General information about several major
countries:
Mauritius, Bolivia, Honduras, Cape
Verde,
Samoa, Mali, Paraguay, Tonga.
Mauritius
Introduction:
Mauritius.
Background: Discovered by the
Portuguese in 1505, Mauritius was subsequently held by
the Dutch, French, and British before independence was
attained in 1968. A stable democracy with regular free
elections and a positive human rights record, the
country has attracted considerable foreign investment
and has earned one of Africa's highest per capita
incomes. Recent poor weather and declining sugar prices
have slowed economic growth leading to some protests
over standards of living in the Creole community.
Location: Southern Africa,
island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar.
Country name: conventional long
form: Republic of Mauritius conventional short form:
Mauritius.
Government type: parliamentary
democracy.
Capital: Port Louis.
International organization
participation: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS,
ILO, IMF, IMO, InOC, Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU,
OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UN Security Council (temporary),
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WToO, WTrO.
Bolivia
Introduction: Bolivia.
Background: Bolivia, named
after independence fighter Simon BOLIVAR, broke away
from Spanish rule in 1825; much of its subsequent
history has consisted of a series of nearly 200 coups
and counter-coups. Comparatively democratic civilian
rule was established in the 1980s, but leaders have
faced difficult problems of deep-seated poverty, social
unrest, and drug production. Current goals include
attracting foreign investment, strengthening the
educational system, continuing the privatization
program, and waging an anticorruption campaign.
Location: Central South
America, southwest of Brazil.
Country name: conventional long
form: Republic of Bolivia conventional short form:
Bolivia
local long form: Republica de
Bolivia local short form: Bolivia.
Capital: La Paz (seat of
government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of
judiciary).
Background: Part of Spain's
vast empire in the New World, Honduras became an
independent nation in 1821. After two and one-half
decades of mostly military rule, a freely elected
civilian government came to power in 1982. During the
1980s, Honduras proved a haven for anti-Sandinista
contras fighting the Marxist Nicaraguan Government and
an ally to Salvadoran Government forces fighting against
leftist guerrillas.
Location: Middle America,
bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and
Nicaragua and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between
El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Country name: conventional long
form: Republic of Honduras conventional short form:
Honduras
local short form: Honduras
local long form: Republica de Honduras.
Government type: democratic
constitutional republic.
Capital: Tegucigalpa.
Independence: 15 September 1821
(from Spain).
International organization
participation: BCIE, CACM, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IBRD,
ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (subscriber), ITU, LAES, LAIA
(observer), MINURSO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW (signatory),
PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO,
WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO.
Samoa
Introduction: Samoa.
Background: New Zealand
occupied the German protectorate of Western Samoa at the
outbreak of World War I in 1914. It continued to
administer the islands as a mandate and then as a trust
territory until 1962, when the islands became the first
Polynesian nation to reestablish independence in the
20th century. The country dropped the "Western" from its
name in 1997.
Location: Oceania, group of
islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about one-half of
the way from Hawaii to New Zealand.
Country name: conventional long
form: Independent State of Samoa conventional short
form: Samoa former: Western Samoa.
Government type: constitutional
monarchy under native chief.
Capital: Apia.
Independence: 1 January 1962
(from New Zealand-administered UN trusteeship).
Background: The uninhabited
islands were discovered and colonized by the Portuguese
in the 15th century; they subsequently became a trading
center for African slaves and later an important coaling
and resupply stop for whaling and transatlantic
shipping. Most Cape Verdeans have both African and
Portuguese antecedents. Independence was achieved in
1975.
Location: Western Africa, group
of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Senegal.
Country name: conventional long
form: Republic of Cape Verde conventional short
form: Cape Verde
local short form: Cabo Verde
local long form: Republica de Cabo Verde.
Background: The Sudanese
Republic and Senegal became independent of France in
1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after
only a few months, the Sudanese Republic was renamed
Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in
1991 with a transitional government, and in 1992 when
Mali's first democratic presidential election was held.
Since his reelection in 1997, President KONARE continued
to push through political and economic reforms and to
fight corruption. In 1999 he indicated he would not run
for a third term, in keeping with the Malian
constitution's two-term limit.
Location: Western Africa,
southwest of Algeria.
Cnventional long form: Republic
of Mali conventional short form: Mali
local
short form: Mali former: French Sudan and Sudanese
Republic local long form: Republique de
Mali.
Background: In the
disastrous War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70),
Paraguay lost two-thirds of all adult males and much of
its territory. It stagnated economically for the
next half century. In the Chaco War of 1932-35, large,
economically important areas were won from Bolivia. The
35-year military dictatorship of Alfredo STROESSNER was
overthrown in 1989, and, despite a marked increase in
political infighting in recent years, relatively free
and regular presidential elections have been held since
then.
Location: Central South
America, northeast of Argentina.
Country name: conventional long
form: Republic of Paraguay conventional short form:
Paraguay local short form: Paraguay local long
form: Republica del Paraguay.
Government type: constitutional
republic.
Capital: Asuncion.
International organization
participation: CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES,
LAIA, Mercosur, MONUC, NAM (observer), OAS, OPANAL,
OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UNMEE, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO.
Tonga
Introduction: Tonga.
Background: The archipelago of
"The Friendly Islands" was united into a Polynesian
kingdom in 1845. It became a constitutional monarchy in
1875 and a British protectorate in 1900. Tonga acquired
its independence in 1970 and became a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations. It remains the only monarchy in
the Pacific.
Location: Oceania, archipelago
in the South Pacific Ocean, about two-thirds of the way
from Hawaii to New Zealand.
Country name: conventional long
form: Kingdom of Tonga conventional short form:
Tonga former: Friendly Islands.
Government type: hereditary
constitutional monarchy.
