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This article is about the
This figure can be compared to 4,638,000 in 1950. The population is predominantly
Structure of the population (01.04.2009) (Census, Complete tabulation):
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2018):
Ethnic groups include:
33.3% Bambara
13.3%
demographic
Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...
features of the population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...
of Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
, including population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
, ethnicity
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Population
In , Mali's population was an estimated million, with an annual growth rate of 2.7%.CIA world factbookThis figure can be compared to 4,638,000 in 1950. The population is predominantly
rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...
(68% in 2002), and 5–10% of Malians are nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic. More than 90% of the population lives in the southern part of the country, especially in Bamako
Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger River ...
, which has over 1 million residents.
In 2007, about 48% of Malians were less than 15 years old, 49% were 15–64 years old, and 3% were 65 and older. The median age was 15.9 years. The birth rate
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
in 2007 was 49.6 births per 1,000, and the total fertility rate
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if:
# she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime
# she were t ...
was 7.4 children per woman.
The death rate
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...
in 2007 was 16.5 deaths per 1,000. Life expectancy
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...
at birth was 49.5 years total (47.6 for males and 51.5 for females). Mali has one of the world's highest rates of infant mortality
Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...
, with 106 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The proportion of the population aged below 15 in 2010 was 47.2%. 50.6% of the population were aged between 15 and 65 years of age. 2.2% of the population were aged 65 years or older.Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 RevisionStructure of the population
Structure of the population (01.04.2009) (Census, Complete tabulation):
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2018):
Ethnic groups
Ethnic groups include:
33.3% Bambara
13.3% Fula
Fula may refer to:
*Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe)
* Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani)
**The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language
**The Fula variety known as the Pular language
**The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde
*Al-Fula
...
9.8% Soninke
9.6% Senufo / Bwa / Malinke
Maninka (also known as Malinke), or more precisely Eastern Maninka, is the name of several closely related languages and dialects of the southeastern Manding subgroup of the Mande language family. It is the mother tongue of the Malinké peopl ...
8.7% Dogon
5.9% Songhai
1.7% Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Alg ...
6.1% Bobo
11.6% Others
Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...
's population consists of Sub-Saharan
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...
ethnic groups
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history ...
, sharing similar historic, cultural, and religious traditions. Exceptions are two nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ic northern groups, the Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Alg ...
s, a Berber people
, image = File:Berber_flag.svg
, caption = The Berber flag, Berber ethnic flag
, population = 36 million
, region1 = Morocco
, pop1 = 14 million to 18 million
, region2 = Algeria
, p ...
, and Maurs (or Moors), of Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
o-Berber origins. In Mali and Niger
)
, official_languages =
, languages_type = National languagesAzawagh Arabs, named after the
:''0-14 years:'' 47.69% (male 4,689,121/female 4,636,685)
:''15-24 years:'' 19% (male 1,768,772/female 1,945,582)
:''25-54 years:'' 26.61% (male 2,395,566/female 2,806,830)
:''55-64 years:'' 3.68% (male 367,710/female 352,170)
:''65 years and over:'' 3.02% (male 293,560/female 297,401) (2020 est.)
:''0-14 years:'' 48.03% (male 4,449,790 /female 4,402,076)
:''15-24 years:'' 18.89% (male 1,657,609 /female 1,823,453)
:''25-54 years:'' 26.36% (male 2,243,158 /female 2,615,695)
:''55-64 years:'' 3.7% (male 346,003 /female 335,733)
:''65 years and over:'' 3.02% (male 277,834 /female 278,542) (2018 est.)
Mali's health and development indicators rank among the worst in the world. In 2000 only 62–65 percent of the population was estimated to have access to safe drinking water and only 69 percent to sanitation services of some kind; only 8 percent was estimated to have access to modern sanitation facilities. Only 20 percent of the nation’s villages and livestock watering holes had modern water facilities.
