Mali is a nation located in western Africa. It is the 7th largest country in Africa in terms of geographical area, and is entirely landlocked. The only bodies of water in Mali are two rivers, the Senegal River and the Niger river, both inthe country's southern region. The northern borders stretch well into the middle of the Sahara Desert. It is also bordered by Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal and Mauritania.

Along with several other African nations, Mali ranks among the poorest countries in the world. Mali's major source of revenue is from their main crops, which are rice, cotton, and cereals. Because of this, Mali's economy is very vulnerable to fluctuations in the weather, as a bad year of harvesting could have disastrous results on their fragile economic growth and performance. This is exacerbated by the lack of useful irrigation sources, with the Niger River standing as the notable exception. Mali's main trading partner is the Ivory Coast which borders it on the south.