Namibia
South Africa occupied the German colony of South-West Africa
during World War I and administered it as a mandate until after
World War II, when it annexed the territory. In 1966 the Marxist
South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) guerrilla group
launched a war of independence for the area that became Namibia, but
it was not until 1988 that South Africa agreed to end its
administration in accordance with a UN peace plan for the entire
region. Namibia has been governed by SWAPO since the country won
independence in 1990. Hifikepunye POHAMBA was elected president in
November 2004 in a landslide victory replacing Sam NUJOMA who led
the country during its first 14 years of self rule. POHAMBA was
reelected in November 2009.
Nauru
The exact origins of the Nauruans are unclear since their
language does not resemble any other in the Pacific. The island was
annexed by Germany in 1888. Its phosphate deposits began to be mined
early in the 20th century by a German-British consortium. Nauru was
occupied by Australian forces in World War I and subsequently became
a League of Nations mandate. After the Second World War - and a
brutal occupation by Japan - Nauru became a UN trust territory. It
achieved independence in 1968 and joined the UN in 1999 as the
world's smallest independent republic.
Navassa Island
This uninhabited island was claimed by the US in 1857
for its guano. Mining took place between 1865 and 1898. The
lighthouse, built in 1917, was shut down in 1996 and administration
of Navassa Island transferred from the Coast Guard to the Department
of the Interior. A 1998 scientific expedition to the island
described it as a unique preserve of Caribbean biodiversity; the
following year it became a National Wildlife Refuge and annual
scientific expeditions have continued.
Nepal
In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of
rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of
government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy
within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. An insurgency led
by Maoist extremists broke out in 1996. The ensuing ten-year civil
war between insurgents and government forces witnessed the
dissolution of the cabinet and parliament and assumption of absolute
power by the king. Several weeks of mass protests in April 2006 were
followed by several months of peace negotiations between the Maoists
and government officials, and culminated in a November 2006 peace
accord and the promulgation of an interim constitution. Following a
nation-wide election in April 2008, the newly formed Constituent
Assembly declared Nepal a federal democratic republic and abolished
the monarchy at its first meeting the following month. The
Constituent Assembly elected the country's first president in July.
The Maoists, who received a plurality of votes in the Constituent
Assembly election, formed a coalition government in August 2008, but
resigned in May 2009 after the president overruled a decision to
fire the chief of the army staff. The Communist Party of
Nepal-United Marxist-Leninist and the Nepali Congress party then
formed a new coalition government with several smaller parties. In
June 2010, the prime minister resigned but, as of December 2010,
continued to lead a caretaker government while the parties debate
who should lead the next government. Disagreements among the
political parties over issues such as the future of former Maoist
combatants has hindered the drafting of a new constitution — due in
May 2011 — and the formal conclusion of the peace process.
Netherlands
The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence
from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, they became a leading
seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around
the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the
Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830 Belgium seceded and formed a
separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I,
but suffered invasion and occupation by Germany in World War II. A
modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large
exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member
of NATO and the EEC (now the EU), and participated in the
introduction of the euro in 1999. In October 2010, the former
Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands -
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba - became special municipalities in
the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Sint
Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent
countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
New Caledonia
Settled by both Britain and France during the first
half of the 19th century, the island was made a French possession in
1853. It served as a penal colony for four decades after 1864.
Agitation for independence during the 1980s and early 1990s ended in
the 1998 Noumea Accord, which over a period of 15 to 20 years will
transfer an increasing amount of governing responsibility from
France to New Caledonia. The agreement also commits France to
conduct a referendum between 2014 and 2019 to decide whether New
Caledonia should assume full sovereignty and independence.
New Zealand
The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D.
800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain,
the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen
Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year, the
British began the first organized colonial settlement. A series of
land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the defeat of the native
peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent
dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both World Wars.
New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances
lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to
address longstanding Maori grievances.
Nicaragua
The Pacific coast of Nicaragua was settled as a Spanish
colony from Panama in the early 16th century. Independence from
Spain was declared in 1821 and the country became an independent
republic in 1838. Britain occupied the Caribbean Coast in the first
half of the 19th century, but gradually ceded control of the region
in subsequent decades. Violent opposition to governmental
manipulation and corruption spread to all classes by 1978 and
resulted in a short-lived civil war that brought the Marxist
Sandinista guerrillas to power in 1979. Nicaraguan aid to leftist
rebels in El Salvador caused the US to sponsor anti-Sandinista
contra guerrillas through much of the 1980s. Free elections in 1990,
1996, and 2001, saw the Sandinistas defeated, but voting in 2006
announced the return of former Sandinista President Daniel ORTEGA
Saavedra. The 2008 municipal elections were characterized by
widespread irregularities. Nicaragua's infrastructure and economy -
hard hit by the earlier civil war and by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 -
are slowly being rebuilt, but democratic institutions face new
challenges under the ORTEGA administration.
Niger
Niger became independent from France in 1960 and experienced
single-party and military rule until 1991, when Gen. Ali SAIBOU was
forced by public pressure to allow multiparty elections, which
resulted in a democratic government in 1993. Political infighting
brought the government to a standstill and in 1996 led to a coup by
Col. Ibrahim BARE. In 1999, BARE was killed in a counter coup by
military officers who restored democratic rule and held elections
that brought Mamadou TANDJA to power in December of that year.
TANDJA was reelected in 2004 and in 2009 spearheaded a
constitutional amendment that would allow him to extend his term as
president. In February 2010, a military coup deposed TANDJA,
immediately suspended the constitution and dissolved the Cabinet,
and promised that elections would be held following a transitional
period of unspecified duration. Niger is one of the poorest
countries in the world with minimal government services and
insufficient funds to develop its resource base. The largely
agrarian and subsistence-based economy is frequently disrupted by
extended droughts common to the Sahel region of Africa. A
predominately Tuareg ethnic group emerged in February 2007, the
Nigerien Movement for Justice (MNJ), and attacked several military
targets in Niger's northern region throughout 2007 and 2008.
Successful government offensives in 2009 limited the rebels'
operational capabilities.
Nigeria
British influence and control over what would become Nigeria
and Africa's most populous country grew through the 19th century. A
series of constitutions after World War II granted Nigeria greater
autonomy; independence came in 1960. Following nearly 16 years of
military rule, a new constitution was adopted in 1999, and a
peaceful transition to civilian government was completed. The
government continues to face the daunting task of reforming a
petroleum-based economy, whose revenues have been squandered through
corruption and mismanagement, and institutionalizing democracy. In
addition, Nigeria continues to experience longstanding ethnic and
religious tensions. Although both the 2003 and 2007 presidential
elections were marred by significant irregularities and violence,
Nigeria is currently experiencing its longest period of civilian
rule since independence. The general elections of April 2007 marked
the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the country's
history. In January 2010, Nigeria assumed a nonpermanent seat on the
UN Security Council for the 2010-11 term.