Comoros, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, and Seychelles - Acknowledgments and Preface
Acknowledgments">
The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of the writers of
the 1982 edition of Indian Ocean: Five Island Countries, edited
by Frederica M. Bunge. Their work provided general background for the
present volume.
The authors are grateful to individuals in various government
agencies and private institutions who gave of their time, research
materials, and expertise in the production of this book. These
individuals include Ralph K. Benesch, who oversees the Country
Studies--Area Handbook program for the Department of the Army. The
authors also wish to thank members of the Federal Research Division
staff who contributed directly to the preparation of the manuscript.
These people include Sandra W. Meditz, who reviewed all drafts and
served as liaison with the sponsoring agency; Marilyn Majeska, who
managed editing and book production; Andrea Merrill, who reviewed tables
and figures; Barbara Edgerton and Izella Watson, who performed word
processing; and Janie L. Gilchrist, David P. Cabitto, and Stephen C.
Cranton, who prepared the camera-ready copy.
Also involved in the preparing the text were Mimi Cantwell, who
edited chapters; Beverly Wolpert, who performed the prepublication
editorial review; and Joan C. Cook, who compiled the index.
Preface">
Few works offering a close look at the contemporary island societies
of the Indian Ocean have been published in the English language. Even
fewer works that place those societies in the context of their
historical and geographic settings are to be found. This study seeks to contribute in a modest way
to fulfillment of the void, offering a compact and objective exposition
of the dominant social, political, and economic institutions of the
island countries and a view of their current problems and tensions.
Analysis and interpretation by the authors must be judged, however, in
the light of the scant nature of available research data in many subject
areas.
With considerable justification, the reader may question the
exclusion of Sri Lanka (the island nation formerly known as Ceylon, an
important political force in the Indian Ocean) from other than the more
general discussions in this study. That country's close proximity to,
and long historical associations with, the Indian subcontinent and its
early tutelage in self-rule under the British, beginning nearly two
decades before independence, however, distinguish it quite clearly from
the island countries in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Moreover, it has
been treated already in a separate volume in the series. By the same
token, the reader may question the inclusion of Maldives, insofar as,
like Sri Lanka, it, too, lies close to the subcontinent in the northern
Indian Ocean. Unlike Sri Lanka, however, Maldives appears nowhere else
in the Country Study series, and in the view of the authors it warranted
treatment here, especially as it shares some concerns of the island
countries in the southwestern ocean. Reunion, although also a Mascarene
Island like Mauritius, chose to become an integral part of metropolitan
France, and thus is not included in this volume.
Measurements are given in the metric system. The spelling of place-names generally follows
that established by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) in
its latest available gazetteers for the area.
The body of the text reflects information available as of July 1994.
Certain other portions of the text, however, have been updated. The
Bibliography lists published
sources thought to be particularly helpful to the reader.
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