gogeshop's Blog

Executive branch

Under Mali's 1992 constitution, the president is chief of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. The president is elected to 5-year terms by direct popular vote. He is limited to two terms. HP Pavilion DV9053 Battery

The president appoints the prime minister as head of government. The president chairs the Council of Ministers (the prime minister and currently 27 other ministers), which adopts a proposals for laws submitted to the National Assembly for approval of them. HP Pavilion DV9053EA Battery

Legislative branch

The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 160 members, elected for a five year term, 147 members elected in single-seatconstituencies and 13 members elected by Malians abroad. The National Assembly is the sole legislative arm of the government. HP Pavilion DV9054 Battery

Representation is apportioned according to the population of administrative districts. Election is direct and by party list. The term of office is 5 years. The Assembly meets for two regular sessions each year. HP Pavilion DV9054EA Battery

It debates and votes on legislation proposed either by one of its members or by the government and has the right to question government ministers about government actions and policies. Eight political parties, aggregated into four parliamentary groups, are represented in the Assembly. HP Pavilion DV9055 Battery

ADEMA currently holds the majority; minority parties are represented in all committees and in the Assembly directorate.

Judicial branch

Mali's legal system is based on codes inherited at independence from France. HP Pavilion DV9055EA Battery

New laws have been enacted to make the system conform to Malian life, but French colonial laws not abrogated still have the force of law. The constitution provides for the independence of the judiciary. However, the Ministry of Justice appoints judges and supervises both law enforcement and judicial functions. HP Pavilion DV9056 Battery

The Supreme Court has both judicial and administrative powers. Under the constitution, there is a separate constitutional court and a high court of justice with the power to try senior government officials in cases of treason.

Administrative divisions

Administratively, Mali is divided into eight regions HP Pavilion DV9056EA Battery

(Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, Tombouctou) and the capital district of Bamako, each under the authority of an elected governor. Each region consists of five to nine districts (or Cercles), administered by Prefects. Cercles are divided into communes, which, in turn, are divided into villages or quarters. HP Pavilion DV9057 Battery

A decentralisation and democratisation process began in the 1990s with the establishment of 702 elected municipal councils, headed by elected mayors, and previously appointed officials have been replaced with elected officials, which culminates in a National council of local officials. HP Pavilion DV9057EA Battery

Other changes included greater local control over finances, and the reduction of administrative control by the central government.

Following independence in 1960, Mali initially followed a socialist path and was aligned ideologically with the communist bloc. HP Pavilion DV9058 Battery

But Mali's foreign policy orientation became increasingly pragmatic and pro-Western over time. Since the institution of a democratic form of government in 2002, Mali's relations with the West in general and the United States in particular have improved significantly. U.S.-Malian relations are described by the U.S. HP Pavilion DV9058EA Battery

Department of State as "excellent and expanding," especially given Mali's recent record of democratic stability in the volatile area of West Africa and its avowed support of the war on terrorism. Mali is reported to be one of the largest recipients of U.S. aid in Africa.^[1]

Mali is active in regional organizations such as the African Union. HP Pavilion DV9059 Battery

Working to control and resolve regional conflicts, such as in Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, is one of Mali's major foreign policy goals. Mali feels threatened by the potential for the spillover of conflicts in neighboring states, and relations with those neighbors are often uneasy. HP Pavilion DV9059EA Battery

General insecurity along borders in the north, including cross-border banditry and terrorism, remain troubling issues in regional relations.^[1]

Mali is a member of the United Nations (and many of its specialized agencies), HP Pavilion DV9060EA Battery

the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Universal Postal Union(UPU) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). It also belongs to the Organization of African Unity (OAU); Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC); HP Pavilion DV9060US Battery

Non-Aligned Movement (NAM); an associate member of the European Community (EC); and African Development Bank (ADB).

Mali is active in regional organizations. It participates in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic Monetary Union (UEMOA) for regional economic integration; HP Pavilion DV9061 Battery

Liptako-Gourma Authority, which seeks to develop the contiguous areas of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso; the Niger River Commission; the Permanent Interstate Committee for drought control in the Sahel (CILSS); and the Senegal River Valley Development Organization (OMVS). HP Pavilion DV9061EA Battery

Although Azawad, a region spanning the expansive north of Mali, was proclaimed independent in April 2012 by Tuareg rebels, Mali has not recognised the de facto state.^[2] Britain has closed its embassy; ECOWAS has declared an embargo against Mali, aiming to squeeze out Malinese oil supplies; 
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closed Mali's assets in the ECOWAS regional bank and has prepared a potential intervention force of 3,000 troops. France has declared it will assist in a potential intervention.

Mali's armed forces are the Army, Air Force, Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Guard, and National Police (Sûreté Nationale). HP Pavilion DV9062EA Battery

They number some 7,000 and are under the control of the Minister of Armed Forces and Veterans. The IISS Military Balance 2009 lists an Army of 7,350, Air Force of 400, and Navy of 50.^[7] The Gendarmerie and local police forces (under the Ministry of Interior and Security) maintain internal security. HP Pavilion DV9064 Battery

The IISS lists paramilitary total force as 4,800: 1,800 Gendarmerie (8 companies), 2,000 Republican Guard, and 1,000 Police. In the sixties and seventies, Mali's army and air force relied primarily on the Soviet Union for materiel and training. A few Malians receive military training in the United States, France, and Germany.^[8] HP Pavilion DV9064EA Battery

 Military expenditures total about 13% of the national budget.

The Malian armed forces were initially formed by Malian conscript and volunteer veterans of the French Armed Forces. In the months preceding the formation of the Malian armed forces, the French Armed Forces withdrew from their bases in Mali. HP Pavilion DV9065 Battery

Among the last bases to be closed were those at Kati, on 8 June 1961, Tessalit (un base aérienne secondaire), on 8 July 1961, Gao (la base aérienne 163 de Gao), on 2 August 1961, and Air Base 162 at Bamako (la base aérienne 162 de Bamako), on 5 September 1961.^[1] HP Pavilion DV9065EA Battery

"On 1 October 1960, the Malian army was created and solemnly installed through a speech by Chief of Staff Captain Sekou Traore. On 12 October the same year the population of Bamako attending for the first time an army parade under the command of Captain Tiemoko Konate. Organizationally, HP Pavilion DV9066 Battery

says Sega Sissoko, is the only battalion of Ségou and includes units scattered across the territory. A memo from the Chief of Staff ordered a realignment of the battalion. Following on, a command and services detachment in Bamako was created, and the engineer company in Ségou, the first Saharan motorized company of Gao, HP Pavilion DV9066EA Battery

the Saharan Motor Company of Kidal, the Arouane nomad group, nomadic group of Timetrine, the 1st Reconnaissance Company and Nioro 2nd Reconnaissance Company Tessalit. As of January 16, 1961, Mali's army totaled 1232 men."^[1][3]

On November 19, 1968, a group of young Malian officers staged a bloodless coup and set up a 14-member military junta, with Lt. HP Pavilion DV9067 Battery

Moussa Traoré as president. The military leaders attempted to pursue economic reforms, but for several years faced debilitating internal political struggles and the disastrous Sahelian drought. A new constitution, approved in 1974, created a one-party state and was designed to move Mali toward civilian rule. HP Pavilion DV9067EA Battery

However, the military leaders remained in power. Single-party presidential and legislative elections were held in June 1979, and Gen. Moussa Traoré received 99% of the votes. His efforts at consolidating the single-party government were challenged in 1980 by student-led anti-government demonstrations, which were brutally put down, and by three coup attempts. HP Pavilion DV9068 Battery

The Traore government ruled throughout the 1970s and 1980s. On March 26, 1991, after four days of intense anti-government rioting, a group of 17 military officers, led by current President Amadou Toumani Touré, arrested President Traoré and suspended the constitution. HP Pavilion DV9068EA Battery

They formed a civilian-heavy provisional ruling body, and and initiated a process that led to democratic elections.^[9]

The First Tuareg Rebellion began in 1990 when Tuareg separatists attacked government buildings around Gao. HP Pavilion DV9069 Battery

The armed forces' reprisals led to a full-blown rebellion in which the absence of opportunities for Tuareg in the army was a major complaint. The conflict died down after Alpha Konaré formed a new government and made reparations in 1992. Also, Mali created a new self-governing region, HP Pavilion DV9069EA Battery

the Kidal Region, and provided for greater Tuareg integration into Malian society. In 1994, Tuareg, reputed to have been trained and armed by Libya, attacked Gao, which again led to major Malian Army reprisals and to the creation of the Ghanda Koi Songhai militia to combat the Tuareg. Mali effectively fell into civil war. HP Pavilion DV9071 Battery

Current service commanders are Colonel Boubacar Togola (Armée de Terre), Colonel Waly Sissoko (Armée de l’Air), Lieutenant-Colonel Daouda Sogoba (Garde Nationale) et du Colonel Adama Dembélé (Gendarmerie Nationale).^[10]

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Tuareg Rebellion, HP Pavilion DV9071EA Battery

the Army has struggled to maintain its size, despite recent military aid from the United States. It is organised into two tank battalions (T-55, T-54 and T-34/85, tanks, including possibly a light armoured battalion of PT-76's and Type 62 light tanks),^[11] HP Pavilion DV9072 Battery

four infantry battalions, one Special Forces battalion, one airborne battalion (possibly the 33rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, Djikoroni, in Bamako^[12]), two artillery battalions, one engineer battalion (34th), 2 AD artillery batteries, and one SAM battery.^[7] Manpower is provided by two-year selective conscription. HP Pavilion DV9072EA Battery

Mali apparently has six military regions, according to Jane's World Armies. 1st Military Region and 13th Combined Arms Regiment may be in Gao.^[13] 3rd Military Region appears to be at Kati.^[14] The 4th Military Region is at Kayes [1] and the 5th Military Region is at Timbuktu.^[12] HP Pavilion DV9073 Battery

The 512 Regiment was reported within the 5th Military Region in 2004.[2] On 13 April 2010, Agence France Press reported that French Armed Forces training will be given to the '62nd Motorized Infantry Regiment of the 6th Military Region, based in Sévaré (15 km from Mopti). HP Pavilion DV9073EA Battery

It consists of three companies of Rapid Intervention (CIR), considered the elite troops of the Malian army.'

Mali is one of four Saharan states which will create a Joint Military Staff Committee, to be based at Tamanrasset in southern Algeria. HP Pavilion DV9074CL Battery

Algeria, Mauritania, Niger, and Mali will take part.^[15]

The Army controls the small navy (approx. 130 sailors and 3 river patrol boats).

Training establishments

The Malian armed forces have at least two significant training establishments: HP Pavilion DV9074EA Battery

Joint Military School at Koulikoro (fr:École militaire interarmes de Koulikoro)

Alioune Blondin Beye Peacekeeping Training School at Bamako (fr:École de maintien de la paix Alioune Blondin Beye de Bamako)

The Alioune Bloundin Beye school is the tactical-level component of a trio of three ECOWAS peacekeeping training schools: HP Pavilion DV9075EA Battery

the Alioune Bloundin Beye school, the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Ghana (operational level), and the Nigerian National Defence College (strategic level).^[16] HP Pavilion DV9075EU Battery

Mali Air Force

The Mali Air Force (Armée de l'Air du Mali) was founded in 1961 with French supplied military aid this included MH.1521 Broussardutility monoplane followed by two C-47 transports until Soviet aid starting in 1962 with four Antonov AN-2 Colt biplane transports and four Mi-4 light helicopters.^[17] HP Pavilion DV9075LA Battery

In the mid-1960s the Soviets delivered five MIG-17F fighters and a single MIG 15UTI fighter trainer to equip a squadron based at Bamako/Senou initially with Soviet pilots. Two Ilyushin Il-14 transports and a Mil Mi-8helicopter were delivered in 1971 followed by two Antonov AN-24 transports. HP Pavilion DV9075XX Battery

In 1976 an AN-26 transport was acquired along with a second AN-26 in 1983. Also in 1970s the first of 12 MiG-21MF fighter and two MIG 21UM trainers were delivered. In 1983 six Aero L-29 jet trainers were delivered to form a Ecole de Pilotage (pilots school). HP Pavilion DV9076 Battery

The Economy of Mali is based to a large extent on agriculture, with an overwhelmingly rural population, many of whom are engaged in subsistence agriculture. Mali is among the ten poorest nations of the world, is one of the 37 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, and is a major recipient of foreign aid from many sources, HP Pavilion DV9076EA Battery

including multilateral organizations (most significantly the World Bank, African Development Bank, and Arab Funds), and bilateral programs funded by the European Union, France, United States, Canada, Netherlands, and Germany. Before 1991, the former Soviet Union, China and the Warsaw Pact countries had been a major source of economic and military aid. HP Pavilion DV9077 Battery

The per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of Mali was $820 in 1999. Mali's great potential wealth lies in mining and the production of agricultural commodities, livestock, and fish. The most productive agricultural area lies along the banks of the Niger River, the Inner Niger Delta and the southwestern region around Sikasso. HP Pavilion DV9077EA Battery

Agriculture

Agricultural activities occupy 70% of Mali's labor force and provide 42% of the GDP. Cotton and livestock make up 75%-80% of Mali's annual exports. Small-scale traditional farming dominates the agricultural sector, HP Pavilion DV9078 Battery

with subsistence farming (of cereals, primarily sorghum, pearl millet, and maize) on about 90% of the 14,000 km² (3.4 million acres) under cultivation.

The most productive agricultural area lies along the banks of the Niger River between Bamako and Mopti and extends south to the borders of Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, and Burkina Faso. HP Pavilion DV9078EA Battery

Average rainfall varies in this region from 0.5 m per year (20 in) around Mopti to 1.4 m (55 in) in the south near Sikasso. This area is most important for the production of cotton, rice, pearl millet, maize, vegetables, tobacco and tree crops.

Annual rainfall, critical for Mali's agriculture, has been at or above average since 1993. HP Pavilion DV9079 Battery

Cereal production, including rice, has grown annually, and the 1997-98 cotton harvest reached a record 500,000 tons.

Until the mid-1960s, Mali was self-sufficient in grains — pearl millet, sorghum, rice and maize. HP Pavilion DV9079EA Battery

Diminished harvests during bad years, a growing population, changing dietary habits, and, most importantly, policy constraints on agricultural production resulted in grain deficits almost every year from 1965 to 1986. Production has rebounded since 1987, however, thanks to agricultural policy reforms undertaken by the government and supported by the Western donor nations. HP Pavilion DV9080 Battery

Liberalization of producer prices and an open cereals market have created incentives to production. These reforms, combined with adequate rainfall, successful integrated rural agriculture programs in the south, and improved management of the Office du Niger, have led to surplus cereal production over the past five years. HP Pavilion DV9080EA Battery

Rice

Rice is grown extensively along the banks of the Niger between Ségou and Mopti, with the most important rice-producing area at the Office du Niger, located north of Ségou toward the Mauritanian border. HP Pavilion DV9081 Battery

Using water diverted from theNiger, the Office du Niger irrigates about 600 km² of land for rice and sugarcane production. About one-third of Mali's paddy rice is produced at the Office du Niger.

Sorghum

Sorghum is planted extensively in the drier parts of the country and along the banks of the Niger in eastern Mali, HP Pavilion DV9081EA Battery

as well as in the lake beds in the Niger delta region. During the wet season, farmers near the town of Dire have cultivated wheat on irrigated fields for hundreds of years. Peanuts are grown throughout the country but are concentrated in the area around Kita, west of Bamako. HP Pavilion DV9082 Battery

Livestock

Mali's resource in livestock consists of millions of cattle, sheep, and goats. Approximately 40% of Mali's herds were lost during the great drought in 1972-74. The level was gradually restored, but the herds were again decimated in the 1983-85 drought. HP Pavilion DV9082EA Battery

The overall size of Mali's herds is not expected to reach pre-drought levels in the north of the country, where encroachment of the desert has forced many nomadic herders to abandon pastoral activities and turn instead to farming. The largest concentrations of cattle are in the areas north of Bamako and Ségou extending into the Niger delta, HP Pavilion DV9083 Battery

but herding activity is gradually shifting southward, due to the effects of previous droughts. Sheep, goats, and camels are raised to the exclusion of cattle in the dry areas north and east of Timbuktu.

Fishing

The Niger River also is an important source of fish, providing food for riverside communities; HP Pavilion DV9083EA Battery

the surplus—smoked, salted, and dried—is exported. Due to droughtand diversion of river water for agriculture, fish production has steadily declined since the early 1980s.

Mining

Mining has long been an important aspect of the Malian economy. Gold, the third largest source of Malian exports, is still mined in the southern region: HP Pavilion DV9084 Battery

at the end of the 20th century Mali had the third highest gold production in Africa (after South Africa and Ghana).^[3] These goldfields, the largest of which lie in the Bambouk Mountains in western Mali (Kenieba Cercle), were a major source of wealth and trade as far back as the Ghana Empire. HP Pavilion DV9084EA Battery

As well, salt mining in the far north, especially in the Saharan oases of Taoudenni and Taghaza have been a crucial part of the Malian economy for at least seven hundred years. Both resources were vital components of the Trans-Saharan trade, stretching back to the time of the Roman Empire. HP Pavilion DV9085 Battery

From the 1960s to the 1990s state owned mining—especially for gold—expanded, followed by a period of expansion by international contract mining.

In 1991, following the lead of the International Development Association, Mali relaxed the enforcement of mining codes which led to greater foreign investment in the mining industry.^[4] HP Pavilion DV9085EA Battery

From 1994 to 2007, national and foreign companies were granted around 150 operating licences along with more than 25 certificates for exploitation and more than 200 research permits. Gold mining in Mali has increased dramatically, with more than 50 tonnes in 2007 from less than half a tonne produced annually at the end of the 1980s. HP Pavilion DV9086 Battery

Mining revenue totaled some 300 billion CFA francs in 2007 more than a thirty times increase from the 1995 total national mining revenue of less than 10 billion CFA. Government revenues from mining contracts, less than 1% of the state income in 1989 were almost 18% in 2007.^[5] HP Pavilion DV9086EA Battery

Gold

Gold accounted for some 80% of mining activity in the mid 2000s, while there remain considerable proven reserves of other minerals not currently exploited. Gold has become Mali's third-largest export, after cotton—historically the basis of Mali's export industry—and livestock. HP Pavilion DV9087 Battery

The emergence of gold as Mali's leading export product since 1999 has helped mitigate some of the negative impacts caused by fluctuations in world cotton markets and loss of trade from the Ivorian Civil War to the south.^[6] HP Pavilion DV9087EA Battery

Large private investments in gold mining include Anglogold-Ashanti ($250 million) in Sadiola and Yatela, and Randgold Resources ($140 million) inMorila - both multinational South African companies located respectively in the north-western and southern parts of the country. HP Pavilion DV9088 Battery

Social and environment impacts

While great income is produced, most staff employed in the mining industries are from outside Mali, and residents in the areas of intensive mining complain of little benefit from the industry. HP Pavilion DV9088EA Battery

Populations complain of displacement for the construction of mines: at Sadiola Gold Mine, 43 villages have lost some land to the mine there, while in Fourou, near the large Syama goldmines, 121 villages saw some displacement.^[7]

In addition, the continued exploitation of unregulated small scale mining, often by child labourers, HP Pavilion DV9089 Battery

supplies a large international gold market in Bamako which feeds into international production.^[8] Recent criticism has surfaced around the working conditions, pay, and the widespread use of child labour in these small gold mines, and the method which middlemen, in regional centers like Sikasso and Kayes, HP Pavilion DV9089EA Battery

purchase and transport gold. Gold collected in the towns is sold on—with almost no regulation or oversight—to larger merchant houses in Bamako or Conakry, and eventually to smelters in Europe.^[9] Ecological factors, especially pollution of water by mine tailings, is a major source of concern. HP Pavilion DV9090 Battery

Other minerals

Other mining operations include kaolin, salt, phosphate, and limestone.^[10] The government is trying to generate interest in the potential of extracting petroleum from the Taoudeni basin.^[11] HP Pavilion DV9090EA Battery

Manufacturing

During the colonial period, private capital investment was virtually nonexistent, and public investment was devoted largely to the Office du Niger irrigation scheme and to administrative expenses. HP Pavilion DV9091 Battery

Following independence, Mali built some light industries with the help of various donors. Manufacturing, consisting principally of processed agricultural products, accounted for about 8% of the GDP in 1990.

Economic Reform

Between 1992 and 1995, Mali implemented an economic adjustment programme that resulted in economic growth and a reduction in financial imbalances. 
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This was reflected in the increased GDP growth rates (9.6% in 2002) and decreased inflation. GDP in 2002 amounted to US$3.2 billion, made up of agriculture 37.8%, industry 26.4% and services 35.9%.HP Pavilion DV9092 Battery

Effective implementation of macroeconomic stabilization and economic liberalization policies and the stable political situation resulted in good economic performance and enabled Mali to strengthen the foundations for a market-oriented economy and encourage private sector development, HP Pavilion DV9092EA Battery

backed up by significant progress in implementing the country’s privatization programme. Agricultural reform measures were aimed at diversifying and expanding production as well as at reducing costs.

