Mali is a northern African country. It is a land-locked country. Mali borders Algeria to the north, Niger to the east, Burkina Faso and Cote D’ivoire to the south, Guinea to the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania to the west. Here are ten funny facts about Mali.
SEE ALSO: 10 Amazing Facts About Luxembourg You Should Know
Population: 15.3 million (2013) World Bank
123
Capital: Bamako
Currency: West African CFA franc
President: Ibrahim Boubacar Keita
Prime Minister: Modibo Keita
Continent: Africa
System of Government: Unitary semi-presidential republic
Official Language: French
Funny Facts About Mali
This 24th largest country in the world has many funny facts lots of people do not know.
1. RITUAL MARKS?
The Dogon people of central Mali have over 75 tribal/ritual marks.
2. SYMBOLIC TEA SERVING
National drink is the tea. It is served three times from the same pot, each with the following meaning:
1st: Fort comme le mort…strong as death.
2nd: Doux comme le vie…mild as life.
3rd: Sucre comme l’ammour… (Sugar) sweet as love.
A forth cup, it means you are no longer welcome.
SEE ALSO: 17 Amazing Facts About Uruguay You Should Know
3. HISTORIC ALIAS
The carton movie “Lion King” took its title from the alias of the founder of Mali empire, Sundiata. He was also called the Lion Prince.
4. SOME CELEBRATION!
Child circumcision is a great celebration in Bamako, capital of Mali.
5. DISPLAY OF AFFLUENCE
A King of Mali Empire, Mansa Kankan Mousa set an unbroken record by going on pilgrimage to Mecca with 12,000 slaves, 60,000 men, 80 camels, all carrying between 30 and 50 pounds of gold, and building a mosque on every Friday of his trip!
6. GETTING ACQUAINTED
In Mali, two strangers first ask of each other’s clan name of jaamu. Then they promptly proceed to ritually insult and ridicule each other’s jaamu, intelligence, ancestry, diet, etc. And then they become pals…like they’ve known each other for long.
7. STANDING ON TWO HEMISPHERES
The prime meridian marker is in Gao. There, you actually stand on the edge of two hemispheres!
8. SALT IS VALUABLE
Mali was also famous for its salt mines. So valuable was salt in the past that people traded a pound of gold for a pound of salt.
SEE ALSO: 10 Weird Facts About South Korea You Never Knew
9. MUD IS FASHION
The bogolanfini cloth is painstakingly hand-crafted. And then it is dyed…in mud! And Malians love this!
10. POSITIONED FOR WEALTH
Facts about Mali number ten, in the olden days the vast wealth of the emperors came from the region’s position in the Cross-Saharan trade route. It was situated between West Africa and the north, and of course, Middle East.
they eat pigs and monkeys