Location Western Africa, southwest of Algeria

Geographic coordinates 17 00 N, 4 00 W

Map references Africa

Area
total: 1.24 million sq km
water: 20,000 sq km
land: 1.22 million sq km

Area - comparative slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Land boundaries
total: 7,243 km
border countries: Algeria 1,376 km, Burkina Faso 1,000 km, Guinea 858 km, Cote d'Ivoire 532 km, Mauritania 2,237 km, Niger 821 km, Senegal 419 km

Coastline 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims none (landlocked)

Climate subtropical to arid; hot and dry February to June; rainy, humid, and mild June to November; cool and dry November to February

Terrain mostly flat to rolling northern plains covered by sand; savanna in south, rugged hills in northeast

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Senegal River 23 m
highest point: Hombori Tondo 1,155 m

Natural resources gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, hydropower
note: bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper deposits are known but not exploited

Land use
arable land: 4%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 96% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land 1,380 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards hot, dust-laden harmattan haze common during dry seasons; recurring droughts; occasional Niger River flooding

Environment - current issues deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; inadequate supplies of potable water; poaching

Environment - international agreements
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban

Geography - note landlocked; divided into three natural zones: the southern, cultivated Sudanese; the central, semiarid Sahelian; and the northern, arid Saharan

NOTE: The information regarding Mali on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Mali Geography 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Mali Geography 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.