There were an estimated 140,000 cases of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) reported in 2003, and an estimated 1.9 percent of the adult population was afflicted with HIV/AIDS that year, among the lowest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (see also
Azawagh
The Azawagh (alias ''Azaouagh'' or ''Azawak'') is a dry basin covering what is today the northwestern Niger, as well as parts of northeastern Mali and southern Algeria. The Azawagh is mainly made up of Sahelian and Saharan flatlands and h ...
region of the Sahara
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
, map_image =
, location =
, country =
, country1 =
, ...
. Azawagh Arabs speak mainly Hassaniya Arabic
Hassānīya ( ar, حسانية '; also known as , , , , and ''Maure'') is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs and the Sahrawi. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most ...
which is one of the regional varieties of Arabic
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable var ...
.
The Tuaregs traditionally have opposed the central government. Starting in June 1990 in the north, Tuaregs seeking greater autonomy led to clashes with the military. In April 1992, the government and most opposing factions signed a pact to end the fighting and restore stability in the north. Its major aims are to allow greater autonomy to the north and increase government resource allocation to what has been a traditionally impoverished region. The peace agreement was celebrated in 1996 in Timbuktu
Timbuktu ( ; french: Tombouctou;
Koyra Chiini: ); tmh, label= Tuareg, script=Tfng, ⵜⵏⴱⴾⵜ, Tin Buqt a city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. The town is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrat ...
during an official and highly publicized ceremony called "Flamme de la Paix"--(peace flame).
Historically, interethnic relations throughout the rest of the country were facilitated by easy mobility on the Niger River
The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali ...
and across the country's vast savannahs. Each ethnic group was traditionally tied to a specific occupation, all working within proximity to each other, although the distinctions were often blurred.
The Bambara, Malinké
The Mandinka or Malinke are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, the Gambia and eastern Guinea. Numbering about 11 million, they are the largest subgroup of the Mandé peoples and one of the largest ethnic-linguistic g ...
, Sarakole, Dogon and Songhay are farmers; the Fula or Fulani, Maur, and Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym: ''Imuhaɣ/Imušaɣ/Imašeɣăn/Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group that principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Alg ...
are herders, while the Bozo are fishers. In recent years this linkage has shifted considerably, as ethnic groups seek nontraditional sources of income.
Europeans in Mali
People of European origin form a small minority in the country. They include those of mixed European and African descendant, as well as those of full European background. The latter includes the French, as well as the Spanish, Irish, Italian and Portuguese origins. Some of them descend from theArma people
The Arma people are an ethnic group of the middle Niger River valley, descended from Moroccan invaders of the 16th century . The name, applied by other groups, derives from the word ''ar-rumah'' ( ar, الرماة) "fusiliers". N. Levtzion, "No ...
(1% of the nation's population). They mainly live in Bamako
Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on the Niger River ...
, Sikasso
Sikasso ( Bambara: ߛߌߞߊߛߏ tr. Sikaso) is a city in the south of Mali and the capital of the Sikasso Cercle and the Sikasso Region. It is Mali's second largest city with 225,753 residents in the 2009 census.
History
Sikasso was founded ...
, Kalabancoro
Kalabancoro or Kalaban Koro is a rural commune and town in the ''cercle'' of Kati within the Koulikoro Region of south-western Mali. The commune has become part of the suburbs of Bamako, the Malian capital. It lies on the south side of the Nig ...
, Koutiala
Koutiala ( Bambara: ߞߎߕߌߊߟߊ tr. Kutiala) is a city in Mali in the administrative region of Sikasso, and is located 140 km north of the city of Sikasso. Koutiala serves as the capital of its administrative Cercle, home to 575,253 p ...
, Ségou
Ségou (; bm, ߛߋߓߎ, italic=no, ) is a town and an urban commune in south-central Mali that lies northeast of Bamako on the right bank of the River Niger. The town is the capital of the Ségou Cercle and the Ségou Region. With 130,69 ...
, Kayes
Kayes ( Bambara: ߞߊߦߌ tr. ''Kayi'', Soninké: ''Xaayi'') is a city in western Mali on the Sénégal River with a population of 127,368 at the 2009 census. Kayes is the capital of the administrative region of the same name. The name "Kayes ...
