Happy Birthday to Panama!

Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, which is often considered as one of the most beautiful mosques in the Asia Pacific. *Photo from Wikipedia January 1 is: Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Brunei from United Kingdom in 1984. During the 19th century, the Bruneian Empire began to decline. The Sultanate ceded Sarawak to James Brooke and installed him as the White Rajah. In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate and was assigned a British resident as colonial manager in 1906. After the Japanese occupation during World War II, in 1959 a new constitution was written. In 1962, a small armed rebellion

The old town of Riga, the capital and largest city of Latvia. *Photo from Wikipedia November 18 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Latvia from Russia in 1918. After centuries of Swedish, Livonian (People who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia), Polish and Russian rule, a rule mainly executed by the privileged Baltic German aristocracy, the Republic of Latvia was established on November 18, 1918, after declaring independence from Russia in the aftermath of World War I. However, by the 1930s, the country became increasingly autocratic after the coup in 1934 establishing an authoritarian regime. The country’s de facto independence

Street food vendor in Yangon. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006. *Photo from Wikipedia January 4 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Myanmar (Burma) from the United Kingdom in 1948. The British conquered Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the country became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a democratic nation and then, following a coup d’état in 1962, a military dictatorship. In 2011, the military junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election, and a nominally civilian government was installed. While former military leaders