Mali

Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires.  Then, in the late 1800s, the land fell under French colonial rule as French Sudan.  In 1958, the territory became autonomous and joined the French Community.  In 1959, it merged with neighboring Senegal to form the Mali Federation, which became fully independent within the French Community in 1960.  Later that year, Senegal withdrew from the Mali Federation.  Mali then withdrew from the French Community, and the...