Africa | My Eyes Tokyo

Happy Birthday to Mauritania!

2018-11-28

Road from Nouakchott to the Mauritanian–Senegalese border. *Photo from Wikipedia November 28 is Independence Day, which celebrates the independence of Mauritania from France in 1960. Berber immigration took place from about the 3rd century. Mauritania takes its name from the ancient Berber kingdom and later Roman province of Mauretania, and thus ultimately from the Mauri people, even though the respective territories do not overlap, historical Mauritania being considerably further north than modern Mauritania. The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th and 8th centuries did not reach as far south, and Islam came to Mauritania only gradually, from about

Happy Birthday to Morocco!

2018-11-18

Moroccan football fans. *Photo from Wikipedia November 18 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Morocco from France and Spain in 1956. Since the foundation of the first Moroccan state by Idris I in 788 AD, the country has been ruled by a series of independent dynasties, reaching its zenith under the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, spanning parts of Iberia and northwestern Africa. The Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination, allowing Morocco to remain the only northwest African country to avoid Ottoman occupation. The Alaouite dynasty, which rules to this day, seized power in 1631. In

Happy Birthday to Angola!

2018-11-11

Angolan woman with children. *Photo from Wikipedia November 11 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Angola from Portugal in 1975. What is now the modern country of Angola was influenced by Portuguese colonization, which began with, and was for centuries limited to, coastal settlements and trading posts established beginning in the 16th century. In the 19th century, European settlers slowly and hesitantly began to establish themselves in the interior. As a Portuguese colony, Angola did not encompass its present borders until the early 20th century, following resistance by groups. Independence was achieved in 1975 under a Marxist-Leninist one party

Happy Birthday to Zambia!

2018-10-24

Pupils at a girls’ secondary school in Zambia. *Photo from Wikipedia October 24 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Zambia from United Kingdom in 1964. Originally inhabited by Khoisan peoples, the region was affected by the Bantu expansion of the 13th century. After visits by European explorers in the 18th century, Zambia became the British protectorate of Northern Rhodesia towards the end of the 19th century. For most of the colonial period, Zambia was governed by an administration appointed from London with the advice of the British South Africa Company. On October 24, 1964, Zambia became independent of the

Happy Birthday to Equatorial Guinea!

2018-10-12

Malabo (formerly Santa Isabel), the capital of Equatorial Guinea. *Photo from Wikipedia October 12 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Equatorial Guinea from Spain in 1968. The Portuguese explorer Fernando Pó, seeking a path to India, is credited as being the first European to discover the island of Bioko in 1472. In 1778, Queen Maria I of Portugal and King Charles III of Spain signed the Treaty of El Pardo which ceded Bioko, adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the Bight of Biafra between the Niger and Ogoue rivers to Spain. From 1827 to 1843, the United Kingdom had

Happy Birthday to Uganda!

2018-10-09

Ugandan children attending a primary education program for conflict-affected students. *Photo from Wikipedia October 9 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Uganda from United Kingdom in 1962. Arab traders moved inland from the Indian Ocean coast of East Africa in the 1830s. They were followed in the 1860s by British explorers searching for the source of the Nile. British Anglican missionaries arrived in the kingdom of Buganda in 1877 (a situation which gave rise to the death of the Uganda Martyrs) and were followed by French Catholic missionaries in 1879. The British government chartered the Imperial British East Africa

Happy Birthday to Lesotho!

2018-10-04

Maseru, the capital and largest city of Lesotho. *Photo from Wikipedia October 4 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Lesotho from the United Kingdom in 1966. The present Lesotho (then called Basutoland) emerged as a single polity under paramount chief Moshoeshoe I in 1822. Under Moshoeshoe I, Basutoland joined other tribes in their struggle against the Lifaqane associated with the reign of Shaka Zulu from 1818 to 1828. Subsequent evolution of the state was shaped by contact with the British and Dutch colonists from Cape Colony. Territorial conflicts with both British and Boer settlers arose periodically, including Moshoeshoe’s notable

Happy Birthday to Guinea!

2018-10-02

A market in Guinea. *Photo from Wikipedia October 2 is Independence Day, which celebrates the independence of Guinea from France in 1958. The slave trade came to the coastal region of Guinea with European traders in the 16th century. Guinea’s colonial period began with French military penetration into the area in the mid-19th century. France negotiated Guinea’s present boundaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the British for Sierra Leone, the Portuguese for their Guinea colony (now Guinea-Bissau), and Liberia. Under the French, the country formed the Territory of Guinea within French West Africa. In 1958, the

Happy Birthday to Nigeria!

2018-10-01

Market in Lagos, the most populous city in Nigeria and on African Continent. *Photo from Wikipedia October 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Nigeria from United Kingdom in 1960. Modern-day Nigeria has been the site of numerous kingdoms and tribal states over the millennia. The modern state originated from British colonial rule beginning in the 19th century, and the merging of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate and Northern Nigeria Protectorate in 1914. The British set up administrative and legal structures whilst practicing indirect rule through traditional chiefdoms. Nigeria became a formally independent federation in 1960. The Federal Republic of

Happy Birthday to Botswana!

2018-09-30

Kombi, Minibus taxi in Botswana. *Photo from Wikipedia September 30 is Independence Day of Botswana or Botswana Day, celebrates the independence of Botswana from United Kingdom in 1966. Christian missionaries sent from Europe spread to the interior, often at the invitation of tribal chiefs who wanted guns and knew that the presence of missionaries encouraged traders. By 1880 every major village had a resident missionary, and their influence became permanent. Christianization was completed in Botswana under the reign of king Khama III (reigned 1875–1923). When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910 out of the main British colonies

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