Mali, in the heart of West Africa with a population of approximately 12 million, has a surface area roughly equal to that of California and Texas combined. The northern half of the country is arid and forms part of the Sahara Desert. To the south, Mali has an expanse of Sahelian plain and the internal delta of the Niger River, which serves as a vital economic and cultural link. Mali has over a dozen ethnic groups including Bambara (35% of the population), Peuhl or Fulani (15%), Moore and Toureg (9%), Songhai (8%), Soninke (8%), and Dogon (4%). Eighty-five percent of Malians are Muslim, and small minorities are Christian or practitioners of indigenous religions.

Mali takes political inspiration from a succession of historic empires (the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire), which were largely based within the modern boundaries of the country. By the mid-1500s, the Songhai Empire, based in Timbuktu, had...