Natural resources:
gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum,
granite, hydropower
note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are
known but not exploited
Land use: arable land: 3.76% permanent crops: 0.03% other: 96.21% (2005)
Irrigated land:
2,360 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards:
hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring
droughts; occasional Niger River flooding
Environment - current issues:
deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies
of potable water; poaching
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern,
cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the
northern, arid Saharan
People Mali
Population:
11,716,829 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 48.2% (male 2,857,670/female 2,787,506)
15-64 years: 48.8% (male 2,804,344/female 2,910,097)
65 years and over: 3% (male 146,458/female 210,754) (2006 est.)