Northern Rhodesia becomes independent as Zambia

Thirty-two independent African states signed the OAU Charter in Addis Ababa. The organization committed to African unity, sovereignty, and the eradication of colonialism, including support for...

The Federation of Malaysia joined Malaya, Singapore, Sabah, and Sarawak. Brunei did not join, and Indonesia opposed the federation through Konfrontasi; some communities in Sabah and Sarawak...

Kenya became independent after years of anticolonial organizing and the brutal Emergency, during which Britain detained hundreds of thousands and used forced resettlement, torture, and executions. The...

An uprising led by the Afro-Shirazi Party and allied forces overthrew the Zanzibar sultanate and its government. The revolution followed a narrow electoral victory by parties associated with Arab...

Tanganyika and Zanzibar formed the United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, renamed Tanzania later that year. The union followed Zanzibar’s revolution and reflected Cold War security concerns as...

Singapore became an independent republic after its separation from Malaysia. The split followed political conflict over federal power, communal politics, and competing visions of multiracial...

Ian Smith’s white-minority government issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain to block majority rule. The declaration preserved settler political power over a Black African...

British Guiana became independent as Guyana. The new government inherited a society shaped by plantation slavery, indenture, racialized labor, and British colonial rule. Independence followed a...

The Bechuanaland Protectorate became the Republic of Botswana. Independence followed constitutional negotiations and an election, but the country remained economically dependent on South Africa and...

Basutoland became the Kingdom of Lesotho, a sovereign state surrounded by South Africa. The territory’s borders and political economy reflected colonial and settler expansion; many Basotho men...