As a result of the recent violence throughout Mali, many citizens have been displaced from their homes and are now refugees. There is desperate need for money to provide life saving resources to these recent refugees so that they are not solely living at the whim of the harsh desert. The United Nations refugee agency has a fantastic fund that will put all money to good use aiding the displaced Malians. You can donate here.
There has been a fighting campaign against the Mali government for the liberation of Northern Mali also known as Azawad. A group called The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad wants to claim Azawad as a homeland for the indigenous Tuareg people. Amadou Toure was ousted from office on March 22, 2012 days before the national elections and rebel groups took control of the Mali Constitution. Mali's three largest cities were overrun by rebels in three days and the NMLA declaresd Azawad an independant country. Initially the NMLA was backed by the Islamist group Ansar Dine who then imposed strict Sharia law on the claimed cities. The NMLA didn't agree with the way the Ansar Dine was handling things and so there has also been fighting between the rebel groups and Islamist militants. On February 8, 2013 with the aid of other northern African countries and the French army, Northern Mali was reclaimed by the Malian Army but the fighting persists.
Modibo Keita was overthrown on November 1968 during a military coup and was replaced by Moussa Traure. Moussa Traure and his military regime tried to reform the economy to limited success. He allowed some political changes but did not allow the country to become a full democracy. Increasingly dissatisfied with his dictatorial leadership, the population of Mali was in a state of unrest and the response from the Traure regime was not kind. Many protests were suppressed and protesters tortured or jailed. The tensions continued to rise ultimately climaxing in the massacre of thousands of peaceful student protesters by Traure's military on March 26, 1991. Traure's own soldiers eventually started refusing to fire at the innocent protesters and joined forces with civilians against the government regime. That evening Moussa Traure was arrested and a democracy was formed. A new constitution and a multi-party system were introduced and Alpha Oumar Konare won the country's first democratic election, leading the nation for two terms from 1992 to 1997. Afterwards Amadou Toure was elected as president leading the country peacefully and stably.
Mali has been part of three major African Empires: The Ghana Empire, the Almoravids and later the Mali Empire. The Mali empire grew to its apex in the fourteenth century becoming a cultural hub trade and Islamic learning. The Mali Empire later was known as the Songhai Empire which eventually collapsed.
The French colonized Mali in the late 1800's and with it, Senegal and The Sudanese Republic (which was then known as French Sudan) joined forces and became the Mali Federation. They won Independence on June 20, 1960 and Senegal left the Mali Federation. The Sudanese Republic then changed their name to The Republic of Mali. Modibo Keita was elected the first Malian president and implemented a socialist political system.
The Republic of Mali, located in west Africa, is completely landlocked and bordered by Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, Nigeria and Senegal. Spanning 478,839 square miles, Mali is roughly twice the size of Texas.The official language is French though near 80% of its population of 14.5 million also speak Bambara and Arabic is also common.
Mali is extremely culturally diverse with a variety of ethnic groups represented the largest being the Mande people making up near 50% of the population. The country is predominantly Sunni Muslim although several of Mali's regions are home to the Islamic sect of Dawa.
