Mali

Mali Republic stamps, available online at Io Collezionista. Mali is known as the seat of the three most important African empires of the medieval and early modern periods, in territorial extent as much as in military strength, economic weight and cultural influence: the Ghana Empire (300-1076), the Songhai Empire (1000-1591) and the Mali Empire (1235-1645). Between the 19th and 20th centuries Mali became part of the French empire as French Sudan. In 1959 it took the name Republic of Mali and, together with Senegal, created the Mali Federation. Independence came a year later, in June 1960. The Federation was short lived, however, since Senegal left it in August of the same year.