces of grilled meat (typically chicken, mutton, beef, or goat). Malian cuisine varies regionally. Other popular dishes include fufu, jollof rice, and maafe.
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