Things you need to know about Mali
14 April 2012
- Mali has a population of 11.6 million, of which 90 per cent are Muslim.
- The official language is French and the West African country was a French colony until independence in 1960.
- Sixty-five per cent desert, Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world and relies heavily on foreign aid - its main exports are cotton and gold.
- Dictator Moussa Traore was overthrown in 1991, and the country remains a democracy.
- An estimated 110,000 are living with AIDS.
- Mali is landlocked.
