Mali is the West Africa’s biggest country. Mali lies in Western Africa, southwest of Algeria and east of Mauritania. The Sahara desert covers the northern part of Mali so the terrain is mostly flat with some rolling northern plains covered by sand; there’s savanna in south and rugged hills in the northeast. Mali’s climate is subtropical to arid. It is very hot and dry from February to June; rainy, humid, and mild from June to November; and cool and dry from November to February. The lowest point is the Senegal River at 23m and the highest point is at Hombori Tondo which measures 1,155m. Mali is a landlocked country.

11.7 million people live in Mali. Life expectancy is around 49 years. Birth rate is on average 7.4 per woman. Literacy rate is just over 46%. The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a coup that ushered in democratic government. President Alpha Konare won Mali’s first democratic presidential election in 1992 and was reelected in 1997. In keeping with Mali’s two-term constitutional limit, Konare stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou Toure.

Mali’s Top Attraction

1.? Djenne Mali

2. Cycling Through Niger and Mali

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Two good pieces of news for the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A recent census carried out by park rangers shows that the gorilla numbers are up by 12.5% despite a civil war, poaching, and charcoal trade intruding into their habitat this past year. Emmanuel de Merode, Virunga National Park’s director, called the findings “a triumph for conservation”.

There are now an estimated 200 mountain gorillas living in Virunga National Park in the DRC. There is an estimated total of 720 mountain gorillas left in the world, the remainder live in Rwanda and Uganda. Most tourists go on gorilla safaris in the latter two countries.

And General Nkunda was arrested last week. Nkunda has been instrumental in destabilizing the region. His Tutsi rebel soldiers have been fighting Hutu rebels that escaped Rwanda after the bloody civil war in 1994. He is also one of the main suspects behind the gorilla slayings in 2007. However, it might be tricky for the Rwandan government to hold Mr Nkunda for long, he has had their tacit support for many years. This turn around is somewhat unexpected and who knows how it came about and what was agreed to behind the scenes.

Needless to say, right now, Nkunda’s arrest bodes well for the gorillas and the people living in this war torn region. The Rangers in Virunga can continue their daily routines of removing poachers snares (536 snares were found during the recent census taking), filming newborn gorillas and simply enjoying the results of their tremendous sacrifices to protect the gorillas. Over 150 rangers have been killed on duty in this park in the past decade. Many worked for years without receiving a salary. Check out the Virunga National Park blog for daily updates on new gorilla babies, community development initiatives and more.

Interesting Factoid: Rangers are able to identify individual gorillas because each animal’s nose is uniquely patterned. We have finger prints, gorillas have nose prints.