Mali’s economic performance is fragile, characterised by a vulnerability to climatic conditions, fluctuating terms of trade, dependence on ports in neighboring countries.HP Pavilion DV9095EU Battery

Mali produces cotton, cereals and rice. Although locally produced rice now provides competition to imported Asian rice, Mali's primary export is cotton. Livestock exports and industry (producing vegetable and cottonseed oils, and textiles) have experienced growth. HP Pavilion DV9095TX Battery

Although most of Mali is desert or semi-desert, the Niger River is a potential irrigation source. Exports are in three primary sector products (56% gold, 27% cotton, 5% livestock). Cote d’Ivore is where most of the country’s trade goes through and the crisis previously experienced here had a negative effect on Mali’s economy. HP Pavilion DV9095XX Battery

The mining industry in Mali has recently attracted renewed interest and investment from foreign companies. Gold and phosphate are the only minerals mined in Mali although deposits of copper and diamonds do also exist. The emergence of gold as Mali’s leading export product since 1999 has helped mitigate some of the negative impact of the cotton and Côte d'Ivoire crises. HP Pavilion DV9096EA Battery

The development of the oil industry is important due to the country’s dependence on the importation of all petroleum products from neighbouring states. Electricity is provided by the parastatal utility, Electricite du Mali. HP Pavilion DV9096XX Battery

HP Pavilion DV9097EA Battery

Foreign aid

Mali is a major recipient of foreign aid from many sources, including multilateral organizations (most significantly the World Bank, African Development Bank, andArab Funds), and bilateral programs funded by the European Union, France, United States, Canada, Netherlands, and Germany. HP Pavilion DV9097XX Battery

Before 1991, the former Soviet Union had been a major source of economic and military aid, including construction of a cement plant and the Kalana gold mine. Currently, aid from Russia is restricted mainly to training and provision of spare parts. Chinese aid remains high, HP Pavilion DV9098 Battery

and Chinese-Malian joint venture companies have become more numerous in the last 3 years, leading to the opening of a Chinese investment center. The Chinese are major participants in the textile industry and in large scale construction projects, including a bridge across the Niger, HP Pavilion DV9098XX Battery

a conference center, an expressway in Bamako, and a new national stadium scheduled to be completed for the Africa Cup competition in 2002.

In 1998, U.S. assistance reached over $40 million. This included $39 million in sector support through United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, HP Pavilion DV9099EA Battery

largely channeled to local communities through private voluntary agencies; Peace Corps program budget of $2.2 million for more than 160 Volunteers serving in Mali; Self Help and the Democracy Funds of $170,500; and $650,000 designated for electoral support. HP Pavilion DV9099XX Battery

Military assistance includes $275,000 for the International Military Education Training (IMET) program, $1.6 million for the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI), $60,000 for Joint Combined Exercise Training (JCET), and $100,000 for Humanitarian Assistance. HP Pavilion DV9100 Battery

Mali's High Fertility Rate

Mali faces several problems which are obstructing them from attaining economic growth. One of the most pressing problems is that of its high fertility rate. With an average Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 6.52 from 2005 to 2010, Mali ranks 8th on the UN TFR ranking; HP Pavilion DV9105EU Battery

this means that an average of more than 6 children are born to a Mali woman in her entire lifetime which inevitably leads to a population figure the country’s resources will not be able to provide for. High fertility rates inevitably lead to a population figure that exerts great stress on the country’s resources. HP Pavilion DV9200 Battery

Mali’s health and development indicators rank among the worst in the world. With rapid population growth fueled by high birth rates, the Mali government faces an uphill task of providing sufficient basic health care for its citizens. The result of this is a country plagued with infectious diseases like cholera and tuberculosis. HP Pavilion DV9200CTO Battery

This is evident as Mali’s health and development indicators rank among the worst in the world.^[13] Inadequate hygiene and sanitation also contribute to the widespread diseases in Mali. In 2002, only an estimated 62–65% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 69% to sanitation services.^[13] HP Pavilion DV9200XX Battery

These are indications that the resources available in the country are not able to keep up with the large population.

High fertility rates put a strain on educational resources.^[14] HP Pavilion DV9201CA Battery

Both the quality and quantity of educational resources available for each child decline as birth rates increase and there might be insufficient resources to cater to the large proportion of youth. The result is a vicious cycle in poverty as a lack of education undermines the population’s ability to be an efficient workforce. HP Pavilion DV9201TX Battery

Continuous child-bearing means that women are often deprived of the opportunity to get proper education hence having unequal opportunities at employment. In Mali, literacy levels are lower for women than for men. The adult female literacy rate is 58% that of males as of 2005-2008.^[15] HP Pavilion DV9202EA Battery

Lack of education for women also means a lack of knowledge on family planning methods and thus the continuously high fertility rates and high maternal mortality rates. Contraceptive prevalence rate is 8% as of 2005-2009.^[15]

With unfavorable living conditions, productivity of the country is highly compromised. HP Pavilion DV9202TX Battery

A fall in birth rates can ease the strain on the country’s resources and improve overall living conditions so as to create a more efficient and productive workforce.

The economy of Africa consists of the trade, industry, agriculture, and human resources. HP Pavilion DV9203TX Battery

As of 2012, approximately1070 million people^[1] were living in 54 different countries. Africa is a resource-rich continent but many African people are poor. Recent growth has been due to growth in sales in commodities, services, and manufacturing.^[2] Africa is by far the world's second poorest inhabited continent, second only to Asia in the number of poor people. HP Pavilion DV9203XX Battery

Though parts of the continent have made significant gains over the last few years. In recent years, African countries consist of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Recent Economic Growth

In the past ten years, growth in Africa has surpassed that of East Asia, including Japan.^[8]Data suggest parts of the continent are now experiencing fast growth. HP Pavilion DV9204TX Battery

The amount of growth that has been occurring is comparable or greater to that of the Asian Tiger, Latin Puma markets, gaining them the new nickname, the Lion Markets.^[9] The World Bank reports the economy of Sub-Saharan African countries grew at rates that match or surpass global rates. HP Pavilion DV9204XX Battery

The economies of the fastest growing African nations experienced growth significantly above the global average rates. The top nations in 2007 include Mauritania with growth at 19.8%, Angola at 17.6%, Sudan at 9.6%, Mozambique at 7.9% and Malawi at 7.8%.^[12] 
HP Pavilion DV9205CA Battery

Many international agencies are gaining increasing interest in investing emerging African economies.^[13] especially as Africa continues to maintain high economic growth despite current global economic recession.^[14] The rate of return on investment in Africa is currently the highest in the developing world.^[9] HP Pavilion DV9205EU Battery

Economic Variants and Indicators

While no African nation has joined the ranks of the developed nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) yet, the entire continent is not utterly impoverished and there is considerable variation in its wealth. HP Pavilion DV9205TX Battery

North Africa has long been closely linked to the economies of Europe and the Middle East. South Africa is by far the continent's wealthiest state in total GDP, accounting for 30% of the continent's GDP in nominal terms and 24% by PPP. The small but oil-rich states of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea round out the list of the ten wealthiest states in Africa. HP Pavilion DV9205US Battery

The temperate northern and southern ends of the continent are wealthier than tropical sub-Saharan Africa. Within the tropics, East Africa, with its long pre-colonial history of trade and development, has tended to be wealthier and more stable than elsewhere. HP Pavilion DV9206CA Battery

Islands such as the Seychelles, Réunion, Mauritius, and Cape Verde have remained wealthier than the continental nations, although the unstable Comoros remains poor.The poorest states are those engaged in or just emerging from civil wars. These include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, and Burundi. HP Pavilion DV9206EU Battery

In recent times, the poorest region has been the Horn of Africa, although it had historically been one of the wealthiest regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia in particular had a long and successful history. HP Pavilion DV9206XX Battery

The poverty of the region, and the associated famines and wars, have been a problem since the 1800s. HP Pavilion DV9206TX Battery

There is considerable internal variation within countries. Urban areas, especially capital cities, are generally wealthier than rural zones. HP Pavilion DV9207TX Battery

Inequality is pronounced in most African countries; the upper class has a much higher income than the majority of the population. HP Pavilion DV9207US Battery,HP Pavilion DV9208NR Battery,HP Pavilion DV9208TX Battery

Mali , officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali, French pronunciation: [ma li]), is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. HP Pavilion DV9000 Battery

Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with a population of 14.5 million. Its capital is Bamako. Mali consists of eight regions and its borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country's southern part, where the majority of inhabitants live, features theNiger and Sénégal rivers. HP Pavilion DV9000EA Battery

The country's economic structure centers around agriculture and fishing. Some of Mali's natural resources are gold, uranium, livestock, and salt. About half the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.^[5] HP Pavilion DV9000T Battery

Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, theMali Empire (from which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali making it a part of French Sudan. HP Pavilion DV9000Z Battery

French Sudan (then known as the Sudanese Republic) joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegal's withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. HP Pavilion DV9001CA Battery

After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. On 22 March, 2012, a group of junior soldiers seized control of the country's presidential palace and declared the government dissolved and its constitution suspended. ^[6] HP Pavilion DV9001EA Battery

 On 6 April, 2012, rebels from theNational Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declared the secession of a new state, Azawad, from Mali.

Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, slaves, and other precious commodities.^[8] HP Pavilion DV9001TX Battery

These Sahelian kingdomshad neither rigid geopolitical boundaries nor rigid ethnic identities.^[8] The earliest of these empires was the Ghana Empire, which was dominated by the Soninke, a Mande-speaking people.^[8] The empire expanded throughout West Africa from the 8th century until 1078, when it was conquered by the Almoravids.^[9] HP Pavilion DV9001XX Battery

The Mali Empire later formed on the upper Niger River, and reached the height of power in the 14th century.^[9] Under the Mali Empire, the ancient cities of Djenné andTimbuktu were centers of both trade and Islamic learning.^[9] The empire later declined as a result of internal intrigue, ultimately being supplanted by the Songhai Empire.^[9] HP Pavilion DV9003CA Battery

The Songhai people originated in current northwestern Nigeria. The Songhai had long been a major power in West Africa subject to the Mali Empire's rule.^[9]

In the late 14th century, the Songhai gradually gained independence from the Mali Empire and expanded, ultimately subsuming the entire eastern portion of the Mali Empire.^[9] HP Pavilion DV9003EA Battery

The Songhai Empire's eventual collapse was largely the result of a Moroccan invasion in 1591, under the command of Judar Pasha.^[9] The fall of the Songhai Empire marked the end of the region's role as a trading crossroads.^[9] Following the establishment of sea routes by the European powers, the trans-Saharan trade routes lost significance. HP Pavilion DV9003TX Battery

One of the worst famines in the region's recorded history occurred in the 18th century. According to John Iliffe, "The worst crises were in the 1680s, when famine extended from the Senegambian coast to the Upper Nile and 'many sold themselves for slaves, only to get a sustenance', and especially in 1738–56, HP Pavilion DV9003XX Battery

when West Africa's greatest recorded subsistence crisis, due to drought and locusts, reportedly killed half the population of Timbuktu."^[10]

Mali fell under the control of the French during the late 19th century.^[9] By 1905, most of the area was under firm French control as a part of French Sudan.^[9] HP Pavilion DV9004TX Battery

In early 1959, French Sudan (which changed its name to the Sudanese Republic) and Senegal united to become the Mali Federation. The Mali Federation gained independence from France on 20 June 1960.^[9] Senegal withdrew from the federation in August 1960, which allowed the Sudanese Republic to become the independent Republic of Mali on 22 September 1960. HP Pavilion DV9004XX Battery

Modibo Keïta was elected the first president.^[9] Keïta quickly established a one-party state, adopted an independent African and socialist orientation with close ties to the East, and implemented extensive nationalization of economic resources.^[9] HP Pavilion DV9005CA Battery

On 19 November 1968, following progressive economic decline, the Keïta regime was overthrown in a bloodless military coup led byMoussa Traoré,^[11] a day which is now commemorated as Liberation Day. The subsequent military-led regime, with Traoré as president, attempted to reform the economy. HP Pavilion DV9005EA Battery

However, his efforts were frustrated by political turmoil and a devastating droughtbetween 1968 to 1974,^[11] in which famine killed thousands of people.^[12] The Traoré regime faced student unrest beginning in the late 1970s and three coup attempts. However, the Traoré regime repressed all dissenters until the late 1980s.^[11] HP Pavilion DV9005TX Battery

The government continued to attempt economic reforms, and the populace became increasingly dissatisfied.^[11] In response to growing demands for multi-party democracy, the Traoré regime allowed some limited political liberalization, but refused to usher in a full-fledged democratic system.^[11] 
HP Pavilion DV9005US Battery

In 1990, cohesive opposition movements began to emerge, and was complicated by the turbulent rise of ethnic violence in the north following the return of many Tuaregs to Mali.

Anti-government protests in 1991 led to a coup, a transitional government, and a new constitution.^[11] HP Pavilion DV9006EA Battery

Opposition to the corrupt and dictatorial regime of General Mousa Traoré grew during the 1980s. During this time, strict programs imposed to satisfy demands of the International Monetary Fund brought increased hardship upon the country's population while elites close to the government supposedly lived in growing wealth. HP Pavilion DV9006TX Battery

Peaceful student protests in January 1991 were brutally suppressed, with mass arrests and torture of leaders and participants. Scattered acts of rioting and vandalism of public buildings followed, but most actions by the dissidents remained nonviolent. HP Pavilion DV9007EA Battery

From March 22 through March 26, 1991, mass pro-democracy rallies and a nationwide strike was held in both urban and rural communities, which became known as les evenements ("the events") or the March Revolution. In Bamako, in response to mass demonstrations organized by university students and later joined by trade unionists and others, HP Pavilion DV9007TX Battery

soldiers opened fire indiscriminately on the nonviolent demonstrators. Riots broke out briefly following the shootings. Barricades as well as roadblocks were erected and Traoré declared a state of emergency and imposed a nightly curfew. HP Pavilion DV9008EA Battery

Despite an estimated loss of 300 lives over the course of four days, nonviolent protesters continued to return to Bamako each day demanding the resignation of the dictatorial president and the implementation of democratic policies.^[13] HP Pavilion DV9008EU Battery

March 26th, 1991 is the day that marks the clash between military soldiers and peaceful demonstrating students which climaxed in the massacre of dozens under the orders of then President Moussa Traoré. He and three associates were later tried and convicted and received the death sentence for their part in the decision-making of that day. HP Pavilion DV9008NR Battery

Nowadays, the day is a national holiday in order to remember the tragic events and the people that were killed.^[14] The coup is remembered as Mali's March Revolution of 1991.

By March 26, the growing refusal of soldiers to fire into the largely nonviolent protesting crowds turned into a full scale tumult,HP Pavilion DV9008TX Battery

and resulted into thousands of soldiers putting down their arms and joining the pro-democracy movement. That afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel Amadou Toumani Touré announced on the radio that he had arrested the dictatorial president, Moussa Traoré. HP Pavilion DV9009CL Battery

As a consequence, opposition parties were legalized and a national congress of civil and political groups met to draft a new democratic constitution to be approved by a national referendum.^[13]

In 1992, Alpha Oumar Konaré won Mali's first democratic, multi-party presidential election. HP Pavilion DV9009NR Battery

Upon his reelection in 1997, President Konaré pushed through political and economic reforms and fought corruption. In 2002, he was succeeded in democratic elections by Amadou Toumani Touré, a retired general, who had been the leader of the military aspect of the 1991 democratic uprising.^[15] HP Pavilion DV9009TX Battery

Although recently Mali has been listed as one of the most politically and socially stable countries in Africa,^[16] the country has been facing a major internal conflict since January 2012 led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad against the Malian government.^[17] HP Pavilion DV9009US Battery

On 22 March 2012, it was reported that rebel troops from the military appeared on state TV announcing they had seized control of the country.^[18]. Unrest over the presidents handling over the conflict with the rebels was a motivating force. HP Pavilion DV9010CA Battery

However, due to the 2012 Tuareg Rebellion, the military government controls only the southern third of the country leaving the north of the country known as Azawad to MNLA rebels. The rebels control Timbuktu, 700 km from the capital.^[19] HP Pavilion DV9010EA Battery

In response, to the coup, neighbouring countries (ECOWAS) froze assets and imposed an embargo, leaving some with only days of fuel. Mali is dependent on fuel imports trucked overland from Senegal and Ivory Coast.^[20] 
HP Pavilion DV9010TX Battery

Geography

Mali is a landlocked nation in West Africa, located southwest of Algeria. It lies between latitudes 10° and 25°N, and longitudes 13°W and 5°E.

At 1,242,248 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi), including the disputed region of Azawad, Mali is the world's 24th-largest country and is comparable in size to South Africa or Angola. HP Pavilion DV9010US Battery

Most of the country lies in the southern Sahara, which produces a hot, dust-laden Sudanian savannazone.^[21] Mali is mostly flat, rising to rolling northern plains covered by sand. The Adrar des Ifoghas lies in the northeast.

The country's climate ranges from tropical in the south to arid in the north.^[21] HP Pavilion DV9011EA Battery

Most of the country receives negligible rainfall; droughts are frequent.^[21] Late June to early December is the rainy season. During this time, flooding of the Niger River is common, creating the Inner Niger Delta.^[21] The nation has considerable natural resources, with gold, uranium, phosphates, kaolinite, salt and limestonebeing most widely exploited. HP Pavilion DV9011XX Battery

Mali faces numerous environmental challenges, including desertification, deforestation, soil erosion, and inadequate supplies of potable water.

Regions and cercles

Mali is divided into eight regions (régions) and one district.^[22] HP Pavilion DV9012EA Battery

 Each region has a governor.^[23] Since Mali's regions are very large, the country is subdivided into 49 cercles and 703 communes.

Since March 2012, the Malian government has not exercised control over Tombouctou, Gao and Kidal Regions and the north-eastern portion of Mopti Region. HP Pavilion DV9012TX Battery

On 6 April 2012, the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad unilaterally declared their secession from Mali as Azawad, an act that neither Mali nor the international community have recognised.^[25]

Politics and government

Mali is a constitutional democracy governed by the Constitution of 12 January 1992, which was amended in 1999.^[26] HP Pavilion DV9013CA Battery

The constitution provides for a separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.^[26] The system of government can be described as "semi-presidential".^[26] HP Pavilion DV9013CL Battery

Executive power is vested in a president, who is elected to a five-year term by universal suffrage and is limited to two terms.^[26][27] The president serves as a chief of state and commander in chief of the armed forces.^[26][28] A prime minister appointed by the president serves as head of government and in turn appoints the Council of Ministers.^[26][29] HP Pavilion DV9014EA Battery

The unicameral National Assembly is Mali's sole legislative body, consisting of deputies elected to five-year terms.^[30][31] Following the 2007 elections, the Alliance for Democracy and Progress held 113 of 160 seats in the assembly.^[32] The assembly holds two regular sessions each year, HP Pavilion DV9014TX Battery

during which it debates and votes on legislation that has been submitted by a member or by the government.^[30][33] Democracy-wise, things looked positive after the local elections at the end of April 2009, though significant shortcomings and attempts at manipulation still existed. HP Pavilion DV9015EA Battery

Mali's constitution provides for an independent judiciary,^[30][34] but the executive continues to exercise influence over the judiciary by virtue of power to appoint judges and oversee both judicial functions and law enforcement.^[30] Mali's highest courts are the Supreme Court, HP Pavilion DV9015TX Battery

which has both judicial and administrative powers, and a separate Constitutional Court that provides judicial review of legislative acts and serves as an election arbiter.^[30][35] Various lower courts exist, though village chiefs and elders resolve most local disputes in rural areas.^[30] HP Pavilion DV9016EA Battery

Foreign relations and military

Mali's foreign policy orientation has become increasingly pragmatic and pro-Western over time.^[36] Since the institution of a democratic form of government in 2002, Mali's relations with the West in general and with the United States in particular have improved significantly.^[36] HP Pavilion DV9016TX Battery

Mali has a longstanding yet ambivalent relationship with France, a former colonial ruler.^[36] Mali was active in regional organizations such as the African Union until its suspension over the 2012 Malian coup d'état.^[37][36] Working to control and resolve regional conflicts, such as in Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, is one of Mali's major foreign policy goals.^[36] HP Pavilion DV9017EA Battery

Mali feels threatened by the potential for the spillover of conflicts in neighboring states, and relations with those neighbors are often uneasy.^[36] General insecurity along borders in the north, including cross-border banditry and terrorism, remain troubling issues in regional relations.^[36] HP Pavilion DV9017TX Battery

Mali's military forces consist of an army, which includes land forces and air force,^[38] as well as the paramilitary Gendarmerie and Republican Guard, all of which are under the control of Mali's Ministry of Defense and Veterans, headed by a civilian.^[39] The military is underpaid, poorly equipped, and in need of rationalization.^[39] HP Pavilion DV9018EA Battery

Organization has suffered from the incorporation ofTuareg irregular forces into the regular military following a 1992 agreement between the government and Tuareg rebel forces.^[39]The military has generally kept a low profile since the democratic transition of 1992. HP Pavilion DV9018TX Battery

The incumbent president, Amadou Toumani Touré, is a former army general and as such reportedly enjoys widespread military support.^[39] In the annual human rights report for 2003, the U.S. Department of State rated civilian control of security forces as generally effective but noted a few "instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of government authority".^[39] HP Pavilion DV9019EA Battery

Western powers such as the United States have also helped Mali's military with training and equipment.^[40][41]

Economy

Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world.^[42] The average worker's annual salary is approximately US$1,500.^[43] HP Pavilion DV9019TX Battery

Between 1992 and 1995, Mali implemented an economic adjustment program that resulted in economic growth and a reduction in financial imbalances. The program increased social and economic conditions, and led to Mali joining the World Trade Organization on 31 May 1995.^[44] The gross domestic product (GDP) has risen since. HP Pavilion DV9020TX Battery

In 2002, the GDP amounted to US$3.4 billion,^[45] and increased to US$5.8 billion in 2005,^[43] which amounts to an approximately 17.6% annual growth rate.

