Bechuanaland becomes independent Botswana

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...

Northern Rhodesia became the independent Republic of Zambia after decades of African labor organizing and opposition to the Central African Federation, which had privileged white settler political...

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...

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...

The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2145, terminating South Africa’s mandate over South West Africa (later Namibia) and placing the territory under UN responsibility. South Africa rejected...

Barbados became independent after more than three centuries of British rule. The change followed labor organizing, the growth of universal suffrage, and constitutional reform. Independence created a...

The Eastern Region declared itself the Republic of Biafra amid massacres, displacement, military coups, and a crisis of trust in Nigeria’s federal state. Many Igbo residents supported secession as...

War began between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Israel took control of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, Sinai, and the Golan Heights. For Palestinians, the occupation deepened...