Maldives
The Maldives were long a sultanate, first under Dutch and
then under British protection. They became a republic in 1968, three
years after independence. Tourism and fishing are being developed on
the archipelago.
Mali
The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France
in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a
few months, what formerly made up 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. After his reelection in 1997,
President Alpha KONARE continued to push through political and
economic reforms and to fight corruption. In keeping with Mali's
two-term constitutional limit, he stepped down in 2002 and was
succeeded by Amadou TOURE.
Malta
Great Britain formally acquired possession of Malta in 1814.
The island staunchly supported the UK through both World Wars and
remained in the Commonwealth when it became independent in 1964. A
decade later Malta became a republic. Since about the mid-1980s, the
island has become a freight transshipment point, financial center,
and tourist destination. It is an official candidate for EU
membership.
Man, Isle of
Part of the Norwegian Kingdom of the Hebrides until the
13th century when it was ceded to Scotland, the isle came under the
British crown in 1765. Current concerns include reviving the almost
extinct Manx Celtic language.
Marshall Islands
After almost four decades under US administration
as the easternmost part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific
Islands, the Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a
Compact of Free Association. Compensation claims continue as a
result of US nuclear testing on some of the atolls between 1947 and
1962. The Marshall Islands have been home to the US Army Base
Kwajalein (USAKA) since 1964.
Martinique
Colonized by France in 1635, the island has subsequently
remained a French possession except for three brief periods of
foreign occupation.
Mauritania
Independent from France in 1960, Mauritania annexed the
southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in
1976, but relinquished it after three years of raids by the
Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory.
Opposition parties were legalized and a new constitution approved in
1991. Two multiparty presidential elections since then were widely
seen as flawed, but October 2001 legislative and municipal elections
were generally free and open. Mauritania remains, in reality, a
one-party state. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions
between its black minority population and the dominant Maur
(Arab-Berber) populace.
Mauritius
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.
Mayotte
Mayotte was ceded to France along with the other islands of
the Comoros group in 1843. It was the only island in the archipelago
that voted in 1974 to retain its link with France and forego
independence.
Mexico
The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations, Mexico came
under Spanish rule for three centuries before achieving independence
early in the 19th century. A devaluation of the peso in late 1994
threw Mexico into economic turmoil, triggering the worst recession
in over half a century. The nation continues to make an impressive
recovery. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real
wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population,
inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities
for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern
states. Elections held in July 2000 marked the first time since the
1910 Mexican Revolution that the opposition defeated the party in
government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Vicente FOX
of the National Action Party (PAN) was sworn in on 1 December 2000
as the first chief executive elected in free and fair elections.