Mali's key industry is agriculture. Cotton is the country's largest crop export and is exported west throughout Senegal and the Ivory Coast. HP Pavilion DV9020XX Battery

During 2002, 620,000 tons of cotton were produced in Mali but cotton prices declined significantly in 2003.^[46][47] In addition to cotton, Mali produces rice, millet, corn, vegetables, tobacco, and tree crops. Gold, livestock and agriculture amount to eighty percent of Mali's exports.^[43] HP Pavilion DV9021TX Battery

Eighty percent of Malian workers are employed in agriculture while fifteen percent work in the service sector.^[47] However, seasonal variations lead to regular temporary unemployment of agricultural workers.^[48] Mali's resource in livestock consists of millions of cattle, sheep, and goats. HP Pavilion DV9021XX Battery

 Approximately 40% of Mali's herds were lost during the Sahel drought in 1972–74.

In 1991, with the assistance of the International Development Association, Mali relaxed the enforcement of mining codes which led to renewed foreign interest and investment in the mining industry.^[50
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^] Gold is mined in the southern region and Mali has the third highest gold production in Africa (after South Africa and Ghana).^[46] The emergence of gold as Mali's leading export product since 1999 has helped mitigate some of the negative impact of the cotton and Côte d'Ivoire crises.^[51] HP Pavilion DV9022TX Battery

Other natural resources includekaolin, salt, phosphate, and limestone.^[43]

Electricity and water are maintained by the Energie du Mali, or EDM, and textiles are generated by Industry Textile du Mali, or ITEMA.^[43] Mali has made efficient use of hydroelectricity, consisting of over half of Mali's electrical power. HP Pavilion DV9023 Battery

In 2002, 700 GWhof hydroelectric power were produced in Mali.^[47]

The Malian government participates in foreign involvement, concerning commerce and privatization. Mali underwent economic reform, beginning in 1988 by signing agreements with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.^[43] HP Pavilion DV9023US Battery

During 1988 to 1996, Mali's government largely reformed public enterprises. Since the agreement, sixteen enterprises were privatized, twelve partially privatized, and twenty liquidated.^[43] In 2005, the Malian government conceded a railroad company to the Savage Corporation.^[43] HP Pavilion DV9024 Battery

Two major companies, Societé de Telecommunications du Mali (SOTELMA) and the Cotton Ginning Company (CMDT), are expected to be privatized in 2008.^[43]

Mali is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).^[52] HP Pavilion DV9024EA Battery

Demographics

In July 2009, Mali's population was an estimated 14.5 million. The population is predominantly rural (68% in 2002), and 5–10% of Malians are nomadic.^[53] More than 90% of the population lives in the southern part of the country, especially in Bamako, which has over 1 million residents.^[53] HP Pavilion DV9030EA Battery

In 2007, about 48% of Malians were less than fifteen years old, 49% were 15–64 years old, and 3% were 65 and older.^[42] The median age was 15.9 years.^[42] The birth rate in 2012 was 45.2 births per 1,000, and the total fertility rate was 6.4 children per woman.^[42] Thedeath rate in 2007 was 16.5 deaths per 1,000.^[42] HP Pavilion DV9030US Battery

 Life expectancy at birth was 49.5 years total (47.6 for males and 51.5 for females).^[42]Mali has one of the world's highest rates of infant mortality,^[53] with 106 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2007.^[42]

Mali's population encompasses a number of sub-Saharan ethnic groups, most of which have historical, HP Pavilion DV9033 Battery

cultural, linguistic, and religious commonalities.^[53] The Bambara (Bambara: Bamanankaw) are by far the largest single ethnic group, making up 36.5% of the population.^[53]Collectively, the Bambara, Soninké, Khassonké, and Malinké, all part of the broader Mandé group, constitute 50% of Mali's population.^[42] HP Pavilion DV9033CL Battery

Other significant groups are the Fula (French: Peul; Fula: Ful e) (17%), Voltaic (12%), Songhai (6%), and Tuareg and Moor (10%).^[42] Mali historically has enjoyed reasonably good inter-ethnic relations; however, some hereditary servitude relationships exist,^[54][55] as do ethnic tensions between the Songhai and the Tuareg.^[53] HP Pavilion DV9035EA Battery

Over the past 40 years, persistent drought has forced many Tuareg to give up their nomadic way of life.^[56]

Mali's official language is French, but numerous (40 or more) African languages also are widely used by the various ethnic groups.^[53] HP Pavilion DV9035NR Battery

About 80% of Mali's population can communicate in Bambara, which is the country's principal lingua franca and marketplace language.

Religion

Islam came to west Africa in the 11th century and remains the predominant religion in most countries in that region. HP Pavilion DV9036 Battery

An estimated 90% of Malians are Muslim (mostly Sunni and Sufi), approximately 5% are Christian (about two-thirds Roman Catholic and one-third Protestant) and the remaining 5% adhere to indigenous or traditional animist beliefs.^[57] Atheismand agnosticism are believed to be rare among Malians, most of whom practice their religion on a daily basis.^[58] HP Pavilion DV9036EA Battery

Islam as practiced in Mali is moderate, tolerant, and adapted to local conditions; relations between Muslims and practitioners of minority religious faiths are generally amicable.^[58] The constitution establishes a secular state and provides forfreedom of religion, and the government largely respects this right.^[58] HP Pavilion DV9037 Battery

Health and education

Mali faces numerous health challenges related to poverty, malnutrition, and inadequate hygiene and sanitation.^[58] Mali's health and development indicators rank among the worst in the world.^[58] HP Pavilion DV9037EA Battery

Life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 53.06 years in 2012.^[59] In 2000, only 62–65 percent of the population was estimated to have access to safe drinking water and only 69 percent to sanitation services of some kind.^[58] In 2001, the general government expenditures on health totaled about US$4 per capita at an average exchange rate.^[60] HP Pavilion DV9038 Battery

Medical facilities in Mali are very limited, and medicines are in short supply.^[60] Malaria and other arthropod-borne diseases are prevalent in Mali, as are a number of infectious diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis.^[60] Mali's population also suffers from a high rate of childmalnutrition and a low rate of immunization.^[60] HP Pavilion DV9038EA Battery

 An estimated 1.9 percent of the adult and children population was afflicted with HIV/AIDS that year, among the lowest rates in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Public education in Mali is in principle provided free of charge and is compulsory for nine years between the ages of seven and sixteen.^[58] HP Pavilion DV9039 Battery

The system encompasses six years of primary education beginning at age seven, followed by six years of secondary education.^[58] However, Mali's actual primary school enrollment rate is low, in large part because families are unable to cover the cost of uniforms, books, supplies, and other fees required to attend.^[58] HP Pavilion DV9039EA Battery

In the 2000–01 school year, the primary school enrollment rate was 61% (71% of males and 51% of females); in the late 1990s, the secondary school enrollment rate was 15% percent (20% of males and 10% of females).^[58] The education system is plagued by a lack of schools in rural areas, as well as shortages of teachers and materials.^[58] HP Pavilion DV9040EA Battery

Estimates of literacy rates in Mali range from 27–30% to 46.4%, with literacy rates significantly lower among women than men.^[58]

According to the World Health Organization in 2001 an estimated 91.6% of Mali's girls and women have had some form of female genital cutting performed on them.^[61]HP Pavilion DV9040EU Battery

Culture

Malian musical traditions are derived from the griots, who are known as "Keepers of Memories".^[62] Malian music is diverse and has several different genres. Some famous Malian influences in music are kora virtouso musician Toumani Diabaté, HP Pavilion DV9040TX Battery

the late roots and blues guitarist Ali Farka Touré, the Tuareg band Tinariwen, and several Afro-pop artists such as Salif Keita, the duo Amadou et Mariam, Oumou Sangare, and Habib Koité. The Dance of Mali includes many different dancing styles. HP Pavilion DV9040US Battery

As well as the music telling a story through sound, the Malian dance shows a story through series' of movements. There are dances for weddings, funerals, marriages, hunting, war, celebration, etc. Malian music and dance also tells about the major events in Mali's history, but as well as the day to day lives of its people. HP Pavilion DV9041 Battery

Though Mali's literature is less famous than its music,^[63] Mali has always been one of Africa's liveliest intellectual centers.^[64] Mali's literary tradition is passed mainly by word of mouth, with jalis reciting or singing histories and stories known by heart.^[64][65] Amadou Hampâté Bâ, HP Pavilion DV9041EA Battery

Mali's best-known historian, spent much of his life writing these oral traditions down for the world to remember.^[65] The best-known novel by a Malian writer is Yambo Ouologuem's Le devoir de violence, which won the 1968 Prix Renaudot but whose legacy was marred by accusations of plagiarism. HP Pavilion DV9042 Battery

Other well-known Malian writers include Baba Traoré, Modibo Sounkalo Keita, Massa Makan Diabaté, Moussa Konaté, and Fily Dabo Sissoko.^[64][65]

The varied everyday culture of Malians reflects the country's ethnic and geographic diversity.^[66] HP Pavilion DV9042EA Battery

Most Malians wear flowing, colorful robes called boubous that are typical of West Africa. Malians frequently participate in traditional festivals, dances, and ceremonies.^[66] Rice and milletare the staples of Malian cuisine, which is heavily based on cereal grains. HP Pavilion DV9043 Battery

Grains are generally prepared with sauces made from leaves such spinach or baobableaves, with tomato, or with peanut sauce, and may be accompanied by pieces of grilled meat (typically chicken, mutton, beef, or goat).^[67][68] Malian cuisine varies regionally.^[67][68] 
HP Pavilion DV9044 Battery

Sports

The most popular sport in Mali is football (soccer),which became more prominent after Mali hosted the 2002 African Cup of Nations. HP Pavilion DV9043EA Battery

 Most towns have regular games;^[71] the most popular teams nationally are Djoliba AC, Stade Malien, and Real Bamako, all based in the capital.^[70] Informal games are often played by youths using a bundle of rags as a ball.^[70]

The country has produced notable players for French teams, including Salif Keita and Jean Tigana. HP Pavilion DV9044EA Battery

Frédéric "Fredi" Kanouté, named 2007 African Footballer of the Year, currently plays for Sevilla FC in Spain's La Liga. Mahamadou Diarra, the captain of the Mali national team, played for Real Madrid for four seasons before moving to AS Monaco FC and Seydou Keita plays for FC Barcelona. HP Pavilion DV9045 Battery

Other notable players currently on European squads include, Mamady Sidibe (Stoke City), Mohammed Sissoko (Juventus), Sammy Traore(Paris Saint-Germain), Adama Coulibaly (AJ Auxerre), Kalifa Cisse, Jimmy Kebe (Reading F.C.), Dramane Traoré (Lokomotiv Moscow),^[69][70] Garra Dembele (Levski Sofia) and others. HP Pavilion DV9045EA Battery

Basketball is another major sport;^[70][72] the Mali women's national basketball team, led by Hamchetou Maiga, competed at the 2008Beijing Olympics.^[73]

Traditional wrestling (la lutte) is also somewhat common, though popularity has declined in recent years.^[71] The game wari, amancala variant, is a common pastime. HP Pavilion DV9046 Battery

A cercle is the second level administrative unit in Mali. Mali is divided into eight régions and one capital district (Bamako); the régions are subdivided into 49 cercles. These subdivisions bear the name of their principal city.

During French colonial rule in Mali, a cercle was the smallest unit of French political administration that was headed by aEuropean officer. HP Pavilion DV9046EA Battery

A cercle consisted of several cantons, each of which in turn consisted of several villages. In 1887 the Cercle of Bafoulabé was the first cercle to be created in Mali. In most of former French West Africa, the term cercle was changed toPrefecture or Department after independence, but this was not done in Mali. HP Pavilion DV9047 Battery

Some cercles (and the district) were, prior to the 1999 local government reorganisation, further divided into Arrondissements, especially in urban areas or the vast northern regions (such as Kidal), which consisted of a collection of Communes. Since these reforms, cercles are now directly subdivided into rural and urban communes, HP Pavilion DV9047EA Battery

HP Pavilion DV9048 Battery

which in turn are divided in Quartiers (Quarters, or Villages and encampments in rural areas) which have elected councils at each level.^[1] There are 703 communes, 36 urban communes(including 6 in Bamako District) and 667 rural communes.^[2] The cercles are listed below. HP Pavilion DV9048EA Battery

A Commune is the third level administrative unit in Mali. Mali is divided into eight regions and one capital district (Bamako). These subdivisions bear the name of their principal city. The regions are divided into 49 Cercles. HP Pavilion DV9049 Battery

The Cercles and the district are divided into 703 Communes, with 36 Urban Communes and 667 Rural Communes,^[1] while some larger Cercles still contain Arrondissementsabove the Commune level, these are organisational areas with no independent power or office. Rural Communes are subdivided in Villages, while Urban Communes are subdivided into Quartier (wards or quarters).HP Pavilion DV9049EA Battery

Communes usually bear the name of their principal town. The capital, Bamako, consists of six Urban Communes. There were initially 701 communes until the Law No. 001-041 of 7 June 2005 created two new Rural Communes in the desert region in the north east of the country: HP Pavilion DV9050 Battery

Alata, Ménaka Cercle in the Gao Regionand Intadjedite, Tin-Essako Cercle in the Kidal Region.^[2]

Not every built up area (which might be described as a town) is a Commune, and not every Commune (especially Rural Communes) contains a large town. HP Pavilion DV9050EA Battery

In most cases where towns and Communes coincide, Commune borders extend beyond built up areas and are, like the Communes of France on which they were based during the colonial period, an administrative structure. Unlike French Communes, they are not the lowest level administrative structure of the nation. HP Pavilion DV9051 Battery

Legally, the Commune structure was created by Law no 96- 059/AN- RM of 4 November 1996. The communes generally retain the same boundaries as the former arrondissements. Commune affairs are directed by a Commune Council (conseil communal) of elected members and a Commune executive (bureau communal) of the elected Mayor and three adjutants. HP Pavilion DV9051EA Battery

The executive is tasked with carrying out the directives voted by the Council. National policies are carried out by a Sub-Prefect (sous préfet), who also carries out certain of the Council's directives over the local arms or national bodies.

Politics of Mali takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, HP Pavilion DV9052 Battery

whereby the President of Maliis head of state with a Presidentially appointed Prime Minister as the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciaryis independent of the executive and the legislature. HP Pavilion DV9052EA Battery

 Chad is a land-locked country in north central Africa measuring 1,284,000 square kilometers (495,755 sq mi), roughly three times the size of California. Most of its ethnically and linguistically diverse population lives in the south, HP Pavilion DV9088 Battery

with densities ranging from 54 persons per square kilometers in the Logone River basin to 0.1 persons in the northern B.E.T. desert region, which is larger than France. The capital city of N'Djaména, situated at the confluence of theChari and Logone Rivers, is cosmopolitan in nature, with a current population in excess of 700,000 people. HP Pavilion DV9088EA Battery

Chad has four bioclimatic zones. The northernmost Saharan zone averages less than 200 mm (7.9 in) of rainfall annually. The sparse human population is largely nomadic, with some livestock, mostly small ruminants and camels. HP Pavilion DV9089 Battery

The central Sahelian zone receives between 200 and 600 mm (7.9 and 23.6 in) rainfall and has vegetation ranging from grass/shrub steppe to thorny, open savanna. The southern zone, often referred to as the Sudanian zone, receives between 600 and 1,000 mm (23.6 and 39.4 in), with woodland savanna and deciduous forests for vegetation. HP Pavilion DV9089EA Battery

Rainfall in the Guinea zone, located in Chad's southwestern tip, ranges between 1,000 and 1,200 mm (39.4 and 47.2 in).

The country's topography is generally flat, with the elevation gradually rising as one moves north and east away fromLake Chad. The highest point in Chad is Emi Koussi, a mountain that rises 3,100 m (10,171 ft) in the northern Tibesti Mountains. HP Pavilion DV9090 Battery

The Ennedi Plateau and the Ouaddaï highlands in the east complete the image of a gradually sloping basin, which descends towards Lake Chad. There are also central highlands in the Guera region rising to 1,500 m (4,921 ft).

Lake Chad is the second largest lake in west Africa and is one of the most important wetlands on the continent.^[1] HP Pavilion DV9090EA Battery

Home to 120 species of fish and at least that many species of birds, the lake has shrunk dramatically in the last four decades due to the increased water from an expanding population usage and low rainfall. Bordered by Chad, Niger,Nigeria, and Cameroon, HP Pavilion DV9091 Battery

Lake Chad currently covers only 1350 square kilometers, down from 25,000 square kilometers in 1963. The Chari and Logone Rivers, both of which originate in the Central African Republic and flow northward, provide most of the surface water entering Lake Chad. HP Pavilion DV9091EA Battery

Geographical setting

Located in north-central Africa, Chad stretches for about 1,800 kilometers from its northernmost point to its southern boundary. Except in the far northwest and south, where its borders converge, Chad's average width is about 800 kilometers. HP Pavilion DV9092 Battery

Its area of 1,284,000 square kilometers is roughly equal to the combined areas of Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. Chad's neighbors include Libya to the north, Niger and Nigeria to the west, Sudan to the east, Central African Republic to the south, and Cameroonto the southwest. HP Pavilion DV9092EA Battery

Chad exhibits two striking geographical characteristics. First, the country is landlocked. N'Djamena, the capital, is located more than 1,100 kilometers northeast of the Atlantic Ocean; Abéché, a major city in the east, lies 2,650 kilometers from the Red Sea; HP Pavilion DV9095EU Battery

and Faya-Largeau, a much smaller but strategically important center in the north, is in the middle of the Sahara Desert, 1,550 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea. These vast distances from the sea have had a profound impact on Chad's historical and contemporary development. HP Pavilion DV9095TX Battery

The second noteworthy characteristic is that the country borders on very different parts of the African continent: North Africa, with its Islamic culture and economic orientation toward the Mediterranean Basin; West Africa, with its diverse religions and cultures and its history of highly developed states and regional economies; HP Pavilion DV9095XX Battery

Northeast Africa, oriented toward the Nile Valley and Red Sea region; and Central or Equatorial Africa, some of whose people have retained classical African religions while others have adopted Christianity, and whose economies were part of the great Congo River system. HP Pavilion DV9096EA Battery

Although much of Chad's distinctiveness comes from this diversity of influences, since independence the diversity has also been an obstacle to the creation of a national identity.

Land

Although Chadian society is economically, socially, and culturally fragmented, the country's geography is unified by the Lake Chad Basin. HP Pavilion DV9096XX Battery

Once a huge inland sea (the Pale-Chadian Sea) whose only remnant is shallow Lake Chad, this vast depression extends west into Nigeria and Niger. The larger, northern portion of the basin is bounded within Chad by the Tibesti Mountains in the northwest, the Ennedi Plateau in the northeast, HP Pavilion DV9097EA Battery

the Ouaddaï Highlands in the east along the border with Sudan, the Guéra Massif in central Chad, and the Mandara Mountains along Chad's southwestern border with Cameroon. The smaller, southern part of the basin falls almost exclusively in Chad. HP Pavilion DV9097XX Battery

It is delimited in the north by the Guéra Massif, in the south by highlands 250 kilometers south of the border with Central African Republic, and in the southwest by the Mandara Mountains.

Lake Chad, located in the southwestern part of the basin at an altitude of 282 meters, HP Pavilion DV9098 Battery

surprisingly does not mark the basin's lowest point; instead, this is found in the Bodele and Djourab regions in the north-central and northeastern parts of the country, respectively. This oddity arises because the great stationary dunes (ergs) of the Kanem region create a dam, preventing lake waters from flowing to the basin's lowest point. HP Pavilion DV9098XX Battery

At various times in the past, and as late as the 1870s, the Bahr el Ghazal Depression, which extends from the northeastern part of the lake to the Djourab, acted as an overflow canal; since independence, climatic conditions have made overflows impossible. HP Pavilion DV9099EA Battery

North and northeast of Lake Chad, the basin extends for more than 800 kilometers, passing through regions characterized by great rolling dunes separated by very deep depressions. Although vegetation holds the dunes in place in the Kanem region, farther north they are bare and have a fluid, rippling character. HP Pavilion DV9099XX Battery

From its low point in the Djourab, the basin then rises to the plateaus and peaks of the Tibesti Mountains in the north. The summit of this formation—as well as the highest point in the Sahara Desert—is Emi Koussi, a dormant volcano that reaches 3,414 meters above sea level. HP Pavilion DV9076 Battery

The basin's northeastern limit is the Ennedi Plateau, whose limestone bed rises in steps etched by erosion. East of the lake, the basin rises gradually to the Ouaddaï Highlands, which mark Chad's eastern border and also divide the Chad and Nile watersheds. These highland areas are part of the East Saharan montane xeric woodlands ecoregion. HP Pavilion DV9076EA Battery

Southeast of Lake Chad, the regular contours of the terrain are broken by the Guéra Massif, which divides the basin into its northern and southern parts. South of the lake lie the floodplains of the Chari and Logone rivers, much of which are inundated during the rainy season. HP Pavilion DV9077 Battery

Farther south, the basin floor slopes upward, forming a series of low sand and clay plateaus, called koros, which eventually climb to 615 meters above sea level. South of the Chadian border, the koros divide the Lake Chad Basin from the Ubangi-Zaire river system. HP Pavilion DV9077EA Battery

Water systems

Permanent streams do not exist in northern or central Chad. Following infrequent rains in the Ennedi Plateau and Ouaddaï Highlands, water may flow through depressions called enneris and wadis. HP Pavilion DV9078 Battery

Often the result of flash floods, such streams usually dry out within a few days as the remaining puddles seep into the sandy clay soil. The most important of these streams is the Batha, which in the rainy season carries water west from the Ouaddaï Highlands and the Guéra Massif to Lake Fitri. HP Pavilion DV9078EA Battery

Chad's major rivers are the Chari and the Logone and their tributaries, which flow from the southeast into Lake Chad. Both river systems rise in the highlands of Central African Republic and Cameroon, regions that receive more than 1,250 millimeters of rainfall annually. HP Pavilion DV9079 Battery

Fed by rivers of Central African Republic, as well as by the Bahr Salamat, Bahr Aouk, and Bahr Sara rivers of southeastern Chad, the Chari River is about 1,200 kilometers long. From its origins near the city of Sarh, the middle course of the Chari makes its way through swampy terrain; the lower Chari is joined by the Logone River near N'Djamena. HP Pavilion DV9079EA Battery

The Chari's volume varies greatly, from 17 cubic meters per second during the dry season to 340 cubic meters per second during the wettest part of the year.

