ABSTRACT
Mali is a landlocked country in the semiarid interior of West Africa. Its gross national product for most of the 1980s was U.S. $1.0 billion annually, translating into $140 per capita. This makes Mali one of the poorest countries in the world. A primarily agricultural country (most of whose population depends on farming, fishing, and herding), it had an annual operating budget of $135 million during the late 1980s. By comparison, New York City had an annual operating budget of close to $20 billion during the same period. Mali's annual operating deficit during the 1980s averaged $35 million, most of it covered by external aid, especially from France. Life expectancy is currently forty-five years, with one out of every two children dying before the age of five. Because of high fertility and a high birthrate, the population is projected to reach twelve million by the year 2000 and thirty-seven million by the year 2035 if present rates of increase continue. There is little hope that the country's resources will increase, even modestly.
