Countries where ASL or a derivative of ASL is the national or a widespread language include Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana ( with BSL ), Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d ' Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya ( minority use ), Liberia, Madagascar ( minority use ), Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Philippines ( L2 use ), Puerto Rico, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Trinidad and Tobago, Togo, and Zimbabwe ( with ZSL ).

Bambara, also known as Bamana, and Bamanankan by speakers of the language, is a language spoken in Mali, and to a lesser extent Burkina Faso, Senegal by as many as six million people ( including second language users ).

The Bambara language is the language of people of the Bambara ethnic group, numbering about 4, 000, 000 people, but serves also as a lingua franca in Mali ( it is estimated that about 80 percent of the population speak it as a first or second language ).

Bambara is a language / dialect of the Manding language cluster, a cluster of languages whose ethnic-speakers generally trace their cultural history to the ancient city of Manding, where modern-day Kita, Mali now exists.

Bambara is spoken throughout Mali as a lingua franca.

The country is shaped like a square and borders the Gulf of Guinea on the north Atlantic Ocean to the south ( 515 km of coastline ) and five other African nations on the other three sides, with a total of 3, 110 km of borders: Liberia to the southwest ( 716 km ), Guinea to the northwest ( 610 km ), Mali to the north-northwest ( 532 km ), Burkina Faso to the north-northeast, and Ghana to the east ( 668 km ).

In the Sahelian countries of West Africa, such as Mali and Senegal, pearl millet is pounded or milled to the size and consistency necessary for the couscous.

Jula ( Dyula, Dioula ) is a Mande language spoken in Burkina Faso, Côte d ' Ivoire, and Mali.

The Wassoulou or Wassulu empire was a short-lived ( 1878 – 1898 ) empire, led by Samori Ture in the predominately Malinké area of what is now upper Guinea and southwestern Mali ( Wassoulou ).

Guinea is Coast of West Africa and is bordered by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Mali, Côte d ' Ivoire, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

This link between non-tonality and geographic location is not limited to Hausa alone, but is exhibited in other northern dialects of neighbouring languages ; such as the difference within Songhay language ( between the northernmost Koyra Chiini and Koyraboro Senni dialects of Timbuktu and Gao, and the Zarma dialect, spoken from western Niger to northern Ghana ), and within the Soninke language ( between the northernmost dialects of Imraguen and Nemadi spoken in east-central Mauritania, and the southern dialects of Senegal, Mali and the sahel ).

Separate smaller Hausa dialects are spoken by an unknown number of Hausa further west in parts of Burkina Faso, and in the Haoussa Foulane, Badji Haoussa, Guezou Haoussa, and Ansongo districts of northeastern Mali ( where it is designated as a minority language by the Malian government ), but there are very little linguistic resources and research done on these particular dialects at this time.

In Mali, the ink is applied to the fingernail.

In some Muslim-majority nations, such as Albania, Turkey, Jordan, Indonesia or Mali, same-sex intercourse is not forbidden by law, and in Albania there has been discussions of legalizing same-sex marriage.

The instrument is played in Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and The Gambia.

Outbreaks of the disease have been observed in Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Central African Republic, but it is believed that human infections also exist in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Senegal.

Mali, officially the Republic of Mali (, ), is a landlocked country in West Africa.

Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire ( from which Mali is named ), and the Songhai Empire.

Mali is currently being led by an interim government led by former Prime Minister Dioncounda Traoré.

Mali was once the site of one of the richest and largest empires in the world.

Mali was also one of the earliest nations to make a declaration of human rights.

During this democratic period Mali was regarded as one of the most politically and socially stable countries in Africa.

Mali is divided into eight regions ( régions ) and one district.

Mali has one of the world's highest rates of infant mortality, with 106 deaths per 1, 000 live births.

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, 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.

Mali has only one railroad, including 729 kilometers in Mali, which runs from the port of Koulikoro via Bamako to the border with Senegal and continues on to Dakar.

Mali is reported to be one of the largest recipients of U. S. aid in Africa.

* September 22 – Mali, the sole remaining member of the " Mali Federation " following the withdrawal of Senegal one month earlier, declares its full independence as the Republic of Mali.

* March 13 – Battle of Tondibi: In Mali, Moroccan forces of the Saadi Dynasty led by Judar Pasha defeat the Songhai Empire, despite being outnumbered by at least five to one.

