s) (1997)

Televisions:
66,000 (1997)

Internet country code:
.mq

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
2 (2000)

Internet users:
40,000 (2002)

Transportation Martinique

Highways:
total: 2,105 km (2000)

Ports and harbors:
Fort-de-France, La Trinite, Marin

Airports:
2 (2004 est.)

Airports - with paved runways:
total: 1
over 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)

Military Martinique

Military branches:
no regular military forces; Gendarmerie

Military - note:
defense is the responsibility of France

Transnational Issues Martinique

Disputes - international:
none

Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for cocaine and marijuana bound for the US and
Europe

This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005

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@Mauritania

Introduction Mauritania

Background:
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. Maaouya Ould
Sid Ahmed TAYA siezed power in a coup in 1984. 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. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed
President TAYA and ushered in a military council headed by Col. Ely
Ould Mohamed VALL, which declared it would remain in power for up to
two years while it created conditions for genuine democratic
institutions. For now, however, Mauritania remains, a one-party
state. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions between
its black population and the Maur (Arab-Berber) populace.

Geography Mauritania

Location:
Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
Senegal and Western Sahara

Geographic coordinates:
20 00 N, 12 00 W

Map references:
Africa

Area:
total: 1,030,700 sq km
land: 1,030,400 sq km
water: 300 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly larger than three times the size of New Mexico

Land boundaries:
total: 5,074 km
border countries: Algeria 463 km, Mali 2,237 km, Senegal 813 km,
We