MALI 

Full name: The Republic of Mali
Population: 13.8 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Bamako
Major languages: French, Bambara, Berber, Arabic
Major religions: Islam, indigenous beliefs
Life expectancy: 47 years (men), 48 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) franc = 100 centimes
GNI per capita: US $380 (World Bank, 2006)

[Source: BBC News]

Mali is the seventh largest country of Africa. It is also one of the poorest countries in the world.

The country is self-sufficient in food thanks to the fertile Niger River basin in the south and east. It is also one of the African continent's biggest cotton producers.

Along with other African exporters it has lobbied against subsidies to cotton farmers in richer countries, particularly the US. It argues that these depress prices and restrict Malian farmers' access to export markets.

Mali is saddled with a chronic foreign trade deficit, making it heavily dependent on foreign aid and the money sent home from emigrants working abroad.

Malian cuisine is characterised by the diversity of its sauces - all accompanied by rice, millet, wheat or sorghum.

Culinary practices are practically the same all over the country with the only difference to be found in the ingredients used to make the accompanying sauces.

A good sauce is meant to be sticky enough to cover each layer of couscous or rice.