The landlocked West African country of Mali - one of the poorest in the world - has experienced rapid economic growth since the 1990s.
For several decades after independence from France in 1960, Mali suffered droughts, rebellions, a coup and 23 years of military dictatorship. But since its first democratically-elected president took power in 1992, it has had a civilian government and enjoyed relative political stability.
The core of ancient empires going back to the fourth century, Mali was conquered by the French in the middle of the 19th century.
In 1958 it was proclaimed the Sudanese Republic and the following year it became the Mali Federation, after uniting with Senegal. However, Senegal seceded and Mali became independent in 1960.
Although swathes of Mali are barren, the country is self-sufficient in food thanks to the fertile Niger river basin in the south and east.
Mali is one of the continent's biggest cotton producers. Along with other African exporters it has lobbied against subsidies to cotton farmers in richer countries, particularly the US. It argues that these depress prices and restrict Malian farmers' access to export markets.
Mali is saddled with a chronic foreign trade deficit, making it heavily dependent on foreign aid and the money sent home from emigrants working abroad.
In 1985 Mali fought a brief border war with Burkina Faso, and relations continue to be strained.
In the early 1990s the army was sent to the north to quell a rebellion by nomadic Tuareg tribes over land, cultural and linguistic rights.
The uprising was ended by a series of treaties in the mid-1990s, but frustration over continuing perceived inequalities led to a renewed rebellion in 2007.
Sporadic fighting continued throughout 2008, despite a cease-fire signed in May. In early 2009, military successes for the government and the surrender of several hundred rebels boosted hopes of a return to a peace process.
Mali has produced some of the stars of African music. The Festival in the Desert, held every year in Essakane, a Saharan oasis, celebrates this talent.
The kidnapping of a number of foreigners apparently at the hands of al-Qaeda has raised fears that the country is being used as a sanctuary by the militants.
Mali has not adopted as tough a stance towards al-Qaeda as its neighbours Algeria and Mauritania, and has agreed to free militant prisoners in order to secure the release of foreign hostages.
This has given rise to tensions between Mali and the other Saharan states.
President: Amadou Toumani Toure
Amadou Toumani Toure, the army general credited with rescuing Mali from military dictatorship and handing it back to its people, won presidential elections in May 2002. He was re-elected in 2007.
He first came to power in 1991, overthrowing military ruler Moussa Traore after his security forces killed over 100 pro-democracy demonstrators.
He gained widespread respect, and the nickname "soldier of democracy", for handing power to elected civilians the next year.
Born in 1948, Mr Toure is also known popularly by his initials "ATT". He has no official party but went into the first round of the elections with the backing of numerous support groups and 22 minor parties.
A chronology of key events:
11th century - Empire of Mali becomes dominant force in the upper Niger basin, its period of greatness beginning under King Sundiata in 1235 and peaking under Mansa Musa who ruled between 1312 and 1337 and extended empire to the Atlantic.
14th-15th centuries - Decline of the Empire of Mali, which loses dominance of the gold trade to the Songhai Empire, which makes its base in Timbuktu - historically important as a focal point of Islamic culture and a trading post on the trans-Saharan caravan route.
Late 16th century - Moroccans defeat the Songhai, make Timbuktu their capital and rule until their decline in the 18th century.
19th century - French colonial advance, and Islamic religious wars which lead to creation of theocratic states.
1898 - France completes conquest of Mali, then called French Sudan.
1959 - Mali and Senegal form the Mali Federation, which splits a year later.
Independence
1960 - Mali becomes independent with Modibo Keita as president. It becomes a one-party, socialist state and withdraws from the Franc zone.
1968 - Keita ousted in coup led by Lieutenant Moussa Traore.
1977 - Protests erupt following Keita's death in prison.
1979 - New constitution provides for elections; Traore re-elected president.
1985 - Mali and Burkina Faso engage in border fighting.
1991 - Traore deposed in coup and replaced by transitional committee.
Democracy
1992 - Alpha Konare wins multiparty elections to become Mali's first democratically-elected president.
