dan
Military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented governments have
dominated national politics since independence from the UK in 1956.
Sudan was embroiled in two prolonged civil wars during most of the
remainder of the 20th century. These conflicts were rooted in
northern economic, political, and social domination of non-Muslim,
non-Arab southern Sudanese. The first civil war ended in 1972, but
broke out again in 1983. The second war and famine-related effects
resulted in more than 2 million deaths and over 4 million people
displaced over a period of two decades. Peace talks gained momentum
in 2002-04 with the signing of several accords; a final Naivasha
peace treaty of January 2005 granted the southern rebels autonomy
for six years, after which a referendum for independence is
scheduled to be held. A separate conflict that broke out in the
western region of Darfur in 2003 resulted in tens of thousands of
deaths and over 1 million displaced, but by early 2005, peackeeping
troops had stabilized the situation.

Suriname
Independence from the Netherlands was granted in 1975. Five
years later the civilian government was replaced by a military
regime that soon declared a socialist republic. It continued to rule
through a succession of nominally civilian administrations until
1987, when international pressure finally forced a democratic
election. In 1989, the military overthrew the civilian government,
but a democratically-elected government returned to power in 1991.

Svalbard
First discovered by the Norwegians in the 12th century, the
islands served as an international whaling base during the 17th and
18th centuries. Norway's sovereignty was recognized in 1920; five
years later it officially took over the territory.

Swaziland
Autonomy for the Swazis of southern Africa was guaranteed
by the British in the late 19th century; independence was granted in
1968. Student and labor unrest during the 1990s pressured the
monarchy (one of the oldest on the continent) to grudgingly allow
political reform and greater democracy. Swaziland recently surpassed
Botswana as the country with the world's highest known rates of
HIV/AIDS infection

Sweden
A military power during the 17th century, Sweden has not
participated in any war in almost two centuries. An armed neutrality
was preserved in both World Wars. Sweden's long-successful economic
formula of a capita