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Mali: West Africa
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By virtue of its history and location, Mali possesses some of the richest cultural heritage in West Africa. This heritage is intangible-that is, forms such as masked performances, epic poetry, and many traditions of music, dance, and song-as well as material, or tangible. Examples of Mali's material cultural heritage include ancient architecture and statuary, and historic cities like Timbuktu and Djenné with their magnificent mosques and dwellings. There are three UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites in Mali: Timbuktu, Djenne and the Dogon villages nestled in the Bandiagara cliffs.
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Mali, an arid, landlocked nation filling the interior of West Africa, is a cultural colossus. It has produced international stars with three Grammy Awards nominations and one award to their credit, and its contemporary music serves as a rich and varied reminder of American music's West African roots. To listen to Mali's contemporary music alongside blues, R&B, jazz, and rock `n' roll is to realize that they are siblings separated at birth and now reunited in the age of technology.
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Kenya and Mali have submitted a proposal to CITES for a 20-year moratorium on all ivory, and are currently backed by 10 African elephant range states, as well as additional countries. This recent episode lends further clout to the proposal, which in one argument suggests that enforcement authorities in many elephant range states are at capacity and are unable to sustain the current levels of poaching.
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Mali is a landlocked republic of West Africa. Area: 1,248,574 sq km (482,077 sq mi). Pop. (1996 est.): 9,204,000. Cap.: Bamako. Monetary unit: CFA franc, with (Oct. 11, 1996) a par value of CFAF 100 to the French franc and a free rate of CFAF 518.24 to U.S. $1 (CFAF 816.38 = £1 sterling).
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In conjunction with the above information, Minister Bah spoke briefly about a Partnership on Cultural Heritage between Mali and the World Bank. Through the Urban Development and Decentralization Project, the World Bank provides cultural support to the Government of Mali for a program of rehabilitating and safeguarding historic monuments, ancient documents and cultural expressions. The World Bank project will focus on the three sites classified as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO: The city of Timbuktu, with its mud-brick architecture and long history as a center of trade, religion and learning in West Africa; the city of Djenne, with its prehistoric origins and spectacular mud-brick mosques and houses; and the Dogon Country, a region of cliff dwellings and sacred sites, symbolic city structure and domestic decoration, and singular cultural implements (i.e. &endash; masks, instruments and dance paraphernalia). In each of these sites, the project will be designed to strengthen management of cultural heritage through the provision of equipment in cultural centers and museums, and training in management and preservation of monuments, cultural implements and historic documents. Thus, the World Bank proudly joins the Government of Mali in the preservation of its rich and varied cultural heritage.
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Located in the geographical center of Africa, Mali is among the 10 poorest countries in the world, with 64 percent of its 13.5 million people living in abject poverty. Muslims make up the majority of the population, with less than two percent of Malians professing Christianity.
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West Africa