Ben E. Hama 's definitions
africa's only wealthy country, it's made up of a number of tiny islands spread out over the indian ocean. the portuguese, british, and french all came here to trade (and conquer). in the 1970s, it became independent and drew up a constitution guaranteeing a one party state. 15 years later, a coup changed that. now this nation is doing ok because of tourism and fishing. and it's a good tax haven too. the swiss love to put their money here.
seychelles has a pretty big divide between rich and poor, but for an african country, it's doing damn good.
by Ben E. Hama February 4, 2007
Get the seychelles mug.a country that is not named burma, regardless of what some nations say. myanmar was originally burma, a once proud kingdom that fell to the british and was a colony til the wwii era. it experimented with democracy, but american actions in vietnam drove this country toward communism in the 1970s, which evolved in the 1990s into a corporatist military junta. myanmar is a very efficient military state that has fended off countless coups. however, it is one of the world's 2 'secret societies,' along with north korea. foreigners are rarely admitted and no one really knows the power structure of the gov't.
myanmar is the focus of u2's famous song 'walk on,' which references political prisoner aung san suu kyi, a democracy activist.
by Ben E. Hama February 6, 2007
Get the myanmar mug.one of the east african countries known for safaris. a long time german colony, it was highly unstable during this time period. the british eventually took over. since independence, things haven't gone well. the nation has seen a marxist dictatorship and an unstable, mostly for-show, democracy and various wars with neighboring lands.
by Ben E. Hama February 4, 2007
Get the tanzania mug.palau is a tiny island nation in the pacific, with a population of only about 20,000 people. it was colonized by various powers between the 1600s and late 20th century, including the Spanish, Germans, British, Japanese, and Americans. however, no foreign power really did anything to help or harm the region. a huge WWII battle occured here, and following the end of the war, the US was put in charge of the region. palau refused to join the country of micronesia when it was formed in the 1970s. after political chaos, it finally became independent in 1994.
by Ben E. Hama February 7, 2007
Get the palau mug.yemen is a middle eastern nation that isn't wealthy because it lacks oil. the nation was once part of the old ottoman empire. after wwi, the the northern part became an independent faux republic, while the south remained a british colony. south yemen became independent in the '60s as a communist state. they united in 1990 and have been a country filled with drought, civil war, and political corruption ever since. its close distance to africa has lead to vicitms of wars in both the mid east and africa fleeing back and forth between the 2 continents through yemen.
by Ben E. Hama February 7, 2007
Get the yemen mug.mauritania is a former french colony in africa that has turned into a pretty disasterous country. it's history is summed up in the bloody battle between the moorish islamic minority and the black christian/amenist minority. ruled for years as a one party state, it had a decade long experiment with democracy, before a 2005 coup turned this into a military junta.
by Ben E. Hama February 6, 2007
Get the mauritania mug.an african country located along the great rift valley. it's a former british colony. very densely populated, but with one of the world's lowest life expectacies. it was a single party state until democracy came recently. 30% of the population is currently suffering from famine.
by Ben E. Hama February 6, 2007
Get the malawai mug.