Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert. Ec

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• Mali is among the poorest countries in the
  world, with 65 of its land area desert or
  semi-desert. Economic activity is largely
  confined to the riverine area irrigated by the
  Niger River.

About 10 of the population is nomadic and some
80 of the labor force is engaged in farming and
fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on
processing farm commodities. Mali is heavily
dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to
fluctuations in world prices for cotton, its main
export.
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• Present-day Mali, at nearly twice the size of
  Texas, is the largest country in West Africa.
  
• Mali is bordered by seven other countries
  Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Côte dIvoire,
  Senegal, and Mauritania.
  
• Most of the northern half of Mali falls
  within the largest desert on the planet, the
  Sahara.
  
• Mali's most important geographic feature is
  the Niger River. The Niger River stretches over
  2,500 miles through four countries Guinea, Mali,
  Niger, and Nigeria. It arches up alongside the
  Sahara until it turns south towards the sea.

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• Only about 2 percent of Mali is arable. In
  this dry climate, it is the Niger River that
  provides the main source of subsistence,
  providing fish, drinking water, and water for
  farming.
• Growing food in this region depends on the
  annual flooding of the Niger River, which has
  traditionally provided fertile plains along its
  banks.

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• population 11,415,261

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