1995 - Peace agreement with Tuareg tribes leads to return of thousands of refugees.
1999 - Former President Moussa Traore sentenced to death on corruption charges, but has his sentence commuted to life imprisonment by President Konare.
1999 October - Several people killed in fighting in the north between members of the Kunta tribe and an Arab community over local disputes.
2000 February - Konare appoints former International Monetary Fund official Mande Sidibe prime minister.
2001 December - Manantali dam in southwest produces its first megawatt of hydro-electricity, 13 years after it was completed.
Amadou Toure
2002 April - Amadou Toumani Toure elected president by landslide. Poll is marred by allegations of fraud.
2002 September - France says it will cancel 40% of debts owed to it by Mali, amounting to some 80m euros ($79m, £51m).
2002 October - Government resigns, without public explanation. New "government of national unity" is unveiled.
2003 August - Clashes between rival Muslim groups in west kill at least 10 people.
Fourteen Europeans, kidnapped in Algeria in 2003, are freed in Mali after negotiations with militant captors.
2004 April - Prime Minister Mohamed Ag Amani resigns and is replaced by Ousmane Issoufi Maiga.
2004 September - Agriculture minister says severe locust plague has cut cereal harvest by up to 45%.
2005 June - World Food Programme warns of severe food shortages, the result of drought and locust infestations in 2004.
2006 May - Visiting French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy faces a hostile reception from protesters accusing him of racism over the tough immigration bill he introduced in parliament.
2006 June - The government signs an Algerian-brokered peace deal with Tuareg rebels seeking greater autonomy for their northern desert region. The rebels looted weapons in the town of Kidal in May, raising fears of a new rebellion.
2007 April - President Toure wins a second five-year term in elections.
2007 June - Five journalists and a teacher are convicted for insulting President Toure over a high school essay assignment on the sexual indiscretions of an imaginary head of state.
2007 July - The ruling coalition, Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ADP), strengthens its hold on parliament in elections.
Rebel activity
2007 August - Suspected Tuareg rebels abduct government soldiers in separate incidents near the Niger and Algerian borders.
2008 May - Tuareg rebels kill 17 soldiers in attack on an army post in the northeast, despite a ceasefire agreed a month earlier.
2008 December - At least 20 people are killed and several taken hostage in an attack by Tuareg rebels on a military base in northern Mali.
2009 February - Government says the army has taken control of all the bases of the most active Tuareg rebel group. A week later, 700 rebels surrender their weapons in ceremony marking their return to the peace process.
2009 May - Algeria begins sending military equipment to Mali in preparation for a joint operation against Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda.
2009 June - The British government says there is strong reason to believe that British citizen Edwin Dyer was killed by al-Qaeda in north-west Africa. He was being held in Mali after being kidnapped in January with a group of other Europeans.
2009 August - New law boosts women's rights, prompts some protests.
2010 January - Annual music event - Festival in the Desert - is moved from a desert oasis to Timbuktu because of security fears.
2010 March - Alicia Gamez, a Spanish woman kidnapped in Mauritania in November by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, is freed in Mali. The group frees an Italian couple soon afterwards.
2010 April - Mali, Algeria, Mauritania and Niger set up joint command to tackle threat of terrorism.
2010 August - Two Spanish aid workers kidnapped in Mauritania by al-Qaeda in November are set free in Mali after nine months in captivity.
2010 September - Mali marks 50 years of independence.
Seven foreigners kidnapped in Niger are reportedly transferred to Mali.
2011 January - French embassy in Bamako attacked by a man with explosives and a gun.
011 November - French soldiers join hunt for two French geologists kidnapped by an armed gang.
2012 January - Fears of new Tuareg rebellion following attacks on northern towns which prompt civilians to flee into Mauritania.
2012 March - Military officers announce on TV that they have seized control and deposed President Toure ahead of the April presidential elections. West African leaders' efforts to assess the situation stall, and the African Union suspends Mali..jpg)
2012 April - Tuareg rebels of the MNLA group say they have surrounded the desert city of Timbuktu. The rebels subsequently declare independence in an area of northern Mali where they have seized control.
