1985 Edition

Agriculture

main crops — millet, sorghum, rice, corn, peanuts; cash crops — peanuts, cotton, livestock

Airfields

39 total, 31 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; 5 with runways 2,4403,659 m, 10 with runways 1,220-2,439 m Malta

Area

400km See regional mip VI] Land 1 ,240,000 km2; larger than Texas and California combined; 75% sparse pasture or desert, about 25% arable, negligible forest

Branches

until 1979 executive authority exercised by Military Committee of National Liberation (MCNL) composed of 1 1 army officers; now Cabinet composed of civilians and army officers; unicameral legislature (National Council); judiciary

Army, Air Force

executive, consisting of Prime Minister and Cabinet; unicameral legislature (65member House of Representatives); independent judiciary

Budget

(1982) revenues, $154 million; expenditures and net lending, $169 million

Capital

Bamako

Valletta

Civil air

5 major transport aircraft

Coastline

140 km People

Communists

a few Communists and some sympathizers (no legal Communist party)

less than 100 (est.)

Elections

constitutional elections took place June 1979

at the discretion of the Prime Minister, but must be held before the expiration of a five-year electoral mandate; last election December 1981 Political parties and leaders: Nationalist Party, Edward Fenech Adami; Malta Labor Party, Dominic Mintoff

Electric power

92,000 kW capacity (1984); 161 million kWh produced (1984), 21 kWh per capita

Ethnic divisions

50% Mande(Bambara, Malinke, Sarakole), 17% Peul, 12% Voltaic, 6% Songhai, 5% Tuareg and Moor

mixture of Arab, Sicilian, Norman, Spanish, Italian, English

Exports

$145.8 million (f.o.b., 1982); livestock, peanuts, dried fish, cotton, skins

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 98,000 tons (1981)

GDP

$1.0 billion (1982), $138 per capita; annual real growth rate 4.4% (1982)

Government leader

Gen. Moussa TRAORE, President (led Mali as President of MCNL during 1968-79; President since 1979)

Government leaders

Agatha BARBARA, President (since February 1982); Karmenu Mifsud BONNICI, Prime Minister (since December 1984)

Highways

approximately 15,700 km total; 1,670 km bituminous, 3,670 km gravel and improved earth, 10,360 km unimproved earth

Imports

$232.6 million (f.o.b., 1982); textiles, vehicles, petroleum products, machinery, sugar, cereals

Inland waterways

1,815 km navigable

Labor force

3.1 million (1981); 80% agriculture, 19% services, 1% industry and commerce

120,419 (1983); 33% services(except government), 26% manufacturing, 23% government (except job corps), 5% agriculture, 5% utilities and drydocks; 8.2% registered unemployed

Land boundaries

7,459 km People

Language

French (official); Bambara spoken by about 80% of the population

Maltese and English (official)

Legal system

based on French civil law system and customary law; constitution adopted 1974, came into full effect in 1979; judicial review of legislative acts in Constitutional Section of Court of State; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Legalsystem

based on English common law; constitution adopted 1961, came into force 1964; has accepted compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Limits of territorial waters (claimed)

12 nm (fishing 25 nm)

Literacy

10%

83%

Major industries

small local consumer goods and processing

Major trade partners

mostly franc zone and Western Europe; also with USSR, China

Member of

AfDB, APC, CEAO, ECA, ECOWAS, FAO, G-77, GATT (de facto), IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB— Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ITU, Niger River Commission, NAM, OAU, QIC, OMVS (Organization for the Development of the Senegal River Valley), UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO Economy

Commonwealth, Council of Europe, FAO, G-77, GATT, ICAO, IFAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council, NAM, UN, UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1984, $24.8 million; about 22.2% of central government budget Mediterranean Sea Sec regioni] map V .Fill la Land 313 km2; twice the size of Washington, D.C.; 45% agricultural; negligible forest; remainder urban, waste, or other Water

Military manpower

males 15-49, 1,691,000; 854,000 fit for military service; no conscription

Monetary conversion rate

479.875 Communaute Financiere Africaine (CFA) francs=US$l (December 1984)

National holiday

Independence Day, 22 September

Freedom Day, 31 March

Nationality

noun — Malian(s); adjective — Malian

noun — Maltese (sing, and pi.); adjective — Maltese

Official name

Republic of Mali

Republic of Malta

Organized labor

National Union of Malian Workers (UNTM) is umbrella organization over 13 national unions Government

approximately 40% of labor force Government

Political subdivisions

7 administrative regions

2 main populated islands, Malta and Gozo, divided into 13 electoral districts (divisions)

Population

7,735,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate 2.3%

355,000 (July 1985), average annual growth rate —0.5%

Railroads

642 km 1.000-meter gauge

Religion

90% Muslim, 9% indigenous beliefs, 1% Christian

98% Roman Catholic

Suffrage

universal over age 21 Political parties and leaders: Democratic Union of Malian People (UDPM), is the sole political party; under civilian leadership

universal over age 18; registration required

Telecommunications

domestic system poor and provides only minimal service; radio-relay, wire, and radio communications stations in use; expansion of radio relay in progress; 8,000 telephones (0.1 per 100 popl.); 2 AM, 2 FM, no TV stations; 1 Atlantic and 1 Indian Ocean satellite ground station Defense Forces

Type

republic; military regime in power since November 1968; began a phased feturn to civilian rule in June 1979

parliamentary democracy, independent republic within the Commonwealth since December 1974

Voting strength

(1981 election) House of Representatives — Labor, 34 seats (49% of the vote); Nationalist, 31 seats (51% of the vote)