The Logone River is formed by tributaries flowing from Cameroon and Central African Republic. HP Pavilion DV9080 Battery

Both shorter and smaller in volume than the Chari, it flows northeast for 960 kilometers; its volume ranges from five to eighty-five cubic meters per second. At N'Djamena the Logone empties into the Chari, and the combined rivers flow together for thirty kilometers through a large delta and into Lake Chad. HP Pavilion DV9080EA Battery

At the end of the rainy season in the fall, the river overflows its banks and creates a huge floodplain in the delta.

The seventh largest lake in the world (and the fourth largest in Africa), Lake Chad is located in the sahelian zone, a region just south of the Sahara Desert. HP Pavilion DV9081 Battery

The Chari River contributes 95 percent of Lake Chad's water, an average annual volume of 40 billion cubic meters, 95% of which is lost to evaporation. The size of the lake is determined by rains in the southern highlands bordering the basin and by temperatures in the Sahel. HP Pavilion DV9081EA Battery

Fluctuations in both cause the lake to change dramatically in size, from 9,800 square kilometers in the dry season to 25,500 at the end of the rainy season. Lake Chad also changes greatly in size from one year to another. In 1870 its maximum area was 28,000 square kilometers. The measurement dropped to 12,700 in 1908. HP Pavilion DV9082 Battery

In the 1940s and 1950s, the lake remained small, but it grew again to 26,000 square kilometers in 1963. The droughts of the late 1960s, early 1970s, and mid-1980s caused Lake Chad to shrink once again, however. The only other lakes of importance in Chad are Lake Fitri, in Batha Prefecture, and Lake Iro, in the marshy southeast. HP Pavilion DV9082EA Battery

Climate

The Lake Chad Basin embraces a great range of tropical climates from north to south, although most of these climates tend to be dry. Apart from the far north, most regions are characterized by a cycle of alternating rainy and dry seasons. HP Pavilion DV9083 Battery

In any given year, the duration of each season is determined largely by the positions of two great air masses—a maritime mass over the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest and a much drier continental mass. During the rainy season, winds from the southwest push the moister maritime system north over the African continent where it meets and slips under the continental mass along a front called the "intertropical convergence zone". HP Pavilion DV9083EA Battery

At the height of the rainy season, the front may reach as far as Kanem Prefecture. By the middle of the dry season, the intertropical convergence zone moves south of Chad, taking the rain with it. This weather system contributes to the formation of three major regions of climate and vegetation. HP Pavilion DV9084 Battery

Saharan region

The Saharan region covers roughly the northern third of the country, including Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Prefecture along with the northern parts of Kanem, Batha, and Biltine prefectures. HP Pavilion DV9084EA Battery

Much of this area receives only traces of rain during the entire year; at Faya Largeau, for example, annual rainfall averages less than 30 millimeters (1.18 in). Scattered small oases and occasional wells provide water for a few date palms or small plots of millet and garden crops. In much of the north, HP Pavilion DV9065EA Battery

the average daily maximum temperature is about 32 °C (89.6 °F) during January, the coolest month of the year, and about 45 °C (113 °F) during May, the hottest month. On occasion, strong winds from the northeast produce violent sandstorms. In northern Biltine Prefecture, a region called the Mortcha plays a major role in animal husbandry. HP Pavilion DV9066 Battery

Dry for nine months of the year, it receives 350 millimeters (13.8 in) or more of rain, mostly during July and August. A carpet of green springs from the desert during this brief wet season, attracting herders from throughout the region who come to pasture their cattle and camels. HP Pavilion DV9066EA Battery

Because very few wells and springs have water throughout the year, the herders leave with the end of the rains, turning over the land to the antelopes, gazelles, and ostriches that can survive with little groundwater.

Sahelian region

The semiarid sahelian zone, or Sahel, HP Pavilion DV9067 Battery

forms a belt about 500 kilometers (311 mi) wide that runs from Lac and Chari-Baguirmi prefectures eastward through Guéra, Ouaddaï, and northern Salamat prefectures to the Sudanese frontier. The climate in this transition zone between the desert and the southern soudanian zone is divided into a rainy season (from June to early September) and a dry period (from October to May). HP Pavilion DV9067EA Battery

In the northern Sahel, thorny shrubs and acacia trees grow wild, while date palms, cereals, and garden crops are raised in scattered oases. Outside these settlements, nomads tend their flocks during the rainy season, moving southward as forage and surface water disappear with the onset of the dry part of the year. HP Pavilion DV9068 Battery

The central Sahel is characterized by drought-resistant grasses and small woods. Rainfall is more abundant there than in the Saharan region. For example, N'Djamena records a maximum annual average rainfall of 580 millimeters (22.8 in), while Ouaddaï Prefecture receives just a bit less. HP Pavilion DV9068EA Battery

During the hot season, in April and May, maximum temperatures frequently rise above 40 °C (104 °F). In the southern part of the Sahel, rainfall is sufficient to permit crop production on unirrigated land, and millet and sorghum are grown. Agriculture is also common in the marshlands east of Lake Chad and near swamps or wells. HP Pavilion DV9069 Battery

Many farmers in the region combine subsistence agriculture with the raising of cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry.

Soudanian region

The humid soudanian zone includes the southern prefectures of Mayo-Kebbi, Tandjilé, Logone Occidental, Logone Oriental, Moyen-Chari, and southern Salamat. HP Pavilion DV9069EA Battery

Between April and October, the rainy season brings between 750 and 1,250 millimeters (29.5 and 49.2 in) of precipitation. Temperatures are high throughout the year. Daytime readings in Moundou, the major city in the southwest, range from 27 °C (80.6 °F) in the middle of the cool season in January to about 40 °C (104 °F) in the hot months of March, April, and May. HP Pavilion DV9071 Battery

The soudanian region is predominantly East Sudanian savanna, or plains covered with a mixture of tropical or subtropical grasses and woodlands. The growth is lush during the rainy season but turns brown and dormant during the five-month dry season between November and March. HP Pavilion DV9071EA Battery

Over a large part of the region, however, natural vegetation has yielded to agriculture.

The 1993 census found that 53% of Chadians were Muslim, 20% Roman Catholic, 14% Protestant, 10% animist and 3% atheist.^[1]Christianity arrived in Chad with the French.^[2] HP Pavilion DV9072 Battery

Muslims are largely concentrated in northern and eastern Chad, and animists and Christians live primarily in southern Chad and Guéra.^[3] The constitution provides for a secular state and guarantees religious freedom.^[4] The separation of religion from social structure in Chad represents a false dichotomy, for they are perceived as two sides of the same coin. HP Pavilion DV9072EA Battery

Three religious traditions coexist in Chad—classical African religions, Islam, and Christianity. The first tradition includes a variety of ancestor and/or place-oriented religions whose expression is highly specific.

Islam, although characterized by an orthodox set of beliefs and observances, is expressed in diverse ways. HP Pavilion DV9073 Battery

Christianity arrived in Chad with the arrival of Europeans. Its followers are divided into Roman Catholics and Protestants (including several denominations). As with Chadian Islam, Chadian Christianity retains aspects of pre-Christian religious belief. The number of followers of each tradition in Chad is unknown. HP Pavilion DV9073EA Battery

Estimates made in 1962 suggested that 35 percent of Chadians practiced classical African religions, 55 percent were Muslims and 10 percent were Christians. In the 1970s and 1980s, this distribution undoubtedly changed. Observers report that Islam has spread among the Hajerai and among other non-Muslim populations of the Saharan and sahelian zones. HP Pavilion DV9074CL Battery

The proportion of Muslims may have fallen because the birthrate among the followers of classical religions and Christians in southern Chad is thought to be higher than that among Muslims.

African religions

Classical African religions regard the world as a product of a complex system of relationships among people, HP Pavilion DV9074EA Battery

living and dead, and animals, plants, and natural and supernatural phenomena. This religious tradition is often called "animism" because of its central premise that all things are "animated" by life forces. The relationships among all things are ordered and often hierarchical. HP Pavilion DV9075EA Battery

Human societies reflect this order, and human survival and success require that it be maintained. Antisocial acts or bad luck signal that this harmony has been upset, leading to efforts to restore it through ritual acts, such as prayers, sacrifices, libations, communions, dances, and symbolic struggles. HP Pavilion DV9075EU Battery

Such intervention, it is believed, helps ward off the chaos that adversely affects people and their souls, families and communities, and crops and harvests.

Ancestors play an important role in Chadian classical religions. They are thought to span the gap between the supernatural and natural worlds. HP Pavilion DV9075LA Battery

They connect these two worlds specifically by linking living lineage members with their earliest forebears. Because of their proximity, and because they once walked among the living, ancestors are prone to intervene in daily affairs. HP Pavilion DV9075XX Battery

This intervention is particularly likely in the case of the recently deceased, who are thought to spend weeks or months in limbo between the living and the dead. Many religious observances include special rituals to propitiate these spirits, encourage them to take their leave with serenity, and restore the social order their deaths have disrupted. HP Pavilion DV9051 Battery

Spirits are also numerous. These invisible beings inhabit a parallel world and sometimes reside in particular places or are associated with particular natural phenomena. Among the Mbaye, a Sara subgroup, water and lightning spirits are thought to bring violent death and influence other spirits to intervene in daily life. HP Pavilion DV9051EA Battery

The sun spirit, capable of rendering service or causing harm, also must be propitiated. Spirits may live in family groups with spouses and children. They are also capable of taking human, animal, or plant forms when they appear among the living. The supernatural powers that control natural events are also of major concern. HP Pavilion DV9052 Battery

Among farming peoples, rituals to propitiate such powers are associated with the beginning and end of the agricultural cycle. Among the Sara, the new year begins with the appearance of the first new moon following the harvest. The next day, people hunt with nets and fire, offering the catch to ancestors. HP Pavilion DV9052EA Battery

Libations are offered to ancestors, and the first meal from the new harvest is consumed.

Among the more centralized societies of Chad, the ruler frequently is associated with divine power. Poised at the apex of society, he or (more rarely) she is responsible for good relations with the supernatural forces that sanction and maintain the social order.HP Pavilion DV9053 Battery

For example, among the Moundang, the gon lere of Léré is responsible for relations with the sky spirits. And among the Sara Madjingay, the mbang (chief) of the village of Bédaya controls religious rituals that preserve and renew the social order. Even after the coming of Islam, the symbols of such authority reinforced the rulers of nominally Islamic states such as Wadai, Kanem-Borno, and Bagirmi. HP Pavilion DV9053EA Battery

Finally, most classical African religions involve belief in a supreme being who created the world and its inhabitants but who then retired from active intervention in human affairs. As a result, shrines to a high god are uncommon, and people tend to appeal to the lesser spirits; HP Pavilion DV9054 Battery

yet the notion of a supreme being may have helped the spread of Christianity. When missionaries arrived in southern Chad, they often used the local name of this high god to refer to the Christian supreme being. Thus, although a much more interventionist spirit, the Christian god was recognizable to the people. HP Pavilion DV9054EA Battery

This recognition probably facilitated conversion, but it may also have ironically encouraged syncretism (the mixing of religious traditions), a practice disturbing to many missionaries and to Protestants in particular. Followers of classical African religions would probably not perceive any necessary contradiction between accepting the Christian god and continuing to believe in the spirits just described. HP Pavilion DV9055 Battery

Because order is thought to be the natural, desirable state, disorder is not happenstance. Classical African religions devote considerable energy to the maintenance of order and the determination of who or what is responsible for disorder. In the case of illness, for example, HP Pavilion DV9055EA Battery

it is of the greatest importance to ascertain which spirit or which person is responsible for undermining the natural order; only then is it possible to prescribe a remedy. In such circumstances, people frequently take their cases to ritual specialists, who divine the threats to harmony and recommend appropriate action. HP Pavilion DV9056 Battery

Such specialists share their knowledge only with peers. Indeed, they themselves have probably acquired such knowledge incrementally as they made their way through elaborate apprenticeships.

Although classical African religions provide institutionalized ways of maintaining or restoring community solidarity, HP Pavilion DV9056EA Battery

they also allow individuals to influence the cosmic order to advance their own interests. Magic and sorcery both serve this end. From society's standpoint, magic is positive or neutral. On the one hand, magicians try to influence life forces to alter the physical world, perhaps to bring good fortune or a return to health. HP Pavilion DV9057 Battery

Sorcerers, on the other hand, are antisocial, using sorcery (or "black magic") to control or consume the vital force of others. Unlike magicians, whose identity is generally known, sorcerers hide their supernatural powers, practicing their nefarious rites in secret. When misfortune occurs, people often suspect that sorcery is at the root of their troubles. HP Pavilion DV9057EA Battery

They seek counsel from diviners or magicians to identify the responsible party and ways to rectify the situation; if the disruption is deemed to threaten everyone, leaders may act on behalf of the community at large. If discovered, sorcerers are punished. HP Pavilion DV9058 Battery

The survival of any society requires that knowledge be passed from one generation to another. In many Chadian societies, this transmission is marked by ritual. Knowledge of the world and its forces is limited to adults; among the predominantly patrilineal societies of Chad, it is further limited to men in particular. HP Pavilion DV9058EA Battery

Rituals often mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. However, they actively "transform" children into adults, teaching them what adults must know to assume societal responsibilities.

Although such rites differ among societies, the Sara yondo may serve as a model of male initiation ceremonies found in Chad. HP Pavilion DV9059 Battery

The yondo takes place at a limited number of sites every six or seven years. Boys from different villages, usually accompanied by an elder, gather for the rites, which, before the advent of Western education with its nine-month academic calendar, lasted several months. In recent decades, the yondo has been limited to several weeks between academic years. HP Pavilion DV9059EA Battery

The yondo and its counterparts among other Chadian societies reinforce male bonds and male authority. Women are not allowed to witness the rite. Their initiated sons and brothers no longer eat with them and go to live in separate houses. Although rites also mark the transition to womanhood in many Chadian societies, such ceremonies are much shorter. HP Pavilion DV9060EA Battery

Rather than encouraging girls to participate in the larger society, they stress household responsibilities and deference to male authority.

Islam

Islam became a dynamic political and military force in the Middle East in the decades immediately following Muhammad's death.HP Pavilion DV9060US Battery

By the late seventh century A.D., Muslims reached North Africa and moved south into the desert. Although it is difficult to date the arrival and spread of Islam in Chad, by the time Arab migrants began arriving from the east in the fourteenth century, the faith was already widespread. HP Pavilion DV9061 Battery

Instead of being the product of conquest or the imposition of political power, Islam gradually spread in Chad, and beyond its political frontiers.

Islam in Chad has adapted to its local context in many ways. HP Pavilion DV9061EA Battery

For one thing, despite the presence of a large number of Arabs, Arabic is not the maternal language of the majority of Chadian Muslims. As a result, although many Chadian Muslims have attended Quranic schools, they often have learned to recite Quranic verses without understanding their meaning. HP Pavilion DV9062 Battery

Hence, perhaps even more than among those who understand Arabic, the recitation of verse has taken on a mystical character among Chadian Muslims. Moreover, Islam in Chad was not particularly influenced by the great mystical movements of the Islamic Middle Ages or the fundamentalist upheavals that affected the faith in the Middle East, West Africa, and Sudan. HP Pavilion DV9062EA Battery

Beginning in the Middle East in the thirteenth century, Muslim mystics and da'is sought to complement the intellectual comprehension of Islam with direct religious experience through prayer, contemplation, and action. The followers of these da'is founded brotherhoods, which institutionalized their teachers' interpretations of the faith. HP Pavilion DV9064 Battery

Such organizations stimulated the spread of Islam and also provided opportunities for joint action, for the most part, which was not the case in Chad, where only two brotherhoods exist. Perhaps as a result of prolonged contact with West African Muslim traders and pilgrims, HP Pavilion DV9064EA Battery

most Chadian Muslims identify with the Tijaniyya order, but the brotherhood has not served as a rallying point for unified action. Similarly, the Sanusiyya, a brotherhood founded in Libya in the mid-nineteenth century, enjoyed substantial economic and political influence in the Lake Chad Basin around 1900. HP Pavilion DV9065 Battery

Despite French fears of an Islamic revival movement led by "Sanusi fanatics," Chadian adherents, limited to the Awlad Sulayman Arabs and the Toubou of eastern Tibesti, have never been numerous. HP Pavilion DV9042 Battery

Chapelle writes that even though Chadian Islam adheres to the Maliki legal school (which, like the other three accepted schools of Islamic jurisprudence, is based on an extensive legal literature), most Islamic education relies solely on the Quran. Higher Islamic education in Chad is all but nonexistent; HP Pavilion DV9042EA Battery

thus, serious Islamic students and scholars must go abroad. Popular destinations include Khartoum and Cairo, where numerous Chadians attend Al Azhar, the most renowned university in the Islamic world.

Chadian observance of the five pillars of the faith differs somewhat from the orthodox tradition. HP Pavilion DV9043 Battery

For example, public and communal prayer occurs more often than the prescribed one time each week but often does not take place in a mosque. Moreover, Chadian Muslims probably make the pilgrimage less often than, for example, theirHausa counterparts in northern Nigeria. HP Pavilion DV9043EA Battery

As for the Ramadan fast, the most fervent Muslims in Chad refuse to swallow their saliva during the day, a particularly stern interpretation of the injunction against eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset.

Christianity

Christianity arrived in Chad in the twentieth century, shortly after the colonial conquest. HP Pavilion DV9044 Battery

Contrary to the dominant pattern in some other parts of Africa, however, where the colonial powers encouraged the spread of the faith, the earliest French officials in Chad advised against it. This recommendation, however, probably reflected European paternalism and favoritism toward Islam rather than a display of liberalism. HP Pavilion DV9044EA Battery

In any case, the French military administration followed such counsel for the first two decades of the century, the time it took to conquer the new colony and establish control over its people. Following World War I, official opposition to Christianity softened, and the government tolerated but did not sponsor missionaries. HP Pavilion DV9045 Battery

Since World War II, Chadian Christians have had a far greater influence on Chadian life than their limited numbers suggest. The missions spread the ideology of Westernization—the notion that progress depended on following European models of development. Even more specifically, HP Pavilion DV9045EA Battery

Roman Catholic mission education spread the French language. Even though Islam spread more quickly and more widely than Christianity, Christians controlled the government that inherited power from the French. These leaders imparted a Western orientation that continued to dominate in the 1980s. HP Pavilion DV9046 Battery

Protestantism

The Protestants came to southern Chad in the 1920s. American Baptists were the first, but missionaries of other denominations and nationalities soon followed. Many of the American missions were northern offshoots of missionary networks founded farther south in the HP Pavilion DV9046EA Battery

Ubangi-Shari colony (now Central African Republic) of French Equatorial Africa (Afrique Equatoriale Française—AEF; ses Glossary). The organizational ties between the missions in southern Chad and Ubangi-Chari were strengthened by France's decision in 1925 to transfer Logone Occidental, HP Pavilion DV9047 Battery

Tandjilé, Logone Oriental, and Moyen-Chari prefectures to Ubangi-Chari, where they remained until another administrative shuffle restored them to Chad in 1932.

