Happy Birthday to Panama!

English Harbour, Antigua. *Photo from Wikipedia November 1 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Antigua and Barbuda from the United Kingdom in 1981. The islands were inhabited by three successive Amerindian (Pre-Columbian peoples of the Americans) societies. The islands were neglected by the first wave of European colonization, but were settled by England in 1632. Under British control, the islands witnessed an influx of both Britons and African slaves. In 1981, the islands were granted independence as the modern state of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island country lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic

Pupils in front of their school in Mozambique. *Photo from Wikipedia June 25 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Mozambique from Portugal in 1975. Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from farther north and west. Swahili (and later Arab) commercial ports existed along the coasts until the arrival of Europeans. The area was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonised by Portugal from 1505. The country was an important place where Somali merchants enslaved the local population, starting what is now known as the Somali slave trade. After over four centuries of Portuguese

The Grand marché (Main Market) in Burkina Faso. *Photo from Wikipedia August 5 is Independence Day of Burkina Faso. Various ethnic groups of present-day Burkina Faso, such as the Mossi, Fula and Dyula, arrived in successive waves between the 8th and 15th centuries. From the 11th century the Mossi people established several separate kingdoms. In the 1890s during the European Scramble for Africa, the territory of Burkina Faso was invaded by France, and colonial control was established following a war of conquest between 1896 and 1904. The territory was made part of French West Africa in 1904, and the colony