History of Mali, Africa
Landlocked Mali is Africa's seventh largest country, encompassing nearly 500,000 square miles. Its population is estimated to be 13 million, with nearly half of the population under the age of 14. Tourism highlights include the city of Timbuktu, boating along the Niger River and visiting the Djenné mosque, the largest mud building in the world.
The history of Mali is a proud one, from an age of empires to one of the most politically stable, democratically elected governments in Africa.
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The Ghana Empire
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Three major empires ruled over all or part of Mali from the eighth to 16th centuries. The first was the Ghana Empire. It existed from c. 790 to 1076 A.D. in western Mali and southeastern Mauritania. The empire became a powerful trading state, deriving most of its wealth from trans-Saharan trade of gold and salt.
The Mali Empire
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The Mali Empire (c. 1230 to c. 1600) was a wealthy empire that had a profound influence on the culture of West Africa. It encompassed an area larger than Europe and had three massive gold mines within its borders, contributing greatly to its wealth. It also traded in copper and salt and maintained a full-time army to defend its borders.
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The Songhai Empire
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The Songhai Empire rose to its greatest prominence from the early 15th to early 16th centuries, when it was one of the largest empires in African history. It was called Songhai after its largest ethnic group.
in the 1460s, the emperor Sunni Ali conquered what remained of the Mali Empire. By 1500, the empire encompassed more than 500,000 square miles. However, civil wars over succession contributed to its decline, and by the end of the 16th century it had been divided into dozens of small kingdoms.
Colonialization
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The French took over Mali in 1892. They named the area Soudan Francais (French Sudan) and governed it along with other captured territories, known collectively as the Federation of French West Africa.
A constitutional referendum in 1958 allowed the French Sudan, now known as the Sudan Republic, to have complete internal autonomy and join the French Community. Members of the French Community retained internal control while France controlled defense, foreign affairs, currency and national security strategies.
Independence
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Sudan joined Senegal in January 1959 to form the Mali Federation. The Mali Federation gained complete independence from the French Community on June 20, 1960.
Two months later, Senegal ceded from the Mali Federation, causing its collapse. On Sept. 22, 1960, the Sudanese Republic became the nation of Mali, led by Modibo Keita.
Post Independence
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Keita, whose Socialist party dominated the entire political landscape, was president of Mali until 1968, when there was a bloodless military coup. In 1974, a new constitution was drafted. It created a one-party state and was meant to encourage civilian rule, though an election wasn't held until 1979.
General Moussa Traoré received 99 percent of the votes in the 1979 election. He remained president until 1991, when intense riots against a one-party state spurred Traore's arrest. A new constitution allowing for multiple political parties was adopted and Alpha Oumar Konaré, the candidate for the ADEMA (Association for Democracy in Mali) party, won, with ADEMA also winning 80 percent of the seats in the National Assembly.
Modern Times
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President Konaré served two terms. The 2002 election was won by Amadou Toumani Touré, the former general who had led the military arrest of Traoré in 1991. The 2002 election marked Mali's first successful transition of power from one democratically elected leader to another. Today, Mali is one of the most politically stable countries in all of Africa.
However, as one of the poorest countries in the world, with roughly half the population living below the international poverty line, Mali faces significant economic and social challenges in the years ahead.
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