These early Protestant establishments looked to their own churches for material resources and to their own countries for diplomatic support. HP Pavilion DV9047EA Battery

Such independence allowed them to maintain a distance from the French colonial administration. In addition, the missionaries arrived with their wives and children, and they often spent their entire lives in the region. Some of the missionaries who arrived at that time had grown up with missionary parents in missions founded earlier in the French colonies to the south. HP Pavilion DV9048 Battery

Some missionary children from this era later founded missions of their own. Many remained after independence, leaving only in the early and or mid-1970s when Tombalbaye's authenticité movement forced their departure (see Fall of the Tombalbaye Government, ch. 1). HP Pavilion DV9048EA Battery

The puritanical message preached by many Protestant missionaries undermined the appeal of the faith. Rather than allowing a local Christian tradition to develop, the missionaries preached a fundamentalist doctrine native to parts of the United States. They inveighed against dancing, alcohol, and local customs, which they considered "superstitions." HP Pavilion DV9049 Battery

New converts found it almost impossible to observe Protestant teachings and remain within their communities. In the early years, Chadian Protestants often left their villages and settled around the missions. But abandoning village and family was a sacrifice that most people were reluctant to make. HP Pavilion DV9049EA Battery

Although language and doctrine probably discouraged conversion, the educational and medical projects of the Protestant missions probably attracted people. The missionaries set up schools, clinics, and hospitals long before the colonial administration did. HP Pavilion DV9050 Battery

In fact, the mission schools produced the first Western-educated Chadians in the 1940s and 1950s. In general, the Protestant missionary effort in southern Chad has enjoyed some success. In 1980, after a half-century of evangelization, Protestants in southern Chad numbered about 80,000. HP Pavilion DV9050EA Battery

From bases in the south, Protestants founded missions in other parts of Chad. For the most part, they avoided settling among Muslims, who were not responsive to their message. In the colonial capital of Fort-Lamy (present-day's N'Djamena), the missions attracted followers among resident southerners. HP Pavilion DV9033 Battery

The missionaries also proselytized among the non-Muslim populations of Guéra, Ouaddaï, and Biltine prefectures. Although Christianity appealed to some in the capital (there were estimated to be 18,000 Christians in N'Djamena in 1980), efforts in other parts of the Sahel were relatively unsuccessful. HP Pavilion DV9033CL Battery

In the late 1980s, the future of the Protestant missions in Chad remained unclear. As noted, many Protestant missionaries were forced to leave the country during the cultural revolution in the early and mid-1970s. Outside the south, other missions have been caught in the cross fire of warring factions. HP Pavilion DV9035EA Battery

Rebel forces have pillaged mission stations, and the government has accused the missionaries of complicity with the opposition.

Roman Catholicism

The Roman Catholic missions came to Chad later than their Protestant counterparts. HP Pavilion DV9035NR Battery

Isolated efforts began as early as 1929 when The Holy Ghost Fathers from Bangui founded a mission at Kou, near Moundou in Logone Occidental Prefecture. In 1934, in the midst of the sleeping sickness epidemic, they abandoned Kou for Doba in Logone Oriental Prefecture. HP Pavilion DV9036 Battery

Other priests from Ubangi-Shari and Cameroon opened missions in Kélo and Sarh in 1935 and 1939, respectively.

In 1946 these autonomous missions gave way to an institutionalized Roman Catholic presence. This late date had more to do with European politics than with events in Chad. HP Pavilion DV9036EA Battery

Earlier in the century, the Vatican had designated the Chad region to be part of the Italian vicarate of Khartoum. Rather than risk the implantation of Italian missionaries during the era of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the French administration discouraged all Roman Catholic missionary activity. HP Pavilion DV9037 Battery

For its part, the Vatican adopted the same tactic, not wishing to upset the Italian regime by transferring jurisdiction of the Chad region to the French. As a consequence of their defeat in World War II, however, the Italians lost their African colonies. This loss cleared the way for a French Roman Catholic presence in Chad, which a decree from Rome formalized on March 22, 1946. HP Pavilion DV9037EA Battery

This decree set up three religious jurisdictions that eventually became four bishoprics. The first, administered by the Jesuits, had its seat in N'Djamena. Although its jurisdiction included the eight prefectures in the northern and eastern parts of the country, almost all the Roman Catholics in sahelian and Saharan Chad lived in the capital. HP Pavilion DV9038 Battery

The diocese of N'Djamena also served as the archdiocese of all Chad. The second bishopric, at Sarh, also was delegated to the Jesuits. Its region included Salamat and Moyen-Chari prefectures. The third and fourth jurisdictions had their headquarters in Pala and Moundou and were delegated to the Oblats de Marie and Capuchin orders. HP Pavilion DV9038EA Battery

The Pala bishopric served Mayo-Kebbi Prefecture, while the bishopric of Moundou was responsible for missions in Logone Occidental and Logone Oriental prefectures. By far the most important jurisdiction in 1970, Pala included 116,000 of Chad's 160,000 Catholics.

The relatively slow progress of the Roman Catholic Church in Chad has several causes. HP Pavilion DV9039 Battery

Although Roman Catholicism has been much more open to local cultures than Protestantism, the doctrine of celibacy probably has deterred candidates for the priesthood. Insistence on monogamy also has undoubtedly made the faith less attractive to some potential converts, particularly wealthy older men able to afford more than one wife. HP Pavilion DV9039EA Battery

The social works of the Roman Catholic Church have made it an important institution in Chad. Like their Protestant counterparts, the Roman Catholic missions have a history of social service. In the 1970s, along with priests, the staffs of most establishments included brothers and nuns who worked in the areas of health, education, and development. HP Pavilion DV9040EA Battery

Many of the nuns were trained medical professionals who served on the staffs of government hospitals and clinics. It was estimated that 20,000 Chadians attended Roman Catholic schools in 1980. Adult literacy classes also reached beyond the traditional school-aged population. HP Pavilion DV9040EU Battery

In the area of development, as early as the 1950s Roman Catholic missions in southern Chad set up rural development centers whose clientele included non-Christians as well as Christians. HP Pavilion DV9040TX Battery,HP Pavilion DV9040US Battery,HP Pavilion DV9041 Battery,HP Pavilion DV9041EA Battery, HP Pavilion DV9030US Battery

 Chad  (French: Tchad, Arabic:  ‎ Tš d), officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked countryin Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south,Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. HP Pavilion DV9050EA Battery

Due to its distance from the sea and its largely desertclimate, the country is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa".

Chad is divided into multiple regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese savanna zone in the south. HP G62-110ED Battery

Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second largest in Africa. Chad's highest peak is the Emi Koussi in the Sahara, and N'Djamena, (formerly Fort-Lamy), the capital, is the largest city. Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. HP 480385-001 battery

Arabic andFrench are the official languages. Islam and Christianity are the most widely practiced religions.

Beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. HP G62-120SS battery

By the end of the 1st millennium BC, a series of states and empires rose and fell in Chad's Sahelian strip, each focused on controlling the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa. HP G62-120SS battery

In 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a long-lasting civil war in 1965. In 1979, the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the south's hegemony. HP Pavilion DV6-1246EO battery

However, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habrédefeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby. Recently^[when?], the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery

While many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, thePatriotic Salvation Movement. Chad remains plagued by political violence and recurrent attempted coups d'état (seeBattle of N'Djamena (2006) and Battle of N'Djamena (2008)). Sony VGP-BPL7 battery

Chad is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world; most inhabitants live in poverty as subsistence herders and farmers. Since 2003, crude oil has become the country's primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry. Chad is considered a failed state by the Fund for Peace. HP F2299A battery

In the 7th millennium BC, ecological conditions in the northern half of Chadian territory favored human settlement, and the region experienced a strong population increase. Some of the most important African archaeological sites are found in Chad, mainly in the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region; some date to earlier than 2000 BC.^[4][5] HSTNN-LB51 battery

For more than 2000 years, the Chadian Basin has been inhabited by agricultural and sedentary peoples. The region became a crossroads of civilizations. The earliest of these were the legendary Sao, known from artifacts and oral histories. The Sao fell to the Kanem Empire,^[6][7] Sony VGN-AW11XU/Q battery

the first and longest-lasting of the empires that developed in Chad's Sahelianstrip by the end of the 1st millennium AD. The power of Kanem and its successors was based on control of the trans-Saharan trade routes that passed through the region.^[5] HP 446506-001 battery

These states, at least tacitly Muslim, never extended their control to the southern grasslands except to raid for slaves.

French colonial expansion led to the creation of the Territoire Militaire des Pays et Protectorats du Tchad in 1900. HP Pavilion DV4-1365DX battery

By 1920, France had secured full control of the colony and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa.^[10] French rule in Chad was characterised by an absence of policies to unify the territory and sluggish modernisation. The French primarily viewed the colony as an unimportant source of untrained labour and raw cotton; Sony VAIO VGN-TZ190N/BC battery

France introduced large-scale cotton production in 1929. The colonial administration in Chad was critically understaffed and had to rely on the dregs of the French civil service. Only the south was governed effectively; French presence in the north and east was nominal. The educational system suffered from this neglect.^[5][11] Sony VAIO VGN-Z31WN/B battery

After World War II, France granted Chad the status of overseas territory and its inhabitants the right to elect representatives to the French National Assembly and a Chadian assembly. The largest political party was the Chadian Progressive Party (PPT), based in the southern half of the colony. HP Pavilion DV6-1215EE battery

Chad was granted independence on August 11, 1960 with the PPT's leader,François Tombalbaye, as its first president.^[5][12][13]

Two years later, Tombalbaye banned opposition parties and established a one-party system. Sony VGP-BPS22/A Battery

Tombalbaye's autocratic rule and insensitive mismanagement exacerbated interethnic tensions. In 1965 Muslims began a civil war. Tombalbaye was overthrown and killed in 1975,^[14] but the insurgency continued. In 1979 the rebel factions conquered the capital, and all central authority in the country collapsed. HP Pavilion DV4T-1400 CTO battery

Armed factions, many from the north's rebellion, contended for power.^[15][16]

The disintegration of Chad caused the collapse of France's position in the country. Libya moved to fill the power vacuum and becameinvolved in Chad's civil war.^[17] HP Pavilion DV6-1232ET battery

 Libya's adventure ended in disaster in 1987; the French-supported president, Hissène Habré, evoked a united response from Chadians of a kind never seen before^[18] and forced the Libyan army off Chadian soil.^[19]

Habré consolidated his dictatorship through a power system that relied on corruption and violence; Sony VAIO VPCEB19GX battery

an estimated 40,000 people were killed under his rule.^[20][21] The president favoured his own Daza ethnic group and discriminated against his former allies, the Zaghawa. His general, Idriss Déby, overthrew him in 1990.^[22]

Déby attempted to reconcile the rebel groups and reintroduced multiparty politics. Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P battery

Chadians approved a new constitution by referendum, and in 1996, Déby easily won acompetitive presidential election. He won a second term five years later.^[23] Oil exploitation began in Chad in 2003, bringing with it hopes that Chad would at last have some chances of peace and prosperity. HP Pavilion DV6-1240EI battery

Instead, internal dissent worsened, and a new civil war broke out. Déby unilaterally modified the constitution to remove the two-term limit on the presidency; this caused an uproar among the civil society and opposition parties.^[24] In 2006 Déby won a third mandate in elections that the opposition boycotted. HP Compaq HSTNN-LB51 battery

Ethnic violence in eastern Chad has increased; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has warned that a genocide like that inDarfur may yet occur in Chad.^[25]

In 2006 and in 2008 rebel forces have attempted to take the capital by force, but have on both occasions failed.^[26] HP Pavilion DV4-1211TU battery

Politics and government

Chad's constitution provides for a strong executive branch headed by a president who dominates the political system. The president has the power to appoint the prime minister and the cabinet, and exercises considerable influence over appointments of judges, generals, provincial officials and heads of Chad's para-statal firms. Lenovo S10-2 battery

In cases of grave and immediate threat, the president, in consultation with the National Assembly, may declare a state of emergency. The president is directly electedby popular vote for a five-year term; in 2005 constitutional term limits were removed.^[27] Apple MacBook Pro Battery

This removal allows a president to remain in power beyond the previous two-term limit.^[27] Most of Déby's key advisers are members of the Zaghawa ethnic group, although southern and opposition personalities are represented in government.^[28][29]

Chad is listed as a failed state by the Fund for Peace (FFP). Dell Inspiron N5010 Battery

In 2007 Chad had the seventh highest score on the failed state index. Since then the trend has been upwards each year. Chad had the second highest score (behind Somalia) on the Failed State Index of 2011.^[3]

Corruption is rife at all levels; Sony Vaio P Battery

Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2005 named Chad the most corrupt country in the world,^[30] and it has fared only slightly better in the following years.^[31] In 2007, it scored 1.8 out of 10 on the Corruption Perceptions Index (with 10 being the least corrupt). Dell Inspiron 1564 Battery

OnlyTonga, Uzbekistan, Haiti, Iraq, Burma, and Somalia scored lower.^[32] Critics of President Déby have accused him of cronyism and tribalism.^[33]

Chad's legal system is based on French civil law and Chadian customary law where the latter does not interfere with public order or constitutional guarantees of equality.Lenovo S10-3 Battery

Despite the constitution's guarantee of judicial independence, the president names most key judicial officials. The legal system's highest jurisdictions, the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Council, have become fully operational since 2000. The Supreme Court is made up of a chief justice, named by the president, and 15 councillors, appointed for life by the president and the National Assembly. HP 530 Battery

The Constitutional Court is headed by nine judges elected to nine-year terms. It has the power to review legislation, treaties and international agreements prior to their adoption.

The National Assembly makes legislation. The body consists of 155 members elected for four-year terms who meet three times per year. Samsung R522 Battery

The Assembly holds regular sessions twice a year, starting in March and October, and can hold special sessions when called by the prime minister. Deputies elect a National Assembly president every two years. The president must sign or reject newly passed laws within 15 days. Dell Latitude D630 Battery

The National Assembly must approve the prime minister's plan of government and may force the prime minister to resign through a majority vote of no confidence. However, if the National Assembly rejects the executive branch's programme twice in one year, the president may disband the Assembly and call for new legislative elections. Acer Aspire 5515 Battery

In practice, the president exercises considerable influence over the National Assembly through his party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement (MPS), which holds a large majority.^[28]

Until the legalisation of opposition parties in 1992, Déby's MPS was the sole legal party in Chad.^[28] Dell Studio 1735 Battery

Since, 78 registered political parties have become active.^[34] In 2005, opposition parties and human rights organisations supported the boycott of the constitutional referendum that allowed Déby to stand for re-election for a third term^[35] amid reports of widespread irregularities in voter registration and government censorship of independent media outlets during the campaign.^[36] Toshiba Portege R200 Battery

Correspondents judged the 2006 presidential elections a mere formality, as the opposition deemed the polls a farce and boycotted.^[37]

Déby faces armed opposition from groups who are deeply divided by leadership clashes but united in their intention to overthrow him.^[38] Dell Vostro 1710 Battery

These forces stormed the capital on April 13, 2006, but were ultimately repelled. Chad's greatest foreign influence is France, which maintains 1,000 troops in the country. Déby relies on the French to help repel the rebels, and France gives the Chadian army logistical and intelligence support for fear of a complete collapse of regional stability.^[39] Hp Pavilion dv3-1000 Battery

Nevertheless, Franco-Chadian relations were soured by the granting of oil drilling rights to the American Exxon company in 1999.^[40]

Educators face considerable challenges due to the nation's dispersed population and a certain degree of reluctance on the part of parents to send their children to school. HP Pavilion DV7-1261WM battery

Although attendance is compulsory, only 68% of boys attend primary school, and more than half of the population is illiterate. Higher education is provided at the University of N'Djamena.^[28][41]

Humanitarian situation

According to the United Nations, Chad has been affected by a humanitarian crisis since at least 2001. HP Pavilion DV6-1299EA battery

As of 2008, the country of Chad hosts over 280,000 refugees from the Sudan's Darfur region, over 55,000 from the Central African Republic, as well as over 170,000 internally displaced persons.^[42]

In February 2008 in the aftermath of the battle of N'Djamena, hp g6000 battery

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes expressed "extreme concern" that the crisis would have a negative effect on the ability of humanitarians to deliver life-saving assistance to half a million beneficiaries, most of whom – according to him – heavily rely on humanitarian aid for their survival. HP Pavilion DV6-1210SA battery

UN spokesperson Maurizio Giuliano stated to The Washington Post: "If we do not manage to provide aid at sufficient levels, the humanitarian crisis might become a humanitarian catastrophe".^[44]

Regions, departments, and sub-prefectures

Chad has been divided since February 2008 into 22 regions. Compaq Presario CQ71 battery

The subdivision of Chad in regions came about in 2003 as part of the decentralisation process, when the government abolished the previous 14 prefectures. Each region is headed by a presidentially appointed governor. Prefects administer the 61 departments within the regions.^[46] HP Pavilion DV7-1120EO battery

The departments are divided into 200 sub-prefectures, which are in turn composed of 446 cantons.^[47][48]

The cantons are scheduled to be replaced by communautés rurales, but the legal and regulatory framework has not yet been completed.^[49] Sony VAIO VGN-FW160D battery

The constitution provides for decentralised government to compel local populations to play an active role in their own development.^[50] To this end, the constitution declares that each administrative subdivisions be governed by elected local assemblies,^[51] but no local elections have taken place,^[52] HP Pavilion DV4-1220US battery

 and communal elections scheduled for 2005 have been repeatedly postponed.

Geography

At 1,284,000 square kilometres (496,000 sq mi), Chad is the world's 21st-largest country. It is slightly smaller than Peru and slightly larger than South Africa.^[53][54] Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P battery

Chad is in north central Africa, lying between latitudes 7° and 24°N, and 13° and24°E. Chad is bounded to the north by Libya, to the east by Sudan, to the west by Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, and to the south by the Central African Republic. The country's capital is 1,060 kilometres (660 mi) from the nearest seaport Douala, Cameroon.^[ HP Compaq 491278-001 battery

Due to this distance from the sea and the country's largely desert climate, Chad is sometimes referred to as the "Dead Heart of Africa".^[56]

The dominant physical structure is a wide basin bounded to the north, east and south by mountain ranges such as the Ennedi Plateau in the north-east. HP Compaq 464119-143 battery

Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the remains of an immense lake that occupied 330,000 square kilometres (130,000 sq mi) of theChad Basin 7,000 years ago.

^[41] Although in the 21st century it covers only 17,806 square kilometres (6,875 sq mi), and its surface area is subject to heavy seasonal fluctuations,^[57] HP Compaq Business Notebook 6530B battery

the lake is Africa's second largest wetland.^[58] The Emi Koussi, a dormant volcano in the Tibesti Mountains that reaches 3,414 metres (11,201 ft) above sea level, is the highest point in Chad and the Sahara.

The region's tall grasses and extensive marshes make it favourable for birds, reptiles, and large mammals. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ285N/RC battery

Chad's major rivers—the Chari, Logone and their tributaries—flow through the southern savannas from the southeast into Lake Chad.^[41][59]

Climate

Each year a tropical weather system known as the intertropical front crosses Chad from south to north, bringing a wet season that lasts from May to October in the south, HP 540 battery

and from June to September in the Sahel.^[60] Variations in local rainfall create three major geographical zones. The Sahara lies in the country's northern third. Yearly precipitations throughout this belt are under 50 millimetres (2.0 in); only the occasional spontaneous palm grove survives, and the only ones to do so are south of the Tropic of Cancer. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/P battery

The Sahara gives way to a Sahelianbelt in Chad's centre; precipitation there varies from 300 to 600 mm (11.8 to 23.6 in) per year. In the Sahel, a steppe of thorny bushes (mostly acacias) gradually gives way to the south to East Sudanian savanna in Chad's Sudanese zone. Yearly rainfall in this belt is over 900 mm (35.4 in).^[55] HP Pavilion DV8 battery

Economy and infrastructure

he United Nations' Human Development Index ranks Chad as the seventh poorest country in the world, with 80% of the population living below the poverty line. The GDP (Purchasing power parity) per capita was estimated as US$1,600 in 2008.^[61] Sony VAIO VGN-AR95S battery

Chad is part of the Bank of Central African States, the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa (UDEAC) and the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).^[62] Its currency is the CFA franc. Years of civil war have scared away foreign investors; Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P battery

those who left Chad between 1979 and 1982 have only recently begun to regain confidence in the country's future. In 2000 major direct foreign investment in the oil sector began, boosting the country's economic prospects.

Over 80% of Chad's population relies on subsistence farming and livestock raising for its livelihood.^[53] HP Pavilion DV6000 battery

The crops grown and the locations of herds are determined by the local climate. In the southernmost 10 percent of the territory lies the nation's most fertile cropland, with rich yields of sorghum and millet. In the Sahel only the hardier varieties of millet grow, and these with much lower yields than in the south. HP Compaq KU532AA battery

On the other hand, the Sahel is ideal pastureland for large herds of commercial cattle and for goats, sheep, donkeys and horses. The Sahara's scattered oases support only some dates and legumes.^[5] Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/W battery

Before the development of oil industry, cotton dominated industry and the labour market and accounted for approximately 80% of export earnings.^[63] Cotton remains a primary export, although exact figures are not available. Rehabilitation of Cotontchad, a major cotton company that suffered from a decline in world cotton prices, Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/L battery

has been financed by France, the Netherlands, the European Union, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The parastatal is now expected to be privatised.^[28]

ExxonMobil leads a consortium of Chevron and Petronas that has invested HP Pavilion DV6-1240EO battery

$3.7 billion to develop oil reserves estimated at one billion barrels in southern Chad. Oil production began in 2003 with the completion of a pipeline (financed in part by the World Bank) that links the southern oilfields to terminals on the Atlantic coast of Cameroon. Sony VAIO VGN-NS110E/L battery

As a condition of its assistance, the World Bank insisted that 80% of oil revenues be spent on development projects. In January 2006 the World Bank suspended its loan programme when the Chadian government passed laws reducing this amount.^[28][52] On July 14, 2006, Sony VAIO VGN-G2AAPS battery

the World Bank and Chad signed a memorandum of understanding under which the Government of Chad commits 70% of its spending to priority poverty reduction programmes.