, Kati
KATI (94.3 FM), branded as 94.3 KAT Country, is a radio station which broadcasts country music and St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Licensed to California, Missouri, the station serves the Jefferson City
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is ...
, Mopti
Mopti ( Bambara: ߡߏߕߌ tr. Moti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the conf ...
, Niono, Gao
Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley.
For much of its history Gao was an impor ...
, San, Koro Koro may refer to:
Geography
*Koro Island, a Fijian island
* Koro Sea, in the Pacific Ocean
* Koro, Ivory Coast
*Koro, Mali
* Koro, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community
Languages
*Koro language (India), an endangered language spo ...
, Bla, Bougouni
Bougouni is a commune and city in Mali, the administrative center of Bougouni Cercle, which is in turn found in the administrative region of Sikasso. Bougouni is located 170 km south of Bamako and 210 km west of the city of Sikasso. ...
, Mandé, Baguineda-Camp, Kolondiéba, Kolokani, and others.
Vital statistics
Registration of vital events in Mali is not complete. The websiteOur World in Data
Our World in Data (OWID) is a scientific online publication that focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality.
It is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a r ...
prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
.
Fertility and Births
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR): Fertility data as of 2012-2013 (DHS Program):Immigration and emigration
Mali had an estimatednet migration rate
Net or net may refer to:
Mathematics and physics
* Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence
* Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2
* Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...
of –6.6 migrants per 1,000 people in 2006.CIA factbook About 3 million Malians are believed to reside in Côte d'Ivoire and France. Conversely, according to a 2003 estimate, Mali hosts about 11,000 Mauritanians; most are Fulani herders who routinely engage in cross-border migration. In addition, there are several thousand refugees from Côte d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in Bamako and other urban areas of Mali.
Demographic statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022. *One birth every 37 seconds *One death every 3 minutes *One net migrant every 13 minutes *Net gain of one person every 51 seconds The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook unless otherwise indicated.Population
:20,741,769 (2022 est.) :18,429,893 (July 2018 est.)Age structure
:''0-14 years:'' 47.69% (male 4,689,121/female 4,636,685)
:''15-24 years:'' 19% (male 1,768,772/female 1,945,582)
:''25-54 years:'' 26.61% (male 2,395,566/female 2,806,830)
:''55-64 years:'' 3.68% (male 367,710/female 352,170)
:''65 years and over:'' 3.02% (male 293,560/female 297,401) (2020 est.)
:''0-14 years:'' 48.03% (male 4,449,790 /female 4,402,076)
:''15-24 years:'' 18.89% (male 1,657,609 /female 1,823,453)
:''25-54 years:'' 26.36% (male 2,243,158 /female 2,615,695)
:''55-64 years:'' 3.7% (male 346,003 /female 335,733)
:''65 years and over:'' 3.02% (male 277,834 /female 278,542) (2018 est.)
Birth rate
:41.07 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 4th :43.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 3rdDeath rate
:8.53 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 73rd :9.6 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 45th
Total fertility rate
The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if:
# she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime
# she were t ...
:5.54 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 4th
:5.9 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 5th
Population growth rate
:2.95% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 11th :2.98% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 8thMedian age
:total: 16 years. Country comparison to the world: 224th :male: 15.3 years :female: 16.7 years (2020 est.) :total: 15.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 127th :male: 15.2 years :female: 16.5 years (2018 est.)Mother's mean age at first birth
:19.2 years (2018 est.) :note: median age at first birth among women 20-49 :18.8 years (2012/13 est.) :note: median age at first birth among women 25-29Contraceptive prevalence rate
:17.2% (2018) :15.6% (2015)Net migration rate
:-3.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 181st :-3.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.) Country comparison to the world: 181st
Dependency ratio
The dependency ratio is an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labor force (the ''dependent'' part ages 0 to 14 and 65+) and those typically in the labor force (the ''productive'' part ages 15 to 64). It is used to measure the press ...
s
:total dependency ratio: 101.9 (2015 est.)
