Editing Decolonization (section)

====Decolonization of Africa====
{{Main|Decolonisation of Africa}}

[[File:British Decolonisation in Africa.png|thumb|right|British decolonisation in Africa]]
The decolonization of North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa took place in the mid-to-late 1950s, very suddenly, with little preparation. There was widespread unrest and organized revolts, especially in French Algeria, Portuguese Angola, the Belgian Congo and British Kenya.<ref>John Hatch, ''Africa: The Rebirth of Self-Rule'' (1967)</ref><ref>William Roger Louis, ''The transfer of power in Africa: decolonisation, 1940–1960'' (Yale UP, 1982).</ref><ref>John D. Hargreaves, ''Decolonisation in Africa'' (2014).</ref><ref>for the viewpoint from London and Paris see Rudolf von Albertini, ''Decolonisation: the Administration and Future of the Colonies, 1919–1960'' (Doubleday, 1971).</ref>

In 1945, Africa had four independent countries – Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, and South Africa.

After Italy's defeat in World War II, France and the UK occupied the former Italian colonies. [[Libya]] became an independent kingdom in 1951. [[Eritrea]] was merged with Ethiopia in 1952. Italian Somaliland was governed by the UK, and by Italy after 1954, until its independence in 1960.
[[File:Gungu la mcezo contre la France à Mayotte.jpg|thumb|Comorians protest against [[2009 Mahoran status referendum|Mayotte referendum]] on becoming an overseas department of France, 2009]]
By 1977, European colonial rule in mainland Africa had ended. Most of Africa's island countries had also become independent, although [[Réunion]] and [[Mayotte]] remain part of France. However the black majorities in [[Rhodesia]] and South Africa were disenfranchised until 1979 in [[Rhodesia]], which became [[Zimbabwe-Rhodesia]] that year and Zimbabwe the next, and until 1994 in South Africa. [[Namibia]], Africa's last UN Trust Territory, became independent of South