Civil war crippled the development of transport infrastructure; in 1987, Chad had only 30 kilometres (19 mi) of paved roads. Sony VAIO VGN-NS70B/W battery

Successive road rehabilitation projects improved the network^[65] to 550 kilometres (340 mi) by 2004.^[66] Nevertheless, the road network is limited; roads are often unusable for several months of the year. With no railways of its own, Chad depends heavily on Cameroon's rail system for the transport of Chadian exports and imports to and from the seaport of Douala. Sony VGP-BPS21B battery

An international airport serves the capital and provides regular direct flights to Paris and several African cities. The telecommunication system is basic and expensive, with fixed telephone services provided by the state telephone company SotelTchad. Sony VAIO VGN-Z56GG/B battery

Only 14,000 fixed telephone lines serve all of Chad, one of the lowest telephone density rates in the world. Chad's energy sector has suffered from years of mismanagement by the parastatal Chad Water and Electric Society (STEE), which provides power for 15% of the capital's citizens and covers only 1.5% of the national population.^[68] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z battery

Most Chadians burn biomass fuels such as wood and animal manure for power.^[69] Chad's cities face serious difficulties of municipal infrastructure; only 48% of urban residents have access to potable water and only 2% to basic sanitation.^[41][70] HP Pavilion DV7-1120EO battery

The country's television audience is limited to N'Djamena. The only television station is the state-owned TeleTchad. Radio has a far greater reach, with 13 private radio stations. Newspapers are limited in quantity and distribution, and circulation figures are small due to transportation costs, HP Pavilion DV6-1210SA battery

low literacy rates, and poverty.^[69][71] While the constitution defends liberty of expression, the government has regularly restricted this right, and at the end of 2006 began to enact a system of prior censorship on the media.^[72] HP Mini 311-1110TU battery

Demographics

2005 estimates place Chad's population at 10,146,000; 25.8% live in urban areas and 74.8% in rural ones.^[73] The country's population is young: an estimated 47.3% is under 15. The birth rate is estimated at 42.35 births per 1,000 people, the mortality rate at 16.69. Compaq Presario V2335US battery

The life expectancy is 47.2 years.

Chad's population is unevenly distributed. Density is 0.1 /km² (0.26 /sq mi) in the Saharan Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region but 52.4 /km²(136 /sq mi) in the Logone Occidental Region. Sony VAIO VGN-FW11E battery

In the capital, it is even higher.^[55] About half of the nation's population lives in the southern fifth of its territory, making this the most densely populated region.^[74]

Urban life is virtually restricted to the capital, whose population is mostly engaged in commerce. HP Pavilion DV1635LA battery

The other major towns are Sarh,Moundou, Abéché and Doba, which are less urbanised but are growing rapidly and joining the capital as decisive factors in economic growth.^[41] Since 2003, 230,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to eastern Chad from war-ridden Darfur. Sony VAIO VGN-FW11E battery

With the 172,000 Chadians^[75]displaced by the civil war in the east, this has generated increased tensions among the region's communities.^[76]

Polygamy is common, with 39% of women living in such unions. Sony VAIO VGN-NS10J/S battery

This is sanctioned by law, which automatically permits polygamy unless spouses specify that this is unacceptable upon marriage.^[77] Although violence against women is prohibited, domestic violence is common.Female genital mutilation is prohibited, but the practice is widespread and deeply rooted in tradition; HP Pavilion DV6-1200SL battery

45% of Chadian women undergo the procedure, with the highest rates among Arabs, Hadjarai, and Ouaddaians (90% or more). Lower percentages were reported among the Sara(38%) and the Toubou (2%). Women lack equal opportunities in education and training, making it difficult for them to compete for the relatively few formal-sector jobs. Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/T battery

Although property and inheritance laws based on the French code do not discriminate against women, local leaders adjudicate most inheritance cases in favour of men, according to traditional practice.

Chad has more than 200 distinct ethnic groups,^[28] which create diverse social structures. HP HSTNN-LB31 battery

The colonial administration and independent governments have attempted to impose a national society, but for most Chadians the local or regional society remains the most important influence outside the immediate family. Nevertheless, Chad's peoples may be classified according to the geographical region in which they live. HP 593553-001 battery

In the south live sedentary people such as the Sara, the nation's main ethnic group, whose essential social unit is the lineage. In the Sahel sedentary peoples live side-by-side with nomadic ones, such as the Arabs, the country's second major ethnic group. The north is inhabited by nomads, mostly Toubous.^[5][41] HP Pavilion DV5-1110EM battery

The nation's official business languages are French and Arabic, but over 100 languages and dialects are spoken. Due to the important role played by itinerant Arab traders and settled merchants in local communities, Chadian Arabic has become a lingua franca.^[5] HP 436426-752 battery

Religion

Chad is a religiously diverse country. The 1993 census found that 54% of Chadians were Muslim, 20% Roman Catholic, 14% Protestant, 10% animist, and 3% atheist.^[55]None of these religious traditions are monolithic. Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560N24 battery

Animism includes a variety of ancestor and place-oriented religions whose expression is highly specific. Islam is expressed in diverse ways. Christianity arrived in Chad with the French and American missionaries; as with Chadian Islam, it syncretises aspects of pre-Christian religious beliefs.^[5] HP Compaq 451086-661 battery

Muslims are largely concentrated in northern and eastern Chad, and animists and Christians live primarily in southern Chad and Guéra.^[41] The constitution provides for a secular state and guarantees religious freedom; different religious communities generally co-exist without problems. Compaq Presario C740EM battery

The vast majority of Muslims in the country are adherents of a moderate branch of mystical Islam (Sufism) known locally as Tijaniyah, which incorporates some local African religious elements. A small minority of the country's Muslims hold more fundamentalist practices, which, in some cases, may be associated with Saudi-oriented Salafi-movement. HP 448007-001 battery

Roman Catholics represent the largest Christian denomination in the country. Most Protestants, including the Nigeria-based "Winners Chapel," are affiliated with various evangelical Christian groups. Members of the Bahá'í and Jehovah's Witnesses religious communities also are present in the country. HP Pavilion DV7 battery

Both faiths were introduced after independence in 1960 and therefore are considered to be "new" religions in the country.

Chad is home to foreign missionaries representing both Christian and Islamic groups. HP DV6-1120SA battery

Itinerant Muslim preachers primarily from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, also visit. Saudi Arabian funding generally supports social and educational projects and extensive mosque construction.^[79]

Culture

Because of its great variety of peoples and languages, Chad possesses a rich cultural heritage. HP DV6-1210SA battery

The Chadian government has actively promoted Chadian culture and national traditions by opening the Chad National Museum and the Chad Cultural Centre.^[41] Six national holidays are observed throughout the year, and movable holidays include the Christian holiday of Easter Monday and the Muslim holidays of Eid ul-Fitr, Compaq CQ50 battery

Eid ul-Adha, and Eid Milad Nnabi.^[68]

The music of Chad includes a number of unusual instruments such as the kinde, a type of bow harp; the kakaki, a long tin horn; and the hu hu, a stringed instrument that uses calabashes as loudspeakers. HP Pavilion DV8 battery

Other instruments and their combinations are more linked to specific ethnic groups: the Sara prefer whistles, balafones, harps and kodjo drums; and the Kanembucombine the sounds of drums with those of flute-like instruments.

The music group Chari Jazz formed in 1964 and initiated Chad's modern music scene. Sony VGP-BPS13 battery

Later, more renowned groups such as African Melody and International Challal attempted to mix modernity and tradition. Popular groups such as Tibesti have clung faster to their heritage by drawing on sai, a traditional style of music from southern Chad. The people of Chad have customarily disdained modern music. HP DV9700 battery

However, in 1995 greater interest has developed and fostered the distribution of CDs and audio cassettes featuring Chadian artists. Piracy and a lack of legal protections for artists' rights remain problems to further development of the Chadian music industry.^[80][81] Compaq CQ35-100 battery

Millet is the staple food throughout Chad. It is used to make balls of paste that are dipped in sauces. In the north this dish is known as alysh; in the south, as biya. Fish is popular, which is generally prepared and sold either as salanga (sun-dried and lightly smoked Alestes and Hydrocynus) or as banda (smoked larger fish).^[ Sony VGP-BPS11 battery

Carcaje is a popular sweet drink extracted from hibiscus leaves. Alcoholic beverages, though absent in the north, are popular in the south, where people drink millet beer, known as billi-billi when brewed from red millet and as coshate when from white millet.^[80] HP Pavilion DV9085 Battery

As in other Sahelian countries, literature in Chad has suffered from an economic, political and spiritual drought that has affected its best known writers. Chadian authors have been forced to write from exile or expatriate status and have generated literature dominated by themes of political oppression and historical discourse. HP Pavilion DV9085EA Battery

Since 1962, 20 Chadian authors have written some 60 works of fiction. Among the most internationally renowned writers are Joseph Brahim Seïd, Baba Moustapha, Antoine Bangui and Koulsy Lamko. In 2003 Chad's sole literary critic, Ahmat Taboye,HP Pavilion DV9086 Battery

published his Anthologie de la littérature tchadienne to further knowledge of Chad's literature internationally and among youth and to make up for Chad's lack of publishing houses and promotional structure.

The development of a Chadian film industry has suffered from the devastations of civil war and from the lack of cinemas, of which there is only one in the whole country. HP Pavilion DV9086EA Battery

The first Chadian feature film, the docudrama Bye Bye Africa, was made in 1999 by Mahamat Saleh Haroun. His later film Abouna was critically acclaimed, and his Daratt won the Grand Special Jury Prize at the 63rd Venice International Film Festival. Issa Serge Coelo directed Chad's two other films, Daresalam and DP75: Tartina City. HP Pavilion DV9087 Battery

Football is Chad's most popular sport.^[89] The country's national team is closely followed during international competitions,^[80] and Chadian footballers have played for French teams. Basketball and freestyle wrestling are widely practiced, the latter in a form in which the wrestlers don traditional animal hides and cover themselves with dust. HP Pavilion DV9087EA Battery

 

 Colonial era

Spain developed large cacao plantations for which thousands of Nigerian workers were imported as laborers.

At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War the colony remained loyal to the Republican government. On July 24, 1936, the Republican cruiser Méndez Núñez arrived atSanta Isabel; HP G62-550EE Battery

on its way back to Spain the officers planned to join the rebellion, but the Spanish government, knowing this, ordered the ship to go back to the colony; on August 14 the Méndez Núñez was back in Fernando Poo, where the sailors took control of her; on September 21 the ship arrived in Málaga (Republican Spain). HP G62-A00EF Battery

HP G62-A10EV Battery

On September 19 the Colonial Guard and the Civil Guard began the rebellion and took control of the island of Fernando Poo, while the rest of the colony remained loyal to the Republic. On September 22 a clash took place between a rebel group from Kogo and a loyal detachment from Bata. HP G62-A16SL Battery

Finally, on October 14 a force of 200 rebels arrived in the merchant Ciudad de Mahón and took control of Bata and the rest of the colony.

In 1959, the Spanish territory of the Gulf of Guinea was established with the same status as the provinces of metropolitan Spain.HP G62-A20ER Battery

As the Spanish Equatorial Region, it was ruled by a governor general exercising military and civilian powers. The first local elections were held in 1959, and the first Equatoguinean representatives were seated in the Cortes Generales (Spanish parliament). HP G62-A23EE Battery

Under the Basic Law of December 1963, limited autonomy was authorized under a joint legislative body for the territory's two provinces. A paradoxical effect of this autonomy was that Guineans could choose among several political parties while metropolitan Spaniards were under a single party regime. HP G62-A30ER Battery

The name of the country was changed to Equatorial Guinea. Although Spain's commissioner general had extensive powers, the Equatorial Guinean General Assembly had considerable initiative in formulating laws and regulations. HP G62-A40ER Battery

Independence

In March 1968, under pressure from Equatoguinean nationalists and the United Nations, Spain announced that it would grant independence to Equatorial Guinea. A constitutional convention produced an electoral law and draft constitution. HP G62-A45EE Battery

In the presence of a UN observer team, a referendum was held on August 11, 1968, and 63% of the electorate voted in favor of the constitution, which provided for a government with a General Assembly and a Supreme Court with judges appointed by the president.

In September 1968, Francisco Macías Nguema was elected first president of Equatorial Guinea, and independence was granted in October. HP G62-A46EE Battery

At independence, Equatorial Guinea had one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa (332 USD). The Spanish also helped Equatorial Guinea achieve one of the continent's highest literacy rates and developed a good network of health care facilities. However at the time of independence, the number of native doctors and lawyers was in the single digits.^[1] HP G62-A53EE Battery

In July 1970, Macias created a single-party state and by May 1971, key portions of the constitution were abrogated. In 1972 Macias took complete control of the government and assumed the title of President for Life. HP G62T-100 Battery

The Macias regime was characterized by abandonment of all government functions except internal security, which was accomplished by terror; this led to the death or exile of up to one-third of the country's population. Due to pilferage, ignorance, and neglect, the country's infrastructure—electrical, water, road, transportation, and health—fell into ruin. HP G62T-100 CTO Battery

Religion was repressed, and education ceased. The private and public sectors of the economy were devastated. Nigerian contract laborers on Bioko, estimated to have been 60,000, left en masse in early 1976. The economy collapsed, and skilled citizens and foreigners left. HP G62-200 Battery

All schools were ordered closed in 1975, and the country's churches were closed in 1978. Nguema introduced a campaign of 'authenticity', replacing colonial names with native ones: the capital Santa Isabel became Malabo, the main island of Fernando Po was renamed Masie Nguema Biyogo after himself, and Annobón became Pagalu. HP G62-200XX Battery

As part of the same process, Nguema also ordered the entire population to drop their European names and adopt African ones. His own name underwent several transformations, so that by the end of his rule he was known as Masie Nguema Biyogo Ñegue Ndong. HP G62-201XX Battery

In August 1979 Macias' nephew from Mongomo and former director of the infamous Black Beach prison, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, led a successful coup d'état; Macias was arrested, tried, and executed. Obiang assumed the Presidency in October 1979.HP G62-219WM Battery

The islands were renamed Bioko and Annobón. The new ruler faced the challenge of restoring order in a country that was in shambles—by the end of Masie Nguema's dictatorship, the state coffers were empty and the population had been reduced to only one-third of what it was at independence. HP G62-220US Battery

1990s-2000s

Although President Obiang signed a national anti-torture decree in 2006 to ban all forms of abuse and improper treatment in Equatorial Guinea and commissioned the renovation and modernization of Black Beach prison in 2007 to ensure the humane treatment of prisoners,^[2] human rights abuses continue. HP G62-225DX Battery

Human Rights Watch andAmnesty International among other non-governmental organizations have documented severe human rights abuses in prisons, including torture, beatings, unexplained deaths and illegal detention.^[3][4] HP G62-226NR Battery

According to a March 2004 BBC profile,^[5] politics within the country are dominated by tensions between Obiang's son, Teodorin, and other close relatives with powerful positions in the security forces. The tension may be rooted in power shift arising from the dramatic increase in oil production which has occurred since 1997. HP G62-227CL Battery

The unsuccessful "Wonga Coup" was attempted by European and South African mercenaries in 2004 with the goal of replacing Obiang with a puppet ruler who would open the country's mineral wealth to the plotters. British aristocrat Simon Mann, a former officer in the Special Air Service, HP G62-140SF Battery

led the plot, which also included former members of the South African Army 32 Battalion. Financial backers included Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcherand possibly the British novelist Jeffrey Archer. HP G62-140SS Battery

Somewhere between $3 million and $20 million was expended on the failed coup, which is said to have had the tacit support of some Western governments and international corporations.^[6]

In 2011 the government announced it was planning a new capital in the country, named Djibloho. HP G62-140US Battery

Equatorial Guinea is a small country at the west coast of Central Africa. Despite a per capita GDP (PPP) of more than US$30,000 ^[3] (CIA Factbook $50,200^[4]) which is as of 2008 the twentieth highest in the world, Equatorial Guinea ranks 121st out of 177 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index. HP G62-143CL Battery

Economy overview

Pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings. In 1959 it had the highestper capita income of Africa.

The discovery of large oil reserves in 1996 and its subsequent exploitation have contributed to a dramatic increase in government revenue. HP G62-144DX Battery

As of 2004,^[5] Equatorial Guinea is the third-largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its oil production has risen to 360,000 barrels per day (57,000 m³/d), up from 220,000 barrels per day (35,000 m³/d) only two years earlier.

Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP. HP G62-145NR Battery

Subsistence farming predominates. Although pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings, the neglect of the rural economy under successive regimes has diminished potential for agriculture-led growth. However, the government has stated its intention to reinvest some oil revenue into agriculture. HP G62-147NR Battery

A number of aid programs sponsored by the World Bank and the IMF have been cut off since 1993 because of corruption and mismanagement. No longer eligible for concessional financing because of large oil revenues, the government has been unsuccessfully trying to agree on a "shadow" fiscal management program with the World Bank and IMF. HP G62-149WM Battery

Businesses, for the most part, are owned by government officials and their family members. Undeveloped natural resources include titanium, iron ore, manganese, uranium, and alluvial gold (Mining in Equatorial Guinea). Growth remained strong in 2005 and 2006, led by oil. HP G62-150EF Battery

2004 US senate report

A Senate report ^[6] in 2004 found that Riggs Bank helped top officials of Equatorial Guinea steal hundreds of millions of dollars in oil revenues. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations probed the corruption case involving Equatorial Guinea and its oil revenues for much of the past year. HP G62-150EQ Battery

The panel's report found that Riggs Bank helped government leaders in Equatorial Guinea siphon oil revenues to accounts set up for them in Washington. Equatorial Guinea has been cited by the U.S. State Department for human rights abuses, corruption, and diversion of oil revenues to government officials. HP G62-150ET Battery

Beginning in 1995 until 2004, Riggs oversaw as many as 60 accounts containing as much as $700 million, making Equatorial Guinea its largest single customer. Some were government accounts, while others were the private accounts of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, other government officials, and their families. HP G62-150EV Battery

The Senate report says millions of dollars in the government accounts, which should have gone to help impoverished Equatorial Guineans, were instead funneled to off-shore tax shelters, with help from Riggs officials.

At a hearing on the matter at which current and former bank officials appeared, HP G62-150SE Battery

Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, was clearly outraged. "Somehow there has to be a conscience here. Aren't you troubled?," he said.

The report describes one incident in which the bank manager of the country's accounts, Simon Kareri, HP G62-150SF Battery

brought a 27 kilogram suitcase with $3 million in plastic-wrapped cash to Riggs's Dupont Circle branch to make a deposit into President Obiang's account. Mr. Kareri, who was fired in January, refused to testify at the hearing," he said. HP G62-150SL Battery

"Mr. Chairman, there is nothing I would like to do more than answer your questions today. However, I must heed the advice of my counsel and invoke my fifth amendment rights under the Constitution and refuse to answer the question," he said. HP G62-153CA Battery

Senators were angered that bank officials never reported any suspicious financial transactions involving Equatorial Guinea.

Lawrence Hebert, president and chief executive officer of Riggs Bank, blamed a lack of an internal system to monitor and identify such suspicious activity. HP G62-154CA Battery

It is an assertion that Senator Levin found ridiculous.

"First of all Mr. Hebert, you do not need a computer system to realize suspicious activity when you have sixty pounds of cash that are being walked into the door with a suitcase," he said.

Mr. Levin criticized bank regulators for not doing enough in their oversight responsibility. HP G62-165SL Battery

Riggs was fined a record $25 million by federal banking regulators for allegedly failing to report suspicious transactions made to the Equatorial Guinea accounts, but that didn't happen until May 2004.

Senator Levin also took aim at oil companies that are doing business in Equatorial Guinea, many of which have secret contracts with firms that have ties to President Obiang. HP G62-166SB Battery

The London-based organization Global Witness notes that the Senate committee report found that oil companies made payments into the personal accounts of Equatorial Guinean officials that were used for land purchases, office leases, and even education for the children of the country's leaders. HP G62-120EP Battery

With oil money stashed away in Riggs Bank for the ruling elite of Equatorial Guinea, argues Sarah Wykes of Global Witness, oil companies cannot make the case that they are a force for positive change in the country.

"Equatorial Guinea is now the third largest producer of oil in sub-Saharan Africa," she said. HP G62-120EQ Battery

"It has been called the 'Kuwait of Africa' But it is clear that since oil came on stream, the human development indicators of the country have actually gone backward, so we can say the oil money is not contributing to development at all," she said.

