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The Maldives. — The Maldives, an indépendant republic since 1965, are an archipelago comprising 19 atolls, located in the equatorial area, about 400 miles S.W. of Ceylon. Apart from Malé, the capital, some 2 000 islands and islets, covered with coconut trees, can be numbered. Several features — physical aspect, language, family structure — lead to think that the population is from Sinhalese origin, but not without some considerable cross-breeding with Dravidians and Arabs. Converted to islam, since the XIIe cent., the society has retained some marks of the ancient structures, though there are no more genuine casts. Too many to live on a poor soil, the inhabitants drive their resources mainly from the sea owing to a fleet of sailing boats which is still very active, is fishing and securing transportation within the archipelago. These boats practically do not fish in the lagoons ; they set sail every day out to the open sea, and return at night bringing back the catch mainly of tuna fish and bonites. These, together with coprah, are constituting the main exports. Within a social system where a strong inequality is prevailing, the masses have a low standard of living, wich is evidenced by the diet (mainly imported rice and dried fish), very defective sanitary conditions, and a still low rate of school attendance. To secure employments to an ever increasing population, and to develop the equipment — particularly the equipment required by fishing — are the major economic problems which the government is at a loss to solve, in view of the present confusion that exists between the interests of the Republic and those of certain private concerns.

Modern Cattle Raising in Guadeloupe. — It is due to certain factors that the improvement of cattle raising in Guadeloupe has been éendered possible. The humid tropical climate is favorable for the growth of a large fodder crop. Among the plants well adapted to the environment, pangola, which is a graminaceous plant, occupies a privileged position. Improvement in animal raising requires a program of race selection. The best present formula consists of crossing Creole cattle with imported animals that are of pure race. An Animal Raising Service was recently established to organize the growers and aid them to expand their activities. There are several large animal farms, a few having pure-race herds, which utilize modern methods, and their outstanding production performances cannot be ignored. Finally, the growth of cattle raising should aid in limiting meat and dairy product imports and contribute to an improvement in the island's commercial balance of payments, while at the same time diversifying agricultural production.

International tourist travel and developing countries. - Especially during the last two decades, the tourist flows to the developing countries have enormously grown ; the period between 1960 and 1968 recorded a growth rate of 11 % per annum. The increase in purchasing power in the Western countries, the development of the modern means of transport (especially the charter flights) and the fact that the role of the touroperator is getting more and more important, are the main stimulators for the expanding movement of tourists to the Third World. North America, Western Europe and, recently, Japan are the principal «reservoirs » for this tourism, while the Caribbean countries (Mexico above all), North and east Africa, and some countries in Southeast Asia are the leaders among the receiving countries. Some of these countries are already highly dependent on tourism, especially where the inflow of foreign exchange is concerned. Still, the recent developments seem to have taken most countries by surprise. Hence, some negative effects of tourism threaten sometimes to overshadow the profits : at the economic, as well as the planning, social and political levels. Since more and more countries are taking things more seriously (by establishing special Departments for Tourism, by the launching of over-all master plans, etc.) and the foundation of a special UN branch seems to be at hand, soon a generally accepted methodology for tourism can be expected. Only then it will be possible to optimalize the positive effects of tourism to the Third World and to eliminate the negative aspects.