:youth dependency ratio: 96.8 (2015 est.)
:elderly dependency ratio: 5.1 (2015 est.)
:potential support ratio
The potential support ratio (PSR) is the number of people age 15–64 per one older person aged 65 or older. This ratio describes the burden placed on the working population (unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisatio ...
: 19.5 (2015 est.)
Urbanization
:urban population: 45.4% of total population (2022) :rate of urbanization: 4.57% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) :urban population: 42.4% of total population (2018) :rate of urbanization: 4.86% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)Life expectancy at birth
:total population: 62.41 years. Country comparison to the world: 211st :male: 60.19 years :female: 64.7 years (2022 est.) :total population: 60.8 years (2018 est.) :male: 58.6 years (2018 est.) :female: 63 years (2018 est.)Major infectious diseases
:degree of risk: very high (2020) :food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever :vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever :water contact diseases: schistosomiasis :animal contact diseases: rabies :respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitisEducation expenditures
:3.4% of GDP (2019) Country comparison to the world: 131stLiteracy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2015 est.) :total population: 35.5% :male: 46.2% :female: 25.7% (2018) :total population: 33.1% (2015 est.) :male: 45.1% (2015 est.) :female: 22.2% (2015 est.)School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
:total: 7 years :male: 8 years :female: 7 years (2017)Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
:total: 2.4% :male: 2.6% :female: 2.3% (2018 est.)Languages
Although each ethnic group speaks a separate language, nearly 80% of Malians communicate over ethnic borders in Bambara, which is the common language of themarketplace
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from the Arabic), '' ...
. French is the country's official language and is spoken somewhat by 30% of Malians.
Religion
An estimated 95% of Malians areSunni Muslim
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
, 4% adhere to indigenous or traditional animist beliefs, and 1% are Christian (about two-thirds Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
and one-third Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
). Atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
and agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficie ...
are believed to be rare among Malians, most of whom practice their religion on a daily basis. Islam as practiced in Mali can be moderate, tolerant, and adapted to local conditions; relations between Muslims and practitioners of minority religious faiths are generally amicable. The constitution establishes a secular state and provides for freedom of religion
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...
, and the government largely respects this right.
Health
Mali's health and development indicators rank among the worst in the world. In 2000 only 62–65 percent of the population was estimated to have access to safe drinking water and only 69 percent to sanitation services of some kind; only 8 percent was estimated to have access to modern sanitation facilities. Only 20 percent of the nation’s villages and livestock watering holes had modern water facilities.
There were an estimated 140,000 cases of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) reported in 2003, and an estimated 1.9 percent of the adult population was afflicted with HIV/AIDS that year, among the lowest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (see also HIV/AIDS in Africa
HIV/ AIDS originated in Africa in the early 20th century and is a major public health concern and cause of death in many African countries. AIDS rates vary significantly between countries, though the majority of cases are concentrated in Souther ...
). In the same year, there were 12,000 AIDS deaths. The infant mortality rate
Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...
is 69.5 deaths/1,000 live births (75.3/1,000 among males and 63.5/1,000 among females) (2017 est.). Life expectancy at birth is 60.3 years (58.2 years among males and 62.5 years among females) (2017 est.).
Life expectancy
Education
In the 2000–01 school year, the primary school enrollment rate was 61% (71% of males and 51% of females). The primary school completion rate is also low: only 36 percent of students in 2003 (and lower for females). The majority of students reportedly leave school by age 12. In the late 1990s, the secondary school enrollment rate was 15% percent (20% of males and 10% of females).Mali country profileLibrary of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
Federal Research Division
The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress.
The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Un ...
(January 2005). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
.''
According to United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
government estimates, the adult literacy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...
rate (defined as those over age 15 who can read and write) was 46.4 percent for the total population in 2003 (53.5 percent for males and 39.6 percent for females). According to United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
sources, however, the literacy rate is actually much lower—only 27–30 percent overall and as low as 12 percent for females, among the lowest rates in Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
References
Further reading
*. {{Africa in topic, Demographics of Society of Mali