Equatorial Guinea responded with an 82-point report claiming that the Senate had been "duped" by "pressure groups",HP G62-120ES Battery

naming specifically a $40,000 contract between a lobbying group and Severo Moto Nsa, an EquatoGuinean living in self-imposed exile who uses his website to make wild accusations against Obiang.^[8] The rebuttal also claims that the payments to government members were disclosed in the government accounts and were not illegal. HP G62-120ET Battery

In greater depth

Oil and gas exports have increased substantially (in 2003 Equatorial Guinea was ranked third among Sub-Sahara African producers behind Nigeria and Angola) and will drive the economy for years to come. HP G62-120EY Battery

The GDP increased by 105.2% in 1997, and real GDP growth reached 23% in 1999, and initial estimates suggested growth of about 15% in 2001, according to IMF 2001 forecast. Per capita income grew from about $1,000 in 1998 to about $2,000 in 2000. The energy export sector is responsible for this rapid growth. HP G62-120SE Battery

Oil production has increased from 81,000 barrels per day (12,900 m³/d) to 210,000 barrels per day (33,000 m³/d) between 1998 and early 2001. There is ongoing additional development of existing commercially viable oil and gas deposits as well as new exploration in other offshore concessions. HP G62-120SL Battery

Equatorial Guinea has other largely unexploited human and natural resources, including a tropical climate, fertile soils, rich expanses of water, deepwater ports, and an untapped, if unskilled, source of labor. Following independence in 1968, the country suffered under a repressive dictatorship for 11 years, which devastated the economy. HP G62-120SS Battery

The agricultural sector, which historically was known for cocoa of the highest quality, has never fully recovered. In 1969 Equatorial Guinea produced 36,161 tons of highly bid cocoa, but production dropped to 4,800 tons in 2000. Coffee production also dropped sharply during this period to bounce back to 100,000 metric tons in 2000. HP G62-120SW Battery

Timber is the main source of foreign exchange after oil, accounting for about 12.4% of total export earnings in 1996-99. Timber production increased steadily during the 1990s; wood exports reached a record 789,000 cubic meters in 1999 as demand in Asia (mainly China) gathered pace after the 1998 economic crisis. HP G62-121EE Battery

Most of the production (mainly Okoume) goes to exports, and only 3% is processed locally. Environmentalists fear that exploitation at this level is unsustainable and point out to the permanent damage already inflicted on the forestry reserves on Bioko. HP G62-125EK Battery

Consumer price inflation has declined from the 38.8% experienced in 1994 following the CFA franc devaluation, to 7.8% in 1998, and 1.0% in 1999, according to BEAC data. Consumer prices rose about 6% in 2000, according to initial estimates, and there was anecdotal evidence that price inflation was accelerating in 2001. HP G62-125EL Battery

Equatorial Guinea's policies, as defined by law, comprise an open investment regime. Qualitative restrictions on imports, non-tariff protection, and many import licensing requirements were lifted when in 1992 the government adopted a public investment program endorsed by the World Bank. HP G62-125EV Battery

The Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea has sold some state enterprises. It is attempting to create a more favourable investment climate, and its investment code contains numerous incentives for job creation, training, promotion of non-traditional exports, support of development projects and indigenous capital participation, HP G62-125SL Battery

freedom for repatriation of profits, exemption from certain taxes and capital, and other benefits. Trade regulations have been further liberalized since implementation in 1994 of the ICN turnover tax, in conformity with Central African tax and custom reform codes. The reform included elimination of quota restrictions and reductions in the range and amounts of tariffs. HP G62-130EG Battery

The CEMAC countries agreed to replace the ICN with a value added tax (VAT) in 1999.

While business laws promote a liberalized economy, the business climate remains difficult. Application of the laws remains selective. Corruption among officials is widespread, and many business deals are concluded under non-transparent circumstances. HP G62-130EK Battery

There is little industry in the country, and the local market for industrial products is small. The government seeks to expand the role of free enterprise and to promote foreign investment but has had little success in creating an atmosphere conducive to investor interest. HP G62-130ET Battery

The Equato-Guinean budget has grown enormously in the past 3 years as royalties and taxes on foreign company oil and gas production have provided new resources to a once poor government. The 2001 budget foresaw revenues of about 154 billion CFA francs (154 GCFAF) (about U.S.$200 million), up about 50% from 2000 levels. HP G62-130EV Battery

Oil revenues account for about two-thirds of government revenue, and VAT and trade taxes are the other large revenue sources.

Year 2001 government expenditures were planned to reach 158 billion CFA francs, up about 50% from 2000 levels. HP G62-130SD Battery

New investment projects represented about 40% of the budget, and personnel and internal and external debt payments represented about one-third of planned expenditures.

The Equato-Guinean Government has undertaken a number of reforms since 1991 to reduce its predominant role in the economy and promote private sector development. HP G62-130SL Battery

Its role is a diminishing one, although many government interactions with the private sector are at times capricious. Beginning in early 1997, the government initiated efforts to attract significant private sector involvement through a Corporate Council on Africa visit and numerous ministerial efforts. HP G62-134CA Battery

In 1998, the government privatized distribution of petroleum products. There are now Total and Mobil stations in the country. The government has expressed interest in privatizing the outmoded electricity utility. A French company operates cellular telephone service in cooperation with a state enterprise. HP G62-135EV Battery

The government is anxious for greater U.S. investment, and President Obiang visited the U.S. three times between 1999 and 2001 to encourage greater U.S. corporate interest. Investment in agriculture, fishing, livestock, and tourism are among sectors the government would like targeted. HP G62-140EF Battery

Equatorial Guinea's balance-of-payments situation has improved substantially since the mid-1990s because of new oil and gas production and favorable world energy prices. Exports totaled about francs CFA 915 billion in 2000 (1.25 G$US), up from CFA 437 billion (700 M$US) in 1999. Crude oil exports accounted for more than 90% of export earnings in 2000. HP G62-140EL Battery

Timber exports, by contrast, represented only about 5% of export revenues in 2000. Additional oil production coming on line in 2001, combined with methanol gas exports from the new CMS-Nomeco plant, should increase export earnings substantially.

Imports into Equatorial Guinea also are growing very quickly. HP G62-140EQ Battery

Imports totaled francs CFA 380 billion (530 M$US), up from franc CFA 261 million (420 M$US) in 1999. Imports of equipment used for the oil and gas sector accounted for about three-quarters of imports in 2000. Imports of capital equipment for pHP G62-140ES Battery

ublic investment projects reached francs CFA 30 billion in 2000, up 40% from 1999 levels.

Equatorial Guinea's foreign debt stock was approximately francs CFA 69 billion (100 M$US) in 2000, slightly less than the debt stock in 1999, according to BEAC data. Equatorial Guinea's debt service ratio fell from 20% of GDP in 1994 to only 1% in 2000. HP G62-140ET Battery

Foreign exchange reserves were increasing slightly, although they were relatively low in terms of import coverage. According to the terms of the franc CFA zone, some of these reserves are kept in an account with the French Ministry of Finance. 
HP G62-110SA Battery

Equatorial Guinea in the 1980s and 1990s received foreign assistance from numerous bilateral and multilateral donors, including European countries, the United States, and the World Bank. Many of these aid programs have ceased altogether or have diminished. HP G62-110SO Battery

Spain, France, and the European Union continue to provide some project assistance, as do China and Cuba. The government also has discussed working with World Bank assistance to develop government administrative capacity.

Equatorial Guinea operated under an IMF-negotiated Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) until 1996. HP G62-110SS Battery

Since then, there have been no formal agreements or arrangements. The International monetary Fund held Article IV consultations (periodic country evaluations) in 1996, 1997, and in August 1999. After the 1999 consultations, IMF directors stressed the need for Equatorial Guinea to establish greater fiscal discipline, accountability, HP G62-110SW Battery

and more transparent management of public sector resources, especially energy sector revenue. IMF officials also have emphasized the need for economic data. In 1999, the Equato-Guinean Government began attempting to meet IMF-imposed requirements, maintaining contact with IMF and the World Bank representatives. HP G62-111EE Battery

However, the new found oil wealth allowed the government to avoid improving fiscal discipline, transparency and accountability.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is generally old and in poor condition. Surface transport is extremely limited at present, with little more than 700 kilometres of paved roads. HP G62-112EE Battery

The African Development Bank is helping to improve the paved roads from Malabo to Luba and Riaba; the Chinese are undertaking a project to link Mongomo to Bata on the mainland, and the European Union is financing an inter-states road network linking Equatorial Guinea to Cameroon and Gabon. Road maintenance is often inadequate. HP G62-112SO Battery

Electricity is available in Equatorial Guinea's larger towns thanks to three small overworked hydropower facilities and a number of aged generators. In 1999, national production was about 13 MWh. In Malabo, the American company, CMS-Nomeco, built a 10 megawatt electricity plant financed by the government, HP G62-113SO Battery

which came in line in mid-2000, and plans to double capacity are advancing. This plant provides improved service to the capital, although there are still occasional outages. On the mainland the largest city, Bata, still has regular blackouts.

Water is only available in the major towns and is not always reliable because of poor maintenance and mismanagement. HP G62-115SE Battery

Some villages and rural areas are equipped with generators and water pumps, usually owned by private individuals.

Parastatal Getesa, a joint venture with a minority ownership stake held by a French subsidiary of France Telecom, provides telephone service in the major cities. HP G62-115SO Battery

The regular system is overextended, but France Telecom has introduced a popular GSM system, which is generally reliable in Malabo and Bata.

Equatorial Guinea has two of the deepest Atlantic seaports of the region, including the main business and commercial port city of Bata. HP G62-117SO Battery

The ports of both Malabo and Bata are severely overextended and require extensive rehabilitation and reconditioning. The British company, Incat, has an ongoing project with the government to renovate and expand Luba, the country's third-largest port which is located on Bioko Island. HP G62-118EO Battery

The government hopes Luba will become a major transportation hub for offshore oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Guinea. Luba is located some 50 kilometres from Malabo and had been virtually inactive except for minor fishing activities and occasional use to ease congestion in Malabo. HP G62-120EC Battery

A new jetty is also being built at km 5 on the way from Malabo to the airport. It is a project mainly supposed to service the oil industry, but can also relieve the congested Malabo Port due to its closeness. The Oil Jetty at km 5 was supposed to open the end of March 2003. Riaba is the other port of any scale on Bioko but is less active. HP G62-120EE Battery

The continental ports of Mbini and Cogo have deteriorated as well and are now used primarily for timber activities.

There are both air and sea connections between the two cities of Malabo and Bata. A few aging Soviet-built aircraft operated by several small carriers, one state-owned, and the others private, HP G62-120EG Battery

constitute the national aircraft fleet. The runway at Malabo (3,200 m) is equipped with lights and can service equipment similar to DC 10s and Cl3Os. The one at Bata (2,400 m) does not operate at night but can accommodate aircraft as large as B737s. Their primary users are the national airline (EGA) and a private company (GEASA). HP G62-120EH Battery

Two minor airstrips (800 m) are located at Mongomo and Annobon. There are international connections out of Malabo to Madrid and Zurich in Europe and to Cotonou, Douala and Libreville in West Africa.

Energy developments

After a slow start, Equatorial Guinea has recently emerged as a major oil producer in the Gulf of Guinea, HP G62-120EK Battery

one of the most promising hydrocarbon regions in the world. The main oil fields, Zafiro and Alba, are both located offshore of Bioko island. In 1999 oil production was about five times its 1996 level; Zafiro Field, operated by Exxon Mobil and Ocean Energy, produced about 100,000 barrels per day (16,000 m³/d), HP G62-120EL Battery

and CMS Nomeco extracted approximately 6,700 barrels per day (1,070 m³/d). Aggressive field development and promising exploration activities may raise production to nearly 300,000 barrels per day (48,000 m³/d) within 2–3 years (slightly above the current estimated production of Gabon) according to the official sources. HP G62-100 Battery

In 1995 Mobil (now Exxon Mobil) discovered the large Zafirobbbb field, with estimated reserves of 400,000,000 barrels (64,000,000 m³). Production began in 1996. The company announced a 3-year U.S.$1bn rapid development program to boost output to 130,000 barrels per day (21,000 m³/d) by early 2001. HP G62-100EB Battery

Progress was delayed due to a contractual dispute with the government and by unexpectedly difficult geology. The difference with the government was eventually resolved.

In 1998 a more liberal regulatory and profit-sharing arrangement for hydrocarbon exploration and production activities was introduced. HP G62-100EE Battery

It revised and updated the production-sharing contract, which, until then, had favoured Western operators heavily. As a result domestic oil receipt rose from 13% to 20% of oil export revenue. However, the government's share remains relatively poor by international standards. HP G62-100EJ Battery

In 1997 CMS Nomeco moved to expand its operation with a U.S.$300m methanol plant. The plant entered production in 2000 and help boost natural gas condensate output from Alba field.

In August 1999 the government closed bidding on a new petroleum licensing round for 53 unexplored deepwater blocks and seven shallow water blocks. HP G62-100SL Battery

The response was small due to combination of factors, including falling oil prices, restructuring within the oil industry, and uncertainty over and undemarcated maritime border with Nigeria (which was not resolved until 2000).

In late 1999 Triton Energy, a U.S. independent, discovered La Ceiba in block G in an entirely new area offshore the mainland of the country. HP G62-101TU Battery

Triton expects a U.S.$200m development program to enable La Ceiba and associated fields to produce 100,000 barrels per day (16,000 m³/d) by late 2001, despite disappointments and technical problems at the beginning of the year.

With an upturn in oil prices, exploration intensified in 2000. HP G62-101XX Battery

In April 2000 U.S.-based Vanco Energy signed a production-sharing contract for the offshore block of Corisco Deep. In May 2000, Chevron was granted block L, offshore Rio Muni, and a further three production-sharing contracts (for blocks J, I, and H) were signed withAtlas Petroleum, a Nigerian company. HP G62-103XX Battery

In early 2001 the government announced plans to establish a national oil company, to allow Equatorial Guinea to take a greater stake in the sector and to facilitate the more rapid transfer of skills. However, critics fear that such a company may become a vehicle for opaque accounting and inertia of the sort that has hindered development in neighbouring countries including Angola, Cameroon, and Nigeria. HP G62-104SA Battery

Since 2001 the government has created GEPetrol, a national oil company; and Sonagas, a national natural gas company. The company EG LNG has been created to construct and operate the Bioko Island LNG plant and terminal. HP G62-105SA Battery

Animal Husbandry

Cattle and poultry production is rapidly reaching its pre-independence levels of self-sufficiency with the financial help of the African Development Bank. However, production of domesticated animals is hindered by the presence of trypanosomiasis and other tropical deterrents. HP G62-106SA Battery

In 2005 there were 37,600 sheep, 9,000 goats, 6,100 hogs, and 5,000 cattle.

Fishing

The fishing industry gained strength through the 1980s and is now almost entirely modernized; a tuna processing plant went into operation in 1990. HP G62-107SA Battery

Annobón subsists almost entirely on fishing and retains its traditional preeminence in off shore whaling and turtle gathering. Bioko is also a major fishing center, the chief catches being perch, tuna, mackerel, cod, pike, shark, and crayfish. The country’s own catch was about 3,500 tons in 2003. HP G62-110ED Battery

Forestry

Timber from Río Muni is Equatorial Guinea’s leading export. Forests cover over 62 percent of the land area. The Río Muni area on the mainland produces okoumé and akoga from rain forests of considerable age. HP G62-110EE Battery

Even though the government has given permission to foreign firms, exploitation is difficult due to infrastructural problems. The government enacted a new forestry action plan in 1990 in an effort to strengthen the sector’s development. HP G62-110EE Battery

In 2004, roundwood production was estimated at 811,000 cubic metres. In 2004, exports of forest products amounted to $97 million Child rate- 4$24 billion (2009 est.) HP G62-110EI Battery,HP G62-110EO Battery,HP G62-110EY Battery

 Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea^[5] is a country located in Middle Africa. It has two parts: a Continental Region (Río Muni), including several small offshore islands including Corisco, Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico; and an insular region containing Annobón island and Bioko island (formerly Fernando Po) where the capital Malabo is situated. HP G62-120SS battery

Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the east is the mainland region. HP G62-120SS battery

Equatorial Guinea is bordered by Cameroon on the north, Gabon on the south and east, and the Gulf of Guinea on the west, where the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is located between Bioko and Annobón. HP Pavilion DV6-1246EO battery

Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name is suggestive of its location near both the equator and the Gulf of Guinea. Besides the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the Mediterranean coast next to Morocco, it is the only territory in mainland Africa with Spanish as the official language. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery

With an area of 28,000 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi) Equatorial Guinea is one of the smallest countries in continental Africa. It is also the richest per capita;^[6] however, the wealth is distributed very unevenly, with 70% of the population living under the United Nations Poverty Threshold of $2/day. Sony VGP-BPL7 battery

With a population of 650,702, Equatorial Guinea is the third-smallest country in continental Africa.^[7] It is also the second smallest United Nations (UN) member from continental Africa.

The discovery of sizeable petroleum reserves in recent years is altering the economic and political status of the country. HP F2299A battery

Its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita ranks 28th in the world;^[8] however, most of the country's considerable oil wealth actually lies in the hands of only a few people.

Equatorial Guinea has one of the worst human rights records in the world, HSTNN-LB51 battery

consistently ranking among the "worst of the worst" in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rights^[9] and Reporters Without Borders ranks President Obiang among its "predators" of press freedom.^[10] Out of 44 sub-Saharan countries, Equatorial Guinea ranks 9th highest in the Human Development Index (HDI) and 115th overall, which is among the medium HDI countries. Sony VGN-AW11XU/Q battery

Geography

Equatorial Guinea is located in west central Africa. The country consists of a mainland territory, Río Muni, which is bordered by Cameroon to the north and Gabon to the east and south and five small islands, Bioko, Corisco,Annobón, Small Elobey and Great Elobey. HP 446506-001 battery

Bioko, the site of the capital, Malabo, lies about 40 kilometers (25 mi) off the coast of Cameroon. Annobón island is about 350 kilometers (220 mi) west-south-west of Cape Lopez in Gabon. Corisco and the two Elobey islands are in Corisco Bay, on the border of Río Muni and Gabon.

Equatorial Guinea lies between latitudes 4°N and 2°S, and longitudes 5° and 12°E. HP Pavilion DV4-1365DX battery

Despite its name, no part of the country's territory lies on the equator – it is entirely in the northern hemisphere, except for the insularAnnobón Province which is about 155 km south of the equator.

Equatorial Guinea spans several ecoregions. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ190N/BC battery

Río Muni region lies within the Atlantic Equatorial coastal forestsecoregion except for patches of Central African mangroves on the coast, especially in the Muni River estuary. TheCross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests ecoregion covers most of Bioko and as well as the adjacent portions of Cameroonand Nigeria on the African mainland, Sony VAIO VGN-Z31WN/B battery

and the Mount Cameroon and Bioko montane forests ecoregion covers the highlands of Bioko and nearby Mount Cameroon.

The São Tomé, Príncipe, and Annobón moist lowland forests ecoregion covers all of Annobón, as well as São Tomé and Príncipe.HP Pavilion DV6-1215EE battery

Climate

Equatorial Guinea has a tropical climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. From June to August, Río Muni is dry and Bioko wet; from December to February, the reverse occurs. In between there is gradual transition. Sony VGP-BPS22/A Battery

Rain or mist occurs daily on Annobón, where a cloudless day has never been registered. The temperature at Malabo, Bioko, ranges from 16 °C (61 °F) to 33 °C (91 °F), though on the southern Moka Plateau normal high temperatures are only21 °C (70 °F). In Río Muni, the average temperature is about 27 °C (81 °F). HP Pavilion DV4T-1400 CTO battery

Annual rainfall varies from 1,930 mm (76 in) at Malabo to 10,920 mm (430 in) at Ureka, Bioko, but Río Muni is somewhat drier.^[11]

History

In the continental region that is now Equatorial Guinea there are believed to have been pygmies, of whom only isolated pockets remain in southern Río Muni. HP Pavilion DV6-1232ET battery

Bantumigrations between the 18th and 20th centuries brought the coastal tribes and later the Fang. Elements of the latter may have generated the Bubi, who emigrated toBioko from Cameroon and Rio Muni in several waves and succeeded former Neolithic populations. Sony VAIO VPCEB19GX battery

The Annobón population, native to Angola, was introduced by the Portuguese via São Tomé island (São Tomé and Príncipe).

The Portuguese explorer Fernão do Pó, seeking a path to India, is credited as being the first European to discover the island of Bioko in 1472. Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P battery

He called it Formosa("Beautiful"), but it quickly took on the name of its European discoverer. The islands of Fernando Pó and Annobón were colonized by Portugal in 1474.

In 1778, the island, adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the mainland between the Niger and Ogoue Rivers were ceded to Spain in exchange for territory in the American continent (Treaty of El Pardo, between Queen Maria I of Portugal and King Charles III of Spain). HP Pavilion DV6-1240EI battery

Between 1778 and 1810, the territory of Equatorial Guinea depended administratively on the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, with seat in Buenos Aires.

From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom established a base on the island to combat the slave trade,^[12] which was then moved to Sierra Leone upon agreement with Spain in 1843. HP Compaq HSTNN-LB51 battery

In 1844, on restoration of Spanish sovereignty, it became known as the Territorios Españoles del Golfo de Guinea Ecuatorial. The mainland portion, Rio Muni, became a protectorate in 1885 and a colony in 1900. Conflicting claims to the mainland were settled by the Treaty of Paris in 1900, HP Pavilion DV4-1211TU battery

and periodically, the mainland territories were united administratively under Spanish rule. Between 1926 and 1959 they were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea.

In September 1968, Francisco Macías Nguema was elected first president of Equatorial Guinea, and independence was recognised on 12 October 1968. Lenovo S10-2 battery

In July 1970, Nguema created a single-party state. Nguema’s reign of terror led to the death or exile of up to 1/3 of the country's population. Out of a population of 300,000, an estimated 80,000 had been killed.The economy collapsed, and skilled citizens and foreigners left.^[15] Apple MacBook Pro Battery

Teodoro Obiang deposed Francisco Macías Nguema on 3 August 1979, in a bloody coup d'état.

In 2011 the government announced it was planning a new capital in the country, named Djibloho.

