Nouakchott. The Moors (of mixed Arab- Berber and Sudanic descent) constitute the great majority of the population. Lan¬ guages: Arabic (official), Fulani, Soninke,
Wolof (all national). Religion: Islam (official; predominantly Sunni). Cur¬ rency: ouguiya. Most of Mauritania is made up of low-lying desert that forms the extreme western part of the Sahara. Only a tiny fraction of its land is arable, but almost two-fifths is suitable for grazing, and the herd¬ ing of goats, sheep, and camels occupies a significant portion of the largely nomadic population. Ocean fishing and iron ore production are
Maupassant \mo-pa-'sa n \, (Henry-Rene-Albert-) Guy de (b.
Aug. 5, 1850, Chateau de Miromes- nil?, near Dieppe, France—d. July 6,
1893, Paris) French writer of short stories. His law studies were inter¬ rupted by the Franco-Prussian War; his experience as a volunteer pro¬ vided him with material for some of his best works. Later, as a civil- service employee, he became a pro¬ tege of Gustave Flaubert. He first gained attention with “Boule de Suif ’
(1880; “Ball of Fat”), probably his finest story. In the next 10 years he published some 300 short stories, six novels, and three travel books. Taken together, his stories present a broad, naturalistic picture of French life from 1870 to 1890. His subjects include war, the Norman peasantry, the bureaucracy, life on the banks of the Seine, the emotional problems of Guy de Maupassant, photograph by the different classes, and, ominously, hallucination. Maupassant was phe¬ nomenally promiscuous, and before ARCHIVES photographiques _
he was 25 years old his health was
being eroded by syphilis. He attempted suicide in 1892 and was committed to an asylum, where he died at age 42. He is generally considered France’s greatest master of the short story.
Nadar (Gaspard-Felix Tournachon), c.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Mauritius ► mawlid I 1215
major sources of revenue. Mauritania is a republic with two legislative houses; its head of state and government is the president, assisted by the prime minister. Inhabited in ancient times by Sanhaja Berbers, in the 11th— 12th century it was the centre of the Berber Almoravid dynasty, which imposed Islam on many of the neighbouring peoples. Arab tribes arrived in the 15th century and formed several powerful confederations: Trarza and Brakna, which dominated the Senegal River region; Kunta in the east; and Rigaibat in the north. The Portuguese arrived in the 15th century. France gained control of the coastal region in 1817, and in 1904 a for¬ mal French protectorate was extended over the territory. In 1920 it was added to French West Africa as a territory. In 1960 Mauritania achieved independence and left the French Community. The country’s first presi¬ dent, Moktar Ould Daddah, was ousted in a coup in 1978, and a military government was established. In 1991 a new constitution was adopted, and a civilian government was installed in 1992. The country has faced con¬ tinued economic hardship and political unrest.
Mauritius \m6-'ri-shos\ officially Republic of Mauritius Island country, lying east of Madagascar in the western Indian Ocean. The cen¬ tral independent island state of the Mascarene group, it extends 38 mi (61
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km) north-south and 29 mi (47 km) east- west. Its outlying territories are Rodrigues Island to the east, the Cargados Carajos Shoals to the northeast, and the Agalega Islands to the north. Area: 788 sq mi (2,040 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 1,245,000. Capitaclass="underline" Port Louis. About two- thirds of the population are of South Asian descent, and most of the rest are of mixed European, South Asian, and African ancestry. Languages: English (official), Creole (lingua franca), various ethnic languages. Reli¬ gions: Hinduism, Christianity, Islam. Currency: Mauritian rupee. Volca¬ nic in origin and almost surrounded by coastal reefs, Mauritius rises to 2,710 ft (826 m) at Petite Riviere Noire Peak. The chief water source is Lake Vacoas. About half of the land is arable; sugarcane is the major crop, though the government has sponsored agricultural diversification. The country depends heavily on food imports, mainly rice. The population density is one of the highest in the world. The island was visited, but not settled, by the Portuguese in the early 16th century. The Dutch took pos¬ session (1598-1710), called it Mauritius for the governor Maurice of Nassau, and attempted to settle it (1638-58, 1664-1710) before abandon¬
ing it to pirates. The French East India Company occupied it, renamed it lie de France in 1721, and governed it until the French Ministry of Marine took over its administration in 1767. Sugar planting was the main eco¬ nomic activity, and the colony prospered. The British captured the island in 1810 and were granted formal control of it under the Treaty of Paris in 1814; the name Mauritius was reinstated and slavery abolished. In the late 19th century, competition from beet sugar caused an economic decline, compounded by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. After World War II Mauritius adopted political and economic reforms, and in 1968 it became an independent state within the Commonwealth. In 1992 it became a republic. It has successfully diversified its economy, notably into clothing manufacturing.
Maurois \mbr-'wa\, Andre orig. Emile Herzog (b. July 26, 1885, Elbeuf, France—d. Oct. 9, 1967, Paris) French writer. An officer in the British army during World War I, Maurois had his first literary success with The Silences of Colonel Bramble (1918), a humorous commentary on warfare and the British character. His novels include Bernard Quesnay (1926) and Whatever Gods May Be (1928). He is best known for biog¬ raphies with the narrative interest of novels; his subjects included Percy B. Shelley, Lord Byron, Victor Hugo, and Marcel Proust.
Maurras \m6-'ras\, Charles (-Marie-Photius) (b. April 20, 1868, Martigues, France—d. Nov. 16, 1952, Tours) French writer and political theorist. In 1891 he cofounded a group of poets opposed to the Symbolist movement and later known as the ecole romane. An ardent monarchist, he cofounded L'Action Frangaise (1899), a review whose “integral nation¬ alism” promoted the idea of the supremacy of the state; it became the party organ of the reactionary Action Francaise. He also wrote philosophi¬ cal short stories and poetry. During World War II he was a strong sup¬ porter of the government of Philippe Petain, for which he was imprisoned
(1945-52).
Mauryan Vmau-re-onV empire (c. 321-c. 185 bc) In ancient India, a state centred at Pataliputra (later Patna) near the junction of the Son and Ganges (Ganga) rivers. After the death of Alexander the Great, Chandra- gupta Maurya (Candra Gupta), the dynastic founder, carved out an empire that encompassed most of the subcontinent except for the Tamil south. Ashoka (r. c. 269-232 bc), the famous Buddhist emperor, left stone edicts that include some of the oldest deciphered original texts of India. The empire declined after Ashoka’s death, but in its heyday it was an efficient and highly organized autocracy. See also Gupta dynasty; Nanda dynasty.