Identification. The Maltese archipelago consists of Malta, Gozo, Comino, Cominotto, and Fifla, plus a few minute limestone outcroppings.
The French occupied the country in 1860 in close cooperation with Maur religious leaders. Mauritania became a nation after the destruction of the kingdoms of Fouta Toro and Walo Walo and the Arab-Berber emirats of Trarza, Brakna, Taganet, and Adrar.
Identification. The island of Mauritius was apparently uninhabited until 1638.
Identification. The name "Mayotte" comes from the Swahili word for Mahore, Maote.
Identification. The word "Mexico" is derived from Mexica (pronounced "Me-shee-ka"), the name for the indigenous group that settled in central Mexico in the early fourteenth century and is best known as the Aztecs.
Identification. Formed in 1978, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is an island nation in the Caroline archipelago of the western Pacific Ocean.
Moldavian, Romanian, Bessarabian. Moldavia is the Anglicized version of the Russian Moldavija and is not used by Moldovans.
Identification. Officially known as the Principality of Monaco, or the Principaute de Monaco.
Identification. Genghis Khan banded the Mongolian tribes together for the first time in 1206 and formed a unified state.
Identification. Before 1995, this pear-shaped island had a population of about ten thousand and was lush, green, mountainous, isolated, and unspoiled.
Identification. Arab traders who made their way down the East African coast mingled with African peoples, creating a hybrid culture and language called Swahili.
Identification. Namibia was colonized by Germany and South Africa and was named Südwestafrika or South West Africa.
Nauruan is the indigenous name used on official documents. Politically, the country is called the Republic of Nauru (RON).
Identification. Nepal is named for the Kathmandu Valley, where the nation's founder established a capital in the late eighteenth century.
Netherlands culture, Hollandic culture. The Dutch use Nederlandse cultuur and Hollandse cultuur to describe their culture.
Identification. The Netherlands Antilles consists of the islands Curaçao ("Korsow") and Bonaire; the "SSS" islands, Sint Eustatius ("Statia"), Saba, and the Dutch part of Saint Martin (Sint Maarten); and the uninhabited Little Curaçao and Little Bonaire.
The word "Caledonian" is used by the French and others who have settled in the islands. The term "Kanak" is used to designate native residents of this South Pacific archipelago and their culture.
Identification. Originally discovered by Polynesians between 1200 and 1300 C.E., the country was settled by Maori ("the people") and areas were named after the iwi (tribes).
Identification. Officially identified as the Republic of Nicaragua, the origin of the country's name is attributed to more than one source.
Identification. From the early twentieth century until independence in 1960, the colony of Niger was part of French West Africa.
Identification. Though there is archaeological evidence that societies have been living in Nigeria for more than twenty-five hundred years, the borders of modern Nigeria were not created until the British consolidated their colonial power over the area in 1914.
Identification. The origin of the word "Niue" is obscure.