Politics

The current president of Equatorial Guinea is Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Dell Inspiron N5010 Battery

The 1982 constitution of Equatorial Guinea, written following the 1979 deposition of dictator Francisco Macías Nguema and with help from the UN, gives the presidency extensive powers, including naming and dismissing members of the cabinet, making laws by decree, Sony Vaio P Battery

dissolving the Chamber of Representatives, negotiating and ratifying treaties and serving as commander in chief of the armed forces. The Prime Minister, Ignacio Milam Tang is appointed by the President and operates under powers designated by the President. Dell Inspiron 1564 Battery

On Christmas 1975, Macías had 150 alleged coup plotters executed to the sound of a band playing Mary Hopkin's tuneThose Were the Days in a national stadium.^[20] It is estimated that 100,000 people (approximately one-third of the population) were killed or fled into exile during Macías' reign.^[21] Lenovo S10-3 Battery

President Obiang overthrew previous dictator Francisco Macías Nguema on 3 August 1979 in a bloody coup d'état. Since August 1979 some 12 real and perceived unsuccessful coup attempts have occurred. The 'real' coup attempts were often perpetrated in an attempt by rival elites to seize the state's economic resources.^[21] HP 530 Battery

Under President Obiang, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, in April 2006, to establish a Social Development Fund in the country, implementing projects in the areas of health, education, women's affairs and the environment.^[22] Samsung R522 Battery

Since 2005, MPRI, a U.S. based international policing consulting company, has worked in Equatorial Guinea to train police forces in appropriate human rights practices. In February 2010, Equatorial Guinea signed a contract with the MPRI subsidiary of the US defense corporation, L3 Communications for coastal surveillance and maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. Dell Latitude D630 Battery

 ^[23][24]

Although President Obiang signed a national anti-torture decree in 2006 to ban all forms of abuse and improper treatment in Equatorial Guinea and commissioned the renovation and modernization of Black Beach prison in 2007 to ensure the humane treatment of prisoners,^[25] Acer Aspire 5515 Battery

human rights abuses continue. Human Rights Watch andAmnesty International among other non-governmental organizations have documented severe human rights abuses in prisons, including torture, beatings, unexplained deaths and illegal detention.^[26][27]

Under President Obiang, the basic infrastructure of Equatorial Guinea has also improved. Dell Studio 1735 Battery

Asphalt now covers more than 80% of the national roads and ports and airports are being built across the entire country.^[28] Progress of this increase in infrastructure was confirmed in October 2011 when a British parliamentary delegation and press entourage toured the country as guests of the president. Toshiba Portege R200 Battery

However, despite all the new infrastructure there were very few of its citizens who seemed to have access to it, with reports of empty three lane highways and many empty buildings during the course of the tour according to a journalist who represented The Guardian newspaper who formed part of the press entourage.^[29] Dell Vostro 1710 Battery

According to a March 2004 BBC profile,^[30] politics within the country are currently dominated by tensions between Obiang's son, Teodorin, and other close relatives with powerful positions in the security forces. The tension may be rooted in power shift arising from the dramatic increase in oil production which has occurred since 1997. Hp Pavilion dv3-1000 Battery

A November 2004 report^[31] named Mark Thatcher as a financial backer of a 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt to topple Obiang, organized by Simon Mann. Various accounts also name the United Kingdom's MI6, the United States' CIA, and Spain as having been tacit supporters of the coup attempt.^[32] HP Pavilion DV7-1261WM battery

Nevertheless, theAmnesty International report released in June 2005^[33] on the ensuing trial of those allegedly involved highlighted the prosecution's failure to produce conclusive evidence that a coup attempt had actually taken place.

Simon Mann was released from prison on 3 November 2009 for humanitarian reasons. HP Pavilion DV6-1299EA battery

The presidential decree pardoning Mann from prison cites concerns about his physical health and the need for him to receive ongoing care in his home country.^[34]

President Obiang was re-elected to serve an additional term in 2009 in an election deemed by the African Union as “in line with electoral law”.^[35] hp g6000 battery

The President reappointed Prime Minister Ignacio Milam Tang and installed a new government in Equatorial Guinea on 12 January 2010.^[36]

The new government is dedicated to strengthening the “cooperation and friendship” with the Barack Obama administration. HP Pavilion DV6-1210SA battery

During a meeting on the sidelines of the recent United Nations General Assembly, President Obiang urged President Obama to institute a U.S–Africa summit, to strengthen the cooperation between the United States and Africa.

Economy

Pre-independence Equatorial Guinea counted on cocoa production for hard currency earnings. Compaq Presario CQ71 battery

On 1 January 1985, the country became the first non-Francophone African member of the franc zone, adopting the CFA as its currency. The national currency, the ekwele, was previously linked to the Spanish peseta.^[37]

The discovery of large oil reserves in 1996 and its subsequent exploitation have contributed to a dramatic increase in government revenue. HP Pavilion DV7-1120EO battery

As of 2004,^[38] Equatorial Guinea is the third-largest oil producer in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its oil production has risen to 360,000 barrels per day (57,000 m³/d), up from 220,000 only two years earlier.

Forestry, farming, and fishing are also major components of GDP. Sony VAIO VGN-FW160D battery

Subsistence farming predominates. The deterioration of the rural economy under successive brutal regimes has diminished any potential for agriculture-led growth.

In July 2004, the United States Senate published an investigation into Riggs Bank, a Washington-based bank into which most of Equatorial Guinea's oil revenues were paid until recently, and which also banked for Chile's Augusto Pinochet. HP Pavilion DV4-1220US battery

The Senate report, as to Equatorial Guinea, showed that at least $35 million were siphoned off by Obiang, his family and senior officials of his regime. The president has denied any wrongdoing. While Riggs Bank in February 2005 paid $9 million as restitution for its banking for Chile's Augusto Pinochet, no restitution was made with regard to Equatorial Guinea, Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P battery

as reported in detail in an Anti-Money Laundering Report from Inner City Press.^[39]

Equatorial Guinea is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).^[40]

Equatorial Guinea tried to become validated as an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)–compliant country, HP Compaq 491278-001 battery

working toward transparency in reporting of oil revenues and the prudent use of natural resource wealth. The country was one of 30 candidate countries and obtained candidate status 22 February 2008. It was then required to meet a number of obligations to do so, including committing to working with civil society and companies on EITI implementation, HP Compaq 464119-143 battery

appointing a senior individual to lead on EITI implementation, and publishing a fully costed Work Plan with measurable targets, a timetable for implementation and an assessment of capacity constraints. However, when Equatorial Guinea applied to extend the deadline for completing EITI validation, the EITI Board did not agree to grant Equatorial Guinea an extension.^[41] HP Compaq Business Notebook 6530B battery

Demographics

The majority of the people of Equatorial Guinea are of Bantu origin. The largest tribe, the Fang, is indigenous to the mainland, but substantial migration to Bioko Island has resulted in the Fang population exceeding that of the earlier Bantu inhabitants. Sony VAIO VGN-TZ285N/RC battery

The Fang constitute 80% of the population^[42] and comprise 67 clans. Those in the northern part of Rio Muni speak Fang-Ntumu, while those in the south speak Fang-Okah; the two dialects have differences but are mutually intelligible. Dialects of Fang are also spoken in parts of neighboring Cameroon (Bulu) and Gabon. HP 540 battery

These dialects, while still intelligible, are more distinct. The Bulu Fang of Cameroon were traditional rivals of Fang in Rio Muni. The Bubi, who constitute 15% of the population, are indigenous to Bioko Island. The traditional demarcation line between Fang and beach tribes was the village of Niefang (limit of the Fang) inland from Bata. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/P battery

In addition, there are coastal tribes, sometimes referred to as Ndowe or "Playeros" (Beach People in Spanish): Combes, Bujebas,Balengues, and Bengas on the mainland and small islands, and Fernandinos, a Krio community on Bioko Island. Together, these groups compose 5% of the population. HP Pavilion DV8 battery

Some Europeans (largely of Spanish or Portuguese descent) – among them mixed with African ethnicity – also live in the nation. Most Spaniards left after independence. There is a growing number of foreigners from neighboring Cameroon, Nigeria, and Gabon. Equatorial Guinea received Asians and black Africans from other countries as workers on cocoa and coffee plantations. Sony VAIO VGN-AR95S battery

Other black Africans came from Liberia, Angola, andMozambique. Most of the Asian population is Chinese, with small numbers of Indians.

Equatorial Guinea also allowed many fortune-seeking European settlers of other nationalities, including British, French and Germans. Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P battery

There is also a group of Israelis, and Moroccans. After independence, thousands of Equatorial Guineans went to Spain. Another 100,000 Equatorial Guineans went to Cameroon, Gabon, and Nigeria because of the dictatorship of Francisco Macías Nguema. HP Pavilion DV6000 battery

Some Equatorial Guinean communities are also to be found in Latin America, the United States, Portugal, and France. Oil extraction has contributed to a doubling of the population in Malabo.

Religion

The principal religion in Equatorial Guinea is Christianity which is the faith of 93% of the population. HP Compaq KU532AA battery

These are predominately Roman Catholic (87%) while a minority are Protestants (5%). Another 5% of the population follow indigenous beliefs and the final 2% comprises Muslims, Bahá'í Faith, and other beliefs.^[43]

Languages

The official languages are Spanish (for the local variety see Equatoguinean Spanish), French, and Portuguese. Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/W battery

However, the government's official homepage states that: "Spanish is the official administrative language and that of education. French is the second official language and nearly all the ethnic groups speak the languages referred to as Bantu."^[44] Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/L battery

Indigenous languages include Fang, Bube, Benga, Pichinglis, Ndowe, Balengue, Bujeba, Bissio, Gumu, and a nearly extinct Baseke) and others, as well as Annobonese language (Fá d'Ambô) a Portuguese creole, and Fernando Poo Creole English. HP Pavilion DV6-1240EO battery

English and German are also studied as foreign languages.

Aboriginal languages are recognized as integral parts of the "national culture" (Constitutional Law No. 1/1998 January 21). The great majority of Equatorial Guineans speak Spanish,^[45] especially those living in the capital, Malabo. Spanish has been an official language since 1844. Sony VAIO VGN-NS110E/L battery

Some media reported that in October 2011, the Constitutional Law that amends article four of the Constitution of Equatorial Guinea was enacted by Chamber of People's Representatives. This Constitutional Law established the third official language of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea – Portuguese (by that time only the Spanish and French had official status). Sony VAIO VGN-G2AAPS battery

This was in an effort by the government to improve its communications, trade, and bilateral relations with Portuguese-speaking countries.^[46] The adoption of Portuguese followed the announcement in 13 July 2007, by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of his government's decision for Portugueseto become Equatorial Guinea's third official language, Sony VAIO VGN-NS70B/W battery

in order to meet one of the requirements to apply for full membership in the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), the other one being political reforms allowing for effective democracy and the respect for human rights. Sony VGP-BPS21B battery

This upgrading from its current Associate Observer condition would result in Equatorial Guinea being able to access several professional and academic exchange programs and the facilitation of cross-border circulation of citizens. Sony VAIO VGN-Z56GG/B battery

Its application for membership of the CPLP is currently being assessed by the organisations' members.^[45] According to draft of the Constitutional Law: “This Constitutional Law will go into effect twenty days from its publication in the Official State Gazette”.^[47] In October 2011, the national parliament was discussing this law.^[48] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z battery

So far no official confirmation of approving the decree by the Parliament nor published it in the Official State Gazette. Moreover official Equatorial Guinean sources, do not treat Portuguese as an official language yet.^[49] HP Pavilion DV7-1120EO battery

In February 2012, Equatorial Guinea's foreign minister signed an agreement with the IILP (Instituto Internacional de Língua Portuguesa) on the promotion of Portuguese in Equatorial Guinea.^[50] [51]

Culture

In June 1984, the First Hispanic-African Cultural Congress was convened to explore the cultural identity of Equatorial Guinea. HP Pavilion DV6-1210SA battery

The congress constituted the center of integration and the marriage of the Hispanic culture with African cultures.^[37]

Education

Under the regime of Francisco Macias, education had been significantly neglected with few children receiving any type of education. HP Mini 311-1110TU battery

Under President Obiang, the illiteracy rate dropped from 73 percent to 13 percent ^[52] and the number of primary school students has risen from 65,000 in 1986 to more than 100,000 in 1994. Education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 14.^[37] Compaq Presario V2335US battery

The Equatorial Guinea government has also partnered with Hess Corporation and The Academy for Educational Development (AED) to establish a $20 million education program through which primary school teachers participate in a training program to teach modern child development techniques.^[53] Sony VAIO VGN-FW11E battery

There are now 51 Model Schools, one for every state. It is hoped the active pedagogy in the Model Schools will be a national reform.

In recent years, with change in economic/political climate and government social agendas, several cultural dispersion and literacy organizations are now located in the country, HP Pavilion DV1635LA battery

founded chiefly with the financial support of the Spanish government. The country has one university, the Universidad Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial(UNGE) with a campus in Malabo and a Faculty of Medicine located in Bata on the mainland. In 2009 the university produced the first 110 national doctors.^[28] Sony VAIO VGN-FW11E battery

The Bata Medical School is supported principally by the government of Cuba and staffed by Cuban medical educators and physicians, however, it is predicted that Equatorial Guinea will have enough national doctors in the country to be self-sufficient within the next five years.^[28] Sony VAIO VGN-NS10J/S battery

Health

Equatorial Guinea’s innovative malaria control programs have had a remarkable impact on malaria infection, disease, and mortality in the population.^[54] Their program consists of twice-yearly indoor residual spraying (IRS), HP Pavilion DV6-1200SL battery

the introduction of artemisinin combination treatment (ACTs), the use of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnant women (IPTp) and the introduction of very high coverage with long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets (LLINs). Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/T battery

The result of their efforts resulted in a reduction in all-cause under-five mortality from 152 to 55 deaths per 1,000 live births (down 64%); and the drop occurred rapidly and timed directly with the beginning of the program.^[55] HP HSTNN-LB31 battery

Air transport

Every airline registered in the country appears on the list of air carriers prohibited in the European Union (EU) which means that they are banned for safety reasons from operating services of any kind within the EU.^[56] HP 593553-001 battery

Due to the large oil presence in the country, internationally recognised carriers fly to Malabo (Bioko).

Communications

The principal means of communication within the country are three state-operated FM radio stations; there are also five shortwave radio stations. HP Pavilion DV5-1110EM battery

There are two newspapers and two magazines. Television Nacional, the television network, is state operated.^[57][58] The international TV programme RTVGE is available via satellites in Africa, Europa, and the Americas and worldwide via Internet.^[59]

Most of the media companies practice heavy self-censorship, and are banned by law from criticising public figures. HP 436426-752 battery

The state-owned media and the main private radio station are under the directorship of Teodorin Nguema Obiang, the president's son.

Landline telephone penetration is low, with only two lines available for every 100 persons.^[58] There is one GSM mobile telephone operator, Sony VAIO VGN-BZ560N24 battery

with coverage of Malabo,Bata, and several mainland cities.^[60][61] As of 2009, approximately forty percent of the population subscribed to mobile telephone services.^[62] The only telephone provider in Equatorial Guinea is Orange.

Equatorial Guinea has nine (as of 2009) Internet service providers, which serve more than 8,000 users.^[58] HP Compaq 451086-661 battery

Football

Equatorial Guinea has been chosen to co-host the 2012 African Cup of Nations in partnership with Gabon. The Equatorial Guinea won their first game against Libya 1-0 in group A. The country was also chosen to host the 2008 Women's African Football Championship, which they won. Compaq Presario C740EM battery

The Women's National Team qualified for the 2011 World Cup in Germany.

Swimming

Equatorial Guinea is famous for the national swimming champion Eric Moussambani, nicknamed "Eric the Eel".HP 448007-001 battery

In fiction

Frederick Forsyth's 1974 novel The Dogs of War is set in the fictional platinum-rich 'Republic of Zangaro', which is based on Equatorial Guinea. There is also a 1981 film adaptation of the book, also called The Dogs of War. HP Pavilion DV7 battery

Fernando Po (now Bioko) is featured prominently in the 1975 science fiction work The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. The island (and, in turn, the country) experience a series of coups in the story which lead the world to the verge of nuclear war. HP DV6-1120SA battery

The story also hypothesizes that Fernando Po is the last remaining piece of the sunken continent of Atlantis.

Most of the action in the American novelist Robin Cook's book, Chromosome 6, takes place at a primate research facility based in Equatorial Guinea due to the country's permissive laws. HP DV6-1210SA battery

The book also discusses some of the geography, history, and peoples of the country.

Episode 2 of the British sitcom Yes Minister, "The Official Visit", situates the fictional lesser developed country of Buranda in what is actually Equatorial Guinea.

In the 2009 novel Limit by Frank Schätzing, which takes place in 2025, the country's history (and future history) plays a significant role in the plot. Compaq CQ50 battery

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is located in west central Africa. Bioko Island lies about 40 kilometers (24.9 mi) from Cameroon. Annobón Island lies about 595 kilometres (370 mi) southwest of Bioko Island. The larger continental region of Rio Muni lies between Cameroon and Gabon on the mainland; HP Pavilion DV8 battery

it includes the islands of Corisco, Elobey Grande,Elobey Chico, and adjacent islets.

Bioko Island, called Fernando Po until the 1970s, is the largest island in the Gulf of Guinea - 2,017 square kilometers (779 sq mi). It is shaped like a boot, with two large volcanic formations separated by a valley that bisects the island at its narrowest point.Sony VGP-BPS13 battery

The 195-kilometer (121 mi) coastline is steep and rugged in the south but lower and more accessible in the north, with excellent harbors at Malabo and Luba, and several scenic beaches between those towns.

On the continent, Rio Muni covers 26,003 square kilometers (10,040 sq mi). HP DV9700 battery

The coastal plain gives way to a succession of valleys separated by low hills and spurs of the Crystal Mountains. The Rio Benito (Mbini) which divides Rio Muni in half, is unnavigable except for a 20-kilometer stretch at its estuary. Temperatures and humidity in Rio Muni are generally lower than on Bioko Island. Compaq CQ35-100 battery

Annobon Island, named for its discovery on New Year's Day 1472, is a small volcanic island covering 18 square kilometers (6.9 sq mi). The coastline is abrupt except in the north; the principal volcanic cone contains a small lake. Most of the estimated 1,900 inhabitants are fisherman specializing in traditional, smallscale tuna fishing and whaling. Sony VGP-BPS11 battery

The climate is tropical—heavy rainfall, high humidity, and frequent seasonal changes with violent windstorms.

Location: Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Cameroon and Gabon.

The climate of both the continental region and the islands is typically equatorial, with high temperatures, HP 448007-001 battery

 heavy rainfall, and much cloud cover most of the year. Local variations are due to differences in altitude and proximity to the sea. The wet seasons in the continental region are from February to June and from September to December. Rainfall is higher on the coast than inland. HP Pavilion DV7 battery

In Bata the rainiest months are September, October, and November, with rainfall averaging more than 94 in (2,388 mm) a year. At Calatrava, farther south on the coast, it sometimes reaches 180 in (4,572 mm). Inland, however, rainfall diminishes; Mikomeseng, for example, receives only about 58 in (1,473 mm). HP DV6-1120SA battery

The average annual temperature is about 79 °F (26.1 °C) and is fairly constant throughout the year. The temperature maxima are somewhat lower than in Bioko. The relative humidity, however, is higher than in Bioko. Bioko has a rather debilitating climate. The so-called dry season lasts from November to March, and the rest of the year is rainy. HP DV6-1210SA battery

The average annual temperature of about 77 °F (25 °C) varies little throughout the year. Afternoon temperatures reach the high 80s °F (low 30s °C) and drop to only about 70 °F (21.1 °C) at night. Most of the time the sky is cloudy and overcast. Extreme rainfall occurs in the south, with rain brought by monsoon winds amounting to about 450 in (11,430 mm) a year around San Antonio de Ureca. Compaq CQ50 battery

Terrain

Coastal plains rise to interior hills; islands are volcanic

Irrigated land: NA km²

Natural hazards: violent windstorms, flash floods

Environment - current issues: tap water is not potable; desertificationHP Pavilion DV8 battery

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Ship Pollution

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note: insular and continental regions rather widely separated Sony VGP-BPS13 battery

Pre-colonial history

The first inhabitants of the region that is now Equatorial Guinea are believed to have been Pygmies, of whom only isolated pockets remain in northern Rio Muni. Bantumigrations between the 17th and 19th centuries brought the coastal tribes and later the Fang.HP DV9700 battery

Elements of the latter may have generated the Bubi, who emigrated to Bioko from Cameroon and Río Muni in several waves and succeeded former Neolithic populations. It is said the Igbo of Nigeria (mostly Aro) slave traders arrived and founded very few tiny settlements in Bioko and Rio Muni which expanded the Aro Confederacy in the 18th and 19th centuries. Compaq CQ35-100 battery

The Annobón population, native to Angola, was introduced by the Portuguese via São Tomé.

The Portuguese explorer, Fernão do Pó, seeking a route to India, is credited with having discovered the island of Bioko in 1471. He called it Formosa ("beautiful [isle]", a name later applied to Taiwan), HP G62-228CL Battery

but it quickly took on the name of its European discoverer, albeit spelt "Fernando Po". The islands of Fernando Po andAnnobón were colonized by the Portuguese in 1474. The Portuguese retained control until 1778, when the island, adjacent islets, HP G62-229WM Battery

and commercial rights to the mainland between the Niger and Ogooué Rivers were ceded to Spain in exchange for territory in South America (Treaty of El Pardo).

From 1827 to 1843, Britain established a base on the island to combat the slave trade. The mainland portion, Río Muni, became a protectorate in 1885 and a colony in 1900. HP G62-251TU Battery

Conflicting claims to the mainland were settled in 1900 by the Treaty of Paris, and periodically, the mainland territories were united administratively under Spanish rule. Between 1926 and 1959 they were united as the colony of Spanish Guinea. During the First World War, German troops retreated into this territory fromKamerun because Spain was neutral during the war. HP G62-251XX Battery