United States
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic
tradition
Uruguay
constitutional republic
Uzbekistan
republic; authoritarian presidential rule, with little
power outside the executive branch
Vanuatu
parliamentary republic
Venezuela
federal republic
Vietnam
Communist state
Virgin Islands
NA
Wallis and Futuna
NA
Western Sahara
legal status of territory and issue of sovereignty
unresolved; territory contested by Morocco and Polisario Front
(Popular Front for the Liberation of the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de
Oro), which in February 1976 formally proclaimed a
government-in-exile, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR),
near Tindouf, Algeria, led by President Mohamed ABDELAZIZ; territory
partitioned between Morocco and Mauritania in April 1976 when Spain
withdrew, with Morocco acquiring northern two-thirds; Mauritania,
under pressure from Polisario guerrillas, abandoned all claims to
its portion in August 1979; Morocco moved to occupy that sector
shortly thereafter and has since asserted administrative control;
the Polisario's government-in-exile was seated as an Organization of
African Unity (OAU) member in 1984; Morocco between 1980 and 1987
built a fortified sand berm delineating the roughly 80 percent of
Western Sahara west of the barrier that currently is controlled by
Morocco; guerrilla activities continued sporadically until a
UN-monitored cease-fire was implemented on 6 September 1991
(Security Council Resolution 690) by the United Nations Mission for
the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO)
Yemen
republic