Geography of Mali
Mali is considered to be a vast nation because of its total area. Its total land area is 1,240,192 km² (approx. 478,839 mi²). Continental shelf of Mali is approximately 0 km² (around 0 mi²). Mali is located in Africa. Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent. African countries include, but are not limited to, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Mali has 7 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Algeria, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal. Mali is a landlocked country. The average elevation range of Mali is 343 m (1,125 ft).
Neighbors
Total length of land borders of Mali is 7908 kilometers (~3,053 miles). Mali shares its land borders with 7 different countries, and has the same number of unique land boundaries to neigbouring territories. As in the case of Mali, if a country has the same number of unique neighboring territories as number of land borders, than that country has no non-contiguous sections of a land border. This is in contrast to several countries that have multiple non-contiguous sections of land borders. Mali has 7 neighbouring countries. Its neighbours include Algeria, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. The lengths of the land borders of Mali with its neighbouring countries are as follows:
- Algeria - 1376 km (855 mi),
- Burkina Faso - 1000 km (622 mi),
- Côte d'Ivoire - 532 km (331 mi),
- Guinea - 858 km (533 mi),
- Mauritania - 2237 km (1,390 mi),
- Niger - 821 km (510 mi),
- Senegal - 419 km (260 mi).
Cities
The capital city of Mali is Bamako. The largest city in Mali is Bamako.
Elevation
The average elevation range of Mali is 343 m (1,125 ft). The highest point of Mali is Hombori Tondo, with its official height being 1155 m (3,790 ft). The lowest point of Mali is Senegal River. It lies at 23 m (75 ft) above the sea level. The elevation difference between the highest (Hombori Tondo) and lowest (Senegal River) points of Mali is 1132 m (2 ft).
Area
The total land area of Mali is 1,240,192 km² (approx. 478,839 mi²). and the total exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is 0 km² (~0 mi²). The continental shelf of Mali is approximately 0 km² (around 0 mi²). Including land mass and EEZ, the total area of Mali is approximately 1,240,192 km² (~478,839 mi²). Mali is considered to be a vast nation because of its total area.
Forest and arable land
125,720 km² of Mali's territory is covered in forests, and forest land comprises 10% of all the land in the country. There are 37,600 km² of arable land in Mali, and it comprises 3% of the country's total territory.
Read our section on climate to discover what parameters affect these and other biomes of the country.
Natural resources
The most notable natural resources found in Mali are gold, phosphates, kaolin, salt, limestone, uranium, gypsum, granite, hydropower, bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, copper.