British rule ends in South Arabia as the People’s Republic of South Yemen forms

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...

Nauru became independent after prolonged Australian administration, first under a League of Nations mandate and later as a UN trust territory. German colonial rule and phosphate extraction had...

Mauritius became an independent state after British colonial rule. The transition followed long political organizing across a society shaped by slavery, indenture, plantation sugar, and migration. The...

Swaziland became an independent kingdom under King Sobhuza II. British colonial administration ended, but the new state inherited a land system shaped by colonial concession and dispossession....

Spanish Guinea became the independent Republic of Equatorial Guinea. Independence ended Spain’s colonial administration, but authoritarian rule and political violence soon constrained the new state....

The Organization of African Unity adopted its Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. It recognized that liberation wars, colonial borders, apartheid, and political...