Africa | My Eyes Tokyo

Happy Birthday to Liberia!

2018-07-26

Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia. *Photo from Wikipedia July 26 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Liberia from the American Colonization Society in 1847. Liberia is a country which was founded, established, colonized, and controlled by citizens of the United States and ex-Caribbean slaves as a colony for former African American slaves and their free black descendants. It is one of only two sovereign countries in the world that were started by citizens and ex-Caribbean slaves of a political power as a colony for former slaves of the same political power, the other being Sierra Leone, established by

Happy Birthday to São Tomé and Príncipe!

2018-07-12

São Tomé, the capital and largest city of São Tomé and Príncipe. *Photo from Wikipedia July 12 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of São Tomé and Príncipe from Portugal in 1975. The islands were uninhabited until their discovery by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century. Gradually colonized and settled by Portugal throughout the 16th century, they collectively served as a vital commercial and trade center for the Atlantic slave trade. The rich volcanic soil and close proximity to the equator made São Tomé and Príncipe ideal for sugar cultivation, followed later by cash crops such as coffee and cocoa;

Happy Birthday to Comoros!

2018-07-06

Comorians. They share African-Arab origins. *Photo from Wikipedia July 6 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of the Comoros from France in 1975. The first human inhabitants of the Comoro Islands are thought to have been Arab, African and Austronesian settlers who traveled to the islands by boat. Portuguese explorers first visited the archipelago in 1503. The islands provided provisions to the Portuguese fort at Mozambique throughout the 16th century. France first established colonial rule in the Comoros in 1841. The Comoros served as a way station for merchants sailing to the Far East and India until the opening of

Happy Birthday to Malawi!

2018-07-06

Children in Malawi. *Photo from Wikipedia July 6 is Independence Day/Republic Day, celebrates the independence of Malawi from United Kingdom in 1964. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire. The area of Africa now known as Malawi was settled by migrating Bantu groups around the 10th century. Centuries later in 1891 the area was colonized by the British. In 1953 Malawi, then known as Nyasaland, a protectorate of the United Kingdom, became a protectorate within the semi-independent Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The Federation was dissolved in 1963. In 1964, the protectorate over Nyasaland was ended and Nyasaland

Happy Birthday to Algeria!

2018-07-05

Algerian school children. *Photo from Wikipedia July 5 is Independence Day, celebrating the independence of Algeria from France in 1962. North Africa served as a transit region for people moving towards Europe or the Middle East, thus, the region’s inhabitants have been influenced by populations from other areas, including the Carthaginians, Romans, and Vandals. The region was conquered by the Muslims in the early 8th century, but broke off from the Umayyad Caliphate after the Berber Revolt of 740. Later, various Berbers, Arabs, Persian Muslim states, Sunni, Shia or Ibadi communities were established that ruled parts of modern-day of Algeria.

Happy Birthday to Cape Verde!

2018-07-05

A kindergarten graduation in Santiago Island, Cape Verde. *Photo from Wikipedia July 5 is Independence Day, celebrating the independence of Cape Verde from Portugal in 1975. The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited until the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, establishing the first European settlement in the tropics. Ideally located for the Atlantic slave trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. The end of slavery in the 19th century led to economic decline and emigration. Cape Verde gradually recovered as an important commercial center and stopover for

Happy Birthday to Rwanda and Burundi!

2018-07-01

Children in a Rwandan primary school. *Photo from Wikipedia July 1 is Independence Day of Rwanda and Burundi, celebrates the independence from Belgium in 1962. Belgian forces took control of Rwanda and Burundi in 1916, during World War I, beginning a period of more direct colonial rule. Belgium ruled both Rwanda and Burundi as a League of Nations ‘mandate’ called Ruanda-Urundi. The territory was under Belgian military occupation from 1916 to 1922 and later became a Belgian-controlled Class B Mandate (former German territories in West and Central Africa which were deemed to require a greater level of control by the

Happy Birthday to DR Congo!

2018-06-30

Youth and adults in Kinshasa, the capital and the largest city of DR Congo. *Photo from Wikipedia June 30 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Democratic Republic of the Congo from Belgium in 1960. The region that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo was first settled about 80,000 years ago. Bantu migration arrived in the region from Nigeria in the 7th century AD. The Kingdom of Kongo remained present in the region between the 14th and the early 19th centuries. Belgian colonization began when King Leopold II founded the Congo Free State, a corporate state run solely

Happy Birthday to Seychelles!

2018-06-29

Victoria, the capital of Seychelles. *Photo from Wikipedia June 29 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Seychelles from United Kingdom in 1976. The islands were appropriated and settled by France in the 18th century. African slaves were brought to the island, and the characteristic Seychellois Creole language developed. Britain took possession of the islands in the early 19th century. The Seychelles became an independent republic in 1976. Seychelles, officially the Republic of Seychelles, is an archipelago and country in the Indian Ocean. The 115-island country lies 1,500 kilometers (932 mi) east of mainland East Africa. *Reference: Wikipedia

Happy Birthday to Djibouti!

2018-06-27

Djibouti City, the eponymous capital and largest city of Djibouti. *Photo from Wikipedia June 27 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Djibouti from France in 1977. In the late 19th century, the colony of French Somaliland was established following treaties signed by the ruling Somali and Afar sultans with the French and its railroad to Dire Dawa (and later Addis Ababa) allowed it to quickly supersede Zeila as the port for southern Ethiopia and the Ogaden. It was subsequently renamed to the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas in 1967. A decade later, the Djiboutian people voted

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