Located in West Africa, the landlocked Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world. Mali was conquered by the French in the middle of the 19th century. In 1959 it joined Senegal to form the Mali Federation. Senegal soon withdrew from the union, and Mali became independent from France in 1960. A coup in 1968 placed the country under the rule of a military dictatorship for over 20 years until 1992, when its first democratically-elected president took power. Agriculture is the mainstay of Mali’s economy, and heavy dependence on the few export products leaves the economy vulnerable to adverse weather conditions and fluctuations in world commodity prices. The country remains highly dependent on donor support and economic assistance from international financial institutions.