what do mali people speak?
French Language Bambara language Fula language
entailment
 The official languages of the country are French and Sango ; the latter ( originally a language from the Ubangi River region ) is spoken by 90 % of the population . Some of the other languages spoken are Baya ( Gbaya ) , Banda , Ngbaka , Sara , Mbum , Kare , and Mandjia . Sango was simplified by Christian missionaries and is widely used to this day . 

entailment
 The music of Chad includes a number of unusual instruments such as the kinde , a type of bow harp ; the kakaki , a long tin horn ; and the hu hu , a stringed instrument that uses calabashes as loudspeakers . Other instruments and their combinations are more linked to specific ethnic groups : the Sara prefer whistles , balafones , harps and kodjo drums ; and the Kanembu combine the sounds of drums with those of flute @-@ like instruments . 

neutral
 Mali initially retained close connections with France and joined in a short @-@ lived federation with Senegal in 1959 , but ties to both countries quickly weakened . In 1960 , the French Sudan colony formally became the Republic of Mali and began to distance itself further from Senegal and France . 

neutral
 The indigenous population was originally animist , but while the fetishes and sacred groves dedicated to initiation rites such as boukout survive as cultural icons of Casamance , the monotheistic belief systems of Catholicism and Islam have become the most widely held in Carabane . The 1988 census reported that Muslims account for 94 % of the population of Senegal , but only 26 @.@ 5 % of the population of Oussouye Department , where Carabane is located . Still , this department is largely rural , while Carabane has historically supported great ethnic diversity . Islam has not been practiced by Wolof and Serer fishermen since the 19th century , but the colonial administration brought with it many translators , guides , and secretaries from Dakar , many of whom were Muslim . 

entailment
 The European languages introduced during colonialism have created a linguistic divide between the population who live in the Northwest and Southwest regions and the French @-@ speaking remainder of the country . Both English and French are official languages , although French is by far the most understood language ( more than 80 % ) . 
