Mali, Africa: What does Mali look like?

The geography and shape of a nation constantly changes as the nation grows bigger or sometimes as a nation gets divided. When one nation grows bigger, that means another one grows smaller. This type of change refers to the political boundary of a nation and then depending on where those boundaries stop, determines what type of geography a nation has.

When the country of Mali first started, it was actually called the French Sudan, and the northern border was the Sahara desert (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360071/Mali/279103/French-West-Africa). The northern border is still the Sahara desert, but as the desert expands a few inches each year, the country of Mali is slowly expanding as the political border moves with the geographical border. “In 1904 the Kayes-Bamako portion of the Ocean- Niger railroad, linking coastal Dakar with the Niger River, was completed. Bamako became the colony’s capital, doubling in size from 1902 to 1912 and continuing to rapidly grow thereafter” (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360071/Mali/279103/French-West-Africa). Mali gained some major land and cities in the early 1900s which increased the size of the country, and made the country increase not only in land size, but also in population. The population of modern Mali is 16,456,000 people (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360071/Mali/279103/French-West-Africa). In January 1959, Senegal and the Sudanese Republic joined together to make one nation called the Mali Federation. However, that did not last long because of political differences and therefore the Senegal split from the Mali Federation in August 1960. The Republic of Mali was born in September of that same year when the Mali Federation declared its independence and became its own solidified country (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/360071/Mali/279103/French-West-Africa).

All countries have geographical and political boundaries most of which change throughout a countries history. A country also tends to go through several name changes before settling on its official title and that was the case with Mali. Mali is a wonderful country with amazing borders that contain amazing histories and stories behind them.