Kingdom of Mali - Basic Information

The Republic of Mali is located in western Africa. It is a landlocked country, bordered by Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Senegal, and Mauritania. There are more than 11.5 million people in Mali. About 90% of the population is Muslim. Most Malians speak the Bambara language, but the official language is French.

Mali is named after the empire of Mali, which was located in parts of modern-day Mali, Guinea, Mauritania, and Senegal. The empire was founded by the sultan Sundiata in the 13th century. Its most famous ruler, Mansa Musa, reigned from 1307 or 1312 to about 1332. He was so powerful and wealthy that when he travelled to Mecca, he took more than 60,000 attendants with him. He also brought enormous amounts of gold with him, and gave so much of it away that the price of gold fell in Egypt.

During Mansa Musa's reign, Mali conquered the large neighboring kingdom of Songhai. But the empire began to fall apart after Mansa Musa's death, and eventually Songhai regained its independence.

Under the feared ruler Sunni Ali, who ascended the throne around 1464, Songhai itself started to expand into a great empire. His son and successor, Sunni Baru, was overthrown by a rebel leader, Muhammad I Askia, who made Songhai even larger and mightier. The Askia dynasty reigned until the late 16th century, when the Songhai empire was broken up by invaders from Morocco.

After the fall of Songhai, the area that is now Mali was divided into warring kingdoms. In the late 19th century it became part of French Africa. It gained its independence in 1960.