Country · Africa
Mali
Republic of Mali
Mali is a country in Western Africa. Its capital city is Bamako. About 19.1 million people live there, in an area of 1 240 192 square kilometres.
Picture credit: H. Grobe (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Robin Taylor (CC BY 2.0) · Ryszard Vorbrich (CC BY-SA 3.0 pl) · Mark Fischer (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Mark Fischer (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Mali?
Mali lies in Western Africa, on the continent of Africa.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 1 892 km from the equator.
Mali is landlocked: it has no coast at all, so you cannot reach the sea without crossing another country.
It shares a border with 7 countries: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal.
How big is Mali?
Mali covers 1 240 192 square kilometres.
That is about 12 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 23rd largest.
If everybody spread out evenly, there would be about 15.4 people on every square kilometre.
Who lives in Mali?
About 19.1 million people live in Mali.
That is the 60th biggest population in the world.
People here speak French.
They pay with the West African CFA franc (Fr).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 47 years.
The land of Mali
The land in Mali sits on average 343 metres above sea level.
Because it is landlocked, everything that arrives by ship has to cross one of its 7 neighbours first.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Mali different?
Websites from here often end in .ml.
Mali and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 3 live in Mali.
It takes up about 0.93 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Africa it is the 8th largest of 54 countries, and the 20th most populated.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Mali and its neighbours
Algeria, its largest neighbour, is about 1.9 times bigger.
Algeria has more people: 42.2 million against 19.1 million.
Nature and animals
The longest river is the Niger, running 4 200 km from source to mouth.
Where this country lands in the record lists
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Mali?
The capital of Mali is Bamako. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Mali?
About 19.1 million people live in Mali, which makes it the 60th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Mali?
Mali borders Algeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal — 7 neighbours in total.
How big is Mali?
Mali covers 1 240 192 square kilometres, making it the 23rd largest country in the world. That is about 12 times the size of Iceland.
Which continent is Mali in?
Mali is in Africa, in the part called Western Africa.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
Last checked: · How these pages are made