decades under US administration
as the easternmost part of the UN Trust Territory of the Pacific
Islands, the Marshall Islands attained independence in 1986 under a
Compact of Free Association. Compensation claims continue as a
result of US nuclear testing on some of the atolls between 1947 and
1962. The Marshall Islands hosts the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA)
Reagan Missile Test Site, a key installation in the US missile
defense network.

Mauritania
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 seized 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 and organized elections. Accordingly,
parliamentary elections were held in December of 2006 and senatorial
and presidential elections will follow (January and March 2007
respectively). The newly-elected legislature is expected to assume
power following the inauguration of the new president. For now,
however, Mauritania remains an autocratic state, and the country
continues to experience ethnic tensions among its black population
and different Moor (Arab-Berber) communities.

Mauritius
Although known to Arab and Malay sailors as early as the
10th century, Mauritius was first explored by the Portuguese in
1505; it was subsequently held by the Dutch, French, and British
before independence was attained in 1968. A stable democracy with
regular free elections and a positive human rights record, the
country has attracted considerable foreign investment and has earned
one of Africa's highest per capita incomes. Recent poor weather and
declining sugar prices have slowed economic growth, leading to some
protests over standards of living in the Creole community.

Mayotte
Mayotte was ceded to France along with the other is