page_title: Outline of Mali
section_title: Geography of Mali
hierarchical_section_title: Outline of Mali / Geography of Mali
caption_attribution_description: Topographic map of Mali. Created with GMT from public domain GLOBE data.
context_page_description: The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Mali:
  Mali – landlocked sovereign country located in West Africa. Mali is the seventh most extensive country in Africa, bordering Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west.
  Consisting of eight regions, Mali's borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country's southern region, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and Senegal rivers. The country's economic structure centers around agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's natural resources include gold, uranium, and salt. Due to a high incidence of poverty, Mali is considered to be one of the poorest nations in the world.
  Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. In the late 19th century, Mali fell under French control, becoming part of French Sudan. Mali gained independence in 1959 with Senegal, as the Mali Federation in 1959.
context_section_description: Geography of Mali
  Mali is: a landlocked country
  Population of Mali: 12,337,000  - 71st most populous country
  Area of Mali: 1,240,192 km²
  Atlas of Mali
caption: An enlargeable topographic map of Mali
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