Mali

AfricaCapital city: BamakoCapital metro: BamakoPresident: Assimi Goïta
2026 population
22.4M
Rank #61 globally
Area
1.2M km² (479k sq mi)
Metros tracked
6
44% of population in metros
Composite score
4.0
Rank #145 globally

population: 2022 census (15 Jun 2022) · indicators as of 5 Sep 2026 · 6 metros tracked

🗺️ Geography6 metros

Mali metro footprint, shaded by composite tier.

Loading map…
6 polygons

Select a metro for its rank and a link to its page. Boundaries derived from Overture Maps administrative divisions; metros without source coverage are omitted.

🏙️ 6 tracked metros
6 metros
#778Bamako★ Capital▲ Largest
Bamako · Koulikoro · 6.3M · Emerging Metro
2.5
#2339Sikasso
Sikasso · 906K · Local Metro
0.3
#2489Ségou
Ségou · 858K · Local Metro
0.3
Koutiala · 715K · Local Metro
0.2
#2938Kayes
Kayes · 633K · Local Metro
0.2
#3000Mopti
Mopti · 455K · Local Metro
0.2
🗂️ Administrative subdivisions

20 entries listed under Mali across 2 types. Select any to see its metros and footprint.

20 total

Capital Districts (1)

📋 At a glance
Official languages
Dogon, Tamasheq, Bozo, Bambara, Maninka +8 more
Legislature
National Assembly
Demonym
Malian
Time zone
UTC±00:00
Driving side
Right
Calling code
+223
Internet TLD
.ml
ISO 3166
ML
Established
1960
Highest point
Mount Hombori (1,153 m (3,783 ft))
National anthem
Pour l'Afrique et pour toi

Facts via Wikidata.

🗣️ Languages of Mali

Bambara first; 2 languages share the country; 1 official.

LanguageShareStatus
Bambara46%None
French17%Official
Maasina Fulfulde7.7%None
Soninke5.9%None
Kita Maninkakan5%None
Koyraboro Senni Songhai3.4%None

Shares count first and second language, so they overlap and can add past 100%.

Effective languages
3.9
Official-language gap
83%
French is spoken by 17%

Mali on the languages board · Language power

💹 Economy and developmentLow income
Human Dev. Index
#186 / 191
0.419
UNDP · 2023
GDP
#112 / 193
$30.1B
World Bank · 2025
GDP per capita
#170 / 193
$1.2k
World Bank · 2025
GDP/capita (PPP)
#169 / 190
$3.5k
World Bank · 2025
GNI/capita (Atlas)
#171 / 192
$1.1k
World Bank · 2025
Life expectancy
#188 / 194
60.7 yrs
World Bank · 2024
Median age
15.5 yrs
UN WPP · 2023
Urban population
#167 / 194
32%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. growth
2.9%
World Bank · 2025
Pop. density
#165 / 193
19/km² (50/mi²)
World Bank · 2023
Foreign-born
#129 / 193
2.2%
World Bank · 2024
Rule of law
#101 / 175
0.42
V-Dem · 2025
Gini index
#87 / 166
35.7
World Bank · 2021
Internet users
#158 / 193
37%
World Bank · 2024
Inflation
#96 / 185
3.3%
World Bank · 2025
CO₂ per capita
#23 / 192
0.3 t
Global Carbon Budget · 2024
Renewable electricity
#121 / 186
19%
Ember · 2024

Ranks are among sovereign countries with data; ★ marks a top-5% finish. Sources: World Bank Open Data and Our World in Data (UNDP, UN WPP, V-Dem, Global Carbon Budget, Ember, Energy Institute; CC BY 4.0). Each card credits its originating body. Renewable share is of electricity generation, not of primary energy. Each figure is the most recent year available.

Alliances & Organisations2 full memberships

Political & Economic

Subregional

Full memberDashed border = Candidate / ApplicantItalic = Dialogue / Observer

🏛️ Leadership History10 leaders · click to expand
Assimi Goïta✦ Current
President · 5y 1m
2021–Present
Bah Ndaw
President · 0y 7m
2020–2021
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta
President · 6y 11m
2013–2020
Dioncounda Traoré
President · 1y 4m
2012–2013
Amadou Sanogo
President · 0y 0m
2012–2012
Amadou Toumani Touré
President · 9y 9m
2002–2012
Alpha Oumar Konaré
President · 10y 0m
1992–2002
Amadou Toumani Touré
President · 1y 2m
1991–1992
Moussa Traoré
President · 22y 4m
1968–1991
Modibo Keïta
President · 8y 4m
1960–1968
📈 Power over timeThe Power Atlas →
Today
Minor#140 · 0.0%
3%5%8%10%2000
Power (headline share)Latent (material mass)Recognised (standing)

The power line is the headline share of world power, running from the state’s first ranked year (benchmark estimates with wide error bars before 1816). Latent power is material mass a state could mobilise (population, manpower, heavy industry). Recognised power is what the system actually treats it as (military spending, productive economy, reach, and status such as a Security Council seat or nuclear arsenal). When latent runs above recognised, a power is rising or under-rated; when recognised runs higher, it is punching above its weight or coasting on prestige. Material sub-indices run 1816 through 2016.

⚔️ Wars and conflicts1 interstate war · click to expand
Combat deaths: 142+

Bold = principal belligerent. Source: Wikipedia, “List of interstate wars since 1945.”

👥 Population over time
Population 2023
23.8m
#57 in the world
Since 1800
17×
from 1.4m
Peak
2023
at its largest now
Share of world
0.29%
0.14% in 1800
6.5m13.0m19.4m25.9m18001850190019502000

Our World in Data population (CC BY): UN WPP 2024 from 1950, Gapminder v7 1800-1949, HYDE 3.3 earlier; today's borders. Figures above are as of 2023, the last year that is estimated rather than forecast. The dashed tail to 2026 is a UN WPP medium-variant projection. It is drawn because the line should reach the present, and drawn differently because it has not happened yet: no rank, peak or share on this page uses it. Before 1950 the series is reconstruction rather than contemporaneous statistics, which is worth knowing when a country’s peak sits back there. The current population shown elsewhere on this page comes from the workbook and is unchanged by this. Note that people and share of world can move in opposite directions. A country can grow steadily and still become a smaller part of humanity, which is what happened to almost every rich country after 1960.

👥 To 2100

The UN’s probabilistic projection for Mali: the median with its 80% and 95% bands, the UN’s own high, low and zero-migration scenarios beside it. Not this site’s model; the site reads it and says what it implies.

Peak on the median
after 2100
still growing at 2100
2050
46.2m
95% band 35.0m to 61.2m
2100
79.4m
95% band 37.6m to 214m
2100 against 2025
3.15×
median still rising in 2100
56.2m112m169m225m1950197520002025205020752100
estimateUN median80% and 95% bandshigh and low fertilityzero migration

What drives it

Births, deaths and net migration on the UN medium path, with fertility, life expectancy and median age, every decade from 1950.

1950
244k born · 171k died · -4k net migration
TFR 6.87 · life expectancy 28.7 · median age 19.5
1960
274k born · 186k died · -10k net migration
TFR 7.02 · life expectancy 30.5 · median age 18.8
1970
317k born · 198k died · -17k net migration
TFR 7.18 · life expectancy 33.4 · median age 18.3
1980
381k born · 190k died · -30k net migration
TFR 7.37 · life expectancy 40.3 · median age 17.0
1990
432k born · 180k died · -69k net migration
TFR 7.31 · life expectancy 46.5 · median age 15.4
2000
544k born · 185k died · -17k net migration
TFR 6.89 · life expectancy 50.6 · median age 15.4
2010
748k born · 193k died · -34k net migration
TFR 6.58 · life expectancy 56.0 · median age 15.3
2020
889k born · 206k died · -15k net migration
TFR 5.85 · life expectancy 58.9 · median age 15.1

Every country to 2100 →

Source: United Nations, DESA, Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Estimates to 2023; projections 2024 to 2100, medium variant and probabilistic intervals. The UN revises every two years; this is the WPP 2024 revision.

🏆 National Teams

Mali on the international stage. Select a card for the full record.