Mali guide — editorial, image and map references Prepared 26 October 2026 Scope Twelve cities and towns in two rounds of six, ten heritage/landscape points, ten illustrated reading topics, thirty answered reading questions, existing facts rounds and general French lessons. A Bambara course and a citizenship course are not currently offered. National languages are official under the 2023 constitution; French is a working language. Geography, history, economy and society https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Mali https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mali https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Mali https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Mali https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malian_cuisine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Mali https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mali/overview https://www.bceao.int/en/content/presentation-umoa Constitution and transition https://sgg-mali.ml/JO/2023/mali-jo-2023-20.pdf Article 31: national languages are official; French is a working language. https://minusma.unmissions.org/en https://www.ecowas.int/withdrawal-of-burkina-faso-republic-of-mali-and-the-republic-of-niger-from-ecowas/ https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/mali The constitution and UK advice were retrieved on 26 October 2026. UK advice advised against all travel. Recheck current advice; mapped learning points and historical images do not establish safety, permission or current access. Heritage and ecology https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ml/ https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/119/ (Timbuktu) https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/116/ (Old Towns of Djenné) https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/516/ (Cliff of Bandiagara) https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1139/ (Tomb of Askia) https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/1365 (Inner Niger Delta) https://www.wild.org/mali-elephants/ Landscapes have representative pins rather than property boundaries. Lake Débo is seasonal; no fixed lake extent or river-navigation route is supplied. Map provenance and limitations The Mali feature (ISO_A2=ML) was retained from public/countries.geojson, the site’s generalised Natural Earth-derived national outline. Public-domain terms: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/ Exact retained input: scripts/mali-outline-source.geojson. Approximate curated settlement centres: scripts/mali-map-places.json. Approximate heritage/landscape points: src/lib/country-sights/mali.json. Coordinates use [longitude, latitude]. These are learning points, not entrances, routes or administrative boundaries. The generalised outline is not a survey. Rebuild offline: node scripts/build-mali-map.mjs Check: node scripts/test-mali-guide.cjs Live: MALI_BASE_URL=https://worldly.academy node scripts/test-mali-guide.cjs Quiz review Eighty original questions remain unchanged in the seed and are retained in scripts/fixtures/mali-facts-questions.json. Read-time corrections preserve question/lesson IDs and saved progress. They remove unsupported wealth rankings, unqualified percentages, a gold-for-salt exchange ratio, broad community claims and a disputed astronomy claim. They clarify the 2023 language provisions, conflict geography, the 2012 MNLA rebellion, the 2025 ECOWAS withdrawal and the Niger’s headwaters in Guinea. No database writes or schema changes are needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansa_Musa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%27Ko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogon_people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Movement_for_the_Liberation_of_Azawad Photographs Reuses the existing ten photographs in /images/facts-africa/ml/; no new third-party photos were downloaded. Author, licence and source remain visible in each credit. The classroom depicts Tireli in 2008, the food photo a Bamako sales stand and the nature photo a satellite view of Lake Débo. These do not establish current conditions, a pupil’s language or the identity of a prepared dish. geography: Fishermen on the Niger River, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/geography.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FISHERMEN_RIVER_WEST_AFRICA.jpg T.K. Naliaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons history: Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/history.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Djinguereber_Mosque,_Timbuktu,_Mali.jpg Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons language: A school class in Tireli, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/language.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ASC_Leiden_-_W.E.A._van_Beek_Collection_-_Thuis_in_Afrika_-_20.3_-_A_school_class_of_more_than_70_children_-_Tireli,_Mali_-_2008.jpg Wouter van Beek, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons culture: Dogon mask dancers, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/culture.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mali_Dogon_Dance.jpg Hisashi Yuya, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons economy: Workers preparing cotton near Mpessoba, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/economy.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Workers_compacting_cotton_Mali.jpg Mds08011, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons politics: Place des Gouverneurs in Bamako, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/politics.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Place_des_gouverneurs,_Koulouba_-_Bamako.jpg Rgaudin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons nature: Lake Débo seen from a satellite, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/nature.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_debo_Mali_-_Landsat8.jpg NASA / USGS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons food: A food stall in Bamako, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/food.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Food_sales_stand_in_Mali%27s_capital_Bamako.._(23965606197).jpg Ralf Steinberger from Northern Italy and Berlin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons landmarks: The Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/landmarks.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Great_Clay_Mosque_in_Djenne,_Mali.jpg Dr. Ondřej Havelka (cestovatel), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons people: A street in Bamako, Mali /images/facts-africa/ml/people.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bamako_Street_(48153420611).jpg Mark Fischer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons