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Mali Tour Guide:

MAP OF MALI-



CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT OF MALI:

Average Climate of Mali:


 * ~ Month: ||~ January ||~ February ||~ March ||~ April ||~ May ||~ June ||~ July ||~ August ||~ September ||~ October ||~ November ||~ December ||
 * ~ Average Temperature in °C || 23.4 || 26.2 || 29.3 || 32.1 || 33.4 || 32.1 || 29.7 || 28.6 || 29.2 || 29.6 || 27.1 || 23.8 ||
 * ~ Total number of rainy days || 0.1 || 0.2 || 0.6 || 1.6 || 3.8 || 6.8 || 11.7 || 13.3 || 9.3 || 3.5 || 0.3 || 0.1 ||

Environment:

The environment of Mali is in a slow decline, due to desertification. Pasturelands are being lost, deforestation is happening more and more, and soil is continually eroding. The people of Mali also have an inadequate water supply; only 74% of those living in the city have access to pure water, while 61% of those who live in rural areas have access to water. Mali also suffers from drought that has had a negative impact on it's plants and animals. 5 species of plants have been threatened with extinction, and animals such as the addax and cheetah are coming closer and closer to extinction in the country. The Sahara Oryx is already extinct in the country.

SAHARA ORYX (EXTINCT) :



Because water is not commonly found, taking baths is considered a luxury. Things that we take for granted, are a godsend in their country. In an article where the lack of water was discussed, many Malians said that they all try to complete their daily needs with less than 2 Liters of water. One even said that many fist fights break out at the water pump, because many waiting for their turn worry that the water will be gone by the time they go up.

Scope of Imperialism:

Mali was imperialized by the Ghana empire from the the 4th-11th century. The most notable empires are those known as the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Gao Empire. The Empire of Mali reached it's peak in the 14th century and its emperor went on the much known journey to Mecca with gold and slaves to proclaim Malian prosperity. The emperor was known as Mansa Musa. Then, came the Empire of Gao which came about in the 15th century and only lasted 90 years before a Morrocan army brought it down.

In the early 1900's France overtook a lot of West Africa and Mali became known as French Sudan. In 1960, Mali gained full independence from France and joined the Organization for African Unity three years later. Since then, they have elected their own presidents. But due to economic deficiencies, Mali had to revert back to getting help from France and having French Advisors to help run their country. They even denounced their own national currency in 1967. The president that Mali had elected at the time was known as Keita and he was overthrown by Lt. Moussa Traoré. Traoré governed until 1991. During the time of governing, a drought occurred in the 1970's which further depleted Mali's already scarce water supplies. Since then, Mali has continued to suffer because of the drought. Traoré was overthrown in 1991 and was replaced by Amadou Toumoni Touré, who was a part of the Democratic Union for Malian People.

Since then, the Malian government has adopted a new constitution.

Human Rights Issues:

1) Mali is currently having issues with AQIM (a terrorist group) that has been kidnapping people and using extreme violence to scare people into doing what they want them to do. There have been rumors that AQIM has also been working with bandits from Niger. Thus was due to recent incident in which a french resident by the name of Michel Germanou was kidnapped by bandits in Niger and handed over to the AQIM. He was later killed. AQIM has been terrorzing Malian citizens for years and the government has bee having trouble fighting back.

2) Mali also has problems with its judicial system. Laws are biased towards women and they have trouble enforcing court orders. There is also now court system for people seeking damages for human rights violations.

3) The country's constitution is said to protect against violations of freedom of speech and assembly. Regardless of this "protection", may people have been arrested for stating their opinion publicly (such as newspapers, and radio shows). The police have also been known to incite and use violence to disperse crowds that gather together to express their opinions.

Malian Economy and Global Interdependence:

Mali has an economy that is largely based off of agriculture. They also have gold mines, and oil wells. They have also been known to produce iron. Mali depends on French speaking countries to maintain it's economy. They're most frequent buyers are Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal. They use French currency. There are also a number of European countries investing in Mali's agriculture, although China is the largest investor.

WORKS CITED:

Mali Environment:

"Mali Climate." //- Climate of Mali Africa//. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. .

"Encyclopedia of the Nations." //Environment //. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. .

"ENVIRONMENT-MALI: City Runs Out of Water - IPS Ipsnews.net." //IPS Inter Press Service //. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. .

Scope of Imperialism:

//Infoplease//. Infoplease. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. .

Human Rights Issues in Mali:

"2010 Human Rights Report: Mali." //U.S. Department of State//. U.S. Department of State, 08 Apr. 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. .

"2008 Human Rights Report: Mali." //U.S. Department of State//. U.S. Department of State, 25 Feb. 2009. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. .

Malian Global Interdependence:

"Encyclopedia of the Nations." //Economy //. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. .

"Mali: Economy." //GlobalEDGE: Your Source for Global Business Knowledge//. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://globaledge.msu.edu/Countries/Mali/economy>.