So while the lineage of the Keita dynasty may be dubious at best, oral chroniclers have preserved a list of each Keita ruler from Lawalo ( supposedly one of Bilal's seven sons who settled in Mali ) to Maghan Kon Fatta ( father of Sundiata Keita ).

In Mali, a traditional ensemble often consists of one dunun ( called konkoni ) and one djembe.

The Bambara language, mutually intelligible with the Manding and Diola languages, has become the principal inter-ethnic language in Mali and one of the official languages of the state alongside French.

The route to Bamako, suspended since the February 1966 coup, restarted in conjunction with Air Mali operating one of its Il-18s on the route.

The Songhai state has existed in one form or another for over a thousand years if one traces its rulers from the first settlement in Gao to its semi-vassal status under the Mali Empire through its continuation in Niger as the Dendi Kingdom.

Many of Sundiata's successors, including his son Uli I of Mali, did became Muslims, Mansa Musa being one of the must celebrated.

Credit to Mali's conquests cannot all be attributed to Sundiata Keita but equally shared among his generals, and in this, Tiramakhan Traore stood out as one of the elite generals and warlords of Sundiata's Imperial Mali.

In Saharan countries, there is a term Al-Maghreb Al-Qadeem aka Old Maghreb ( Ancient Trans-Saharan trading sphere of influence, cross culturalization and trade ; primarily consisting of over 20 countries such as: present day Morocco ( Taghaza ), Algeria ( Djayr ), Tunisia ( Tunis ), Libya ( Libu ), Egypt ( Kemet ), Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Ancient Ghana ( Ouagadougou ), Niger and Nigeria were once one region, Burkino Faso, The Western Sahara ( also Taghaza ), South Africa, Sudan ( Nubia ), Somalia, Ethiopia ( Kush ), Eritrea etc.

Mali is divided into eight regions and one capital district.

Timbuktu ( Mali ) was a central crossroad to all four routes.

After his death, four fake Peters ( five if Šćepan Mali of Montenegro is included ) came forth, supported by revolts among the people who believed in a rumor that Peter had not died, but had secretly been imprisoned by Catherine.

Tinariwen was founded by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, who at age four witnessed the execution of his father ( a Tuareg rebel ) during a 1963 uprising in Mali.

In 2011 only four countries still had the human-infecting Dracunculus medinensis – and of these, Ghana, Ethiopia and Mali have nearly eliminated it.

In the quarterfinals, they faced a favoured Italy team, and while Mali held the game scoreless into the second period of extra time, Italy scored the winning goal just four minutes before penalties, eliminating the African side.

Mali also had four alternate players, who are not counted as part of the official roster.

The number of cases has been reduced by more than 99 % to 3, 190 in 2009, 3, 185 of them in the four remaining endemic nations of Africa: Sudan, Ghana, Mali and Ethiopia.

The increase in Desert Locust breeding activity was noted in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ) Desert Locust Bulletins in the autumn of 2003 when four unrelated outbreaks occurred simultaneously in Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Sudan.

The Đerdap gorge, which is some 100 kilometers long ( from Golubac to Tekija ), is actually a compound river valley made up of four gorges ( Gornja klisura, Gospođin vir, Veliki and Mali kazan and Sipska klisura ), separated from each other by ravines.

Saharanpur was a walled city, with four gates: the Sarai Gate, the Mali Gate, the Buria Gate and the Lakhi Gate ; Nakhasa Bazar, Shah Behlol, Rani Bazar and Lakhi Gate were the names of the neighbourhoods.

Raja Ran Veer Singh had built a walled city, with four gates: the Sarai Gate, the Mali Gate, the Buria Gate and the Lakhi Gate ; Nakhasa Bazar, Shah Behlol, Rani Bazar and Lakhi Gate were inhabited localities in this walled city of Saharanpur.

Comparison of the four major styles of The Chi Wara / Chiwara / Chi-Wara mask of the Bambara people of Mali.

In June 2005, Keita was elected president of the Mali Football Federation for a period of four years.

Kanouté scored four goals in four matches helping Mali to the semi-finals, where they lost to Morocco.

In 1972 a predecessor organization was established, the Organisation des Etats Riverians du Fleuve Sénégal ( or the Senegal River Riparian States Organization ), with the four border countries — Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal — to manage the Sénégal River drainage basin and the river itself.