People:

Population: 10,108,569 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 47% (male 2,405,624; female 2,383,728)
15-64 years: 49% (male 2,367,538; female 2,628,399)
65 years and over: 4% (male 152,999; female 170,281) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 3.24% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 49.88 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 19.04 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 121.72 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 47.03 years
male: 45.67 years
female: 48.43 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 7.02 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Malian(s)
adjective: Malian

Ethnic groups: Mande 50% (Bambara, Malinke, Sarakole), Peul 17%, Voltaic 12%, Songhai 6%, Tuareg and Moor 10%, other 5%

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

Languages: French (official), Bambara 80%, numerous African languages

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 31%
male: 39.4%
female: 23.1% (1995 est.)

Mali's population consists of diverse sub-Saharan ethnic groups, sharing similar historic, cultural, and religious traditions. Exceptions are the Tuaregs and Maurs, desert nomads, related to the North African Berbers. The Tuaregs traditionally have opposed the central government. Starting in June 1990, armed attacks in the North by Tuaregs seeking greater autonomy and by bandit groups led to clashes with the military. In April 1992, the government and most opposing factions signed a pact to end the fighting and restore stability in the north. Its major aims are to allow greater autonomy to the north and increase government resource allocation to what has been a traditionally impoverished region. Historically, good inter-ethnic relations throughout the rest of the country were facilitated by easy mobility on the country's vast savannahs. Each ethnic group was traditionally tied to a specific occupation, all working within close proximity. The Bambara, Malinke, Sarakole, and Voltaic were farmers; the Peulh, Moor, and Tuareg, herders; and the Bozo, fishers. In recent years, this linkage has shifted as ethnic groups seek diverse, non-traditional sources of income. Along the Niger River between Timbuktu and Gao, the Songhai farm and fish. Until droughts in the mid-1970s, the Tuaregs were the principal herders in this region.

Although each ethnic group speaks a separate language, nearly 80% of Malians communicate in Bambara, the common language of the marketplace. Malians enjoy a relative harmony rare in African states.