planes, as well as for emergency landings. There are over 700
landings a year on the island.

Wallis and Futuna
Although discovered by the Dutch and the British
in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the French who declared a
protectorate over the islands in 1842. In 1959, the inhabitants of
the islands voted to become a French overseas territory.

West Bank
The Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim
Self-Government Arrangements (the DOP), signed in Washington on 13
September 1993, provided for a transitional period not exceeding
five years of Palestinian interim self-government in the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank. Under the DOP, Israel agreed to transfer certain
powers and responsibilities to the Palestinian Authority, which
includes the Palestinian Legislative Council elected in January
1996, as part of the interim self-governing arrangements in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip. A transfer of powers and responsibilities for
the Gaza Strip and Jericho took place pursuant to the Israel-PLO 4
May 1994 Cairo Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area and
in additional areas of the West Bank pursuant to the Israel-PLO 28
September 1995 Interim Agreement, the Israel-PLO 15 January 1997
Protocol Concerning Redeployment in Hebron, the Israel-PLO 23
October 1998 Wye River Memorandum, and the 4 September 1999 Sharm
el-Sheikh Agreement. The DOP provides that Israel will retain
responsibility during the transitional period for external and
internal security and for public order of settlements and Israeli
citizens. Direct negotiations to determine the permanent status of
Gaza and West Bank that began in September 1999 after a three-year
hiatus, were derailed by a second intifadah that broke out in
September 2000. The resulting widespread violence in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, Israel's military response, and instability within
the Palestinian Authority continue to undermine progress toward a
permanent agreement. Following the death of longtime Palestinian
leader Yasir ARAFAT in November 2004, the election of his successor
Mahmud ABBAS in January 2005 could bring a turning point in the
conflict.

Western Sahara
Morocco virtually annexed the northern two-thirds of
Western Sahara (formerly Spanish Sahara) in 1976, and the rest of
the territory in 1979, following Mauritania's withdrawal. A
guerrilla war with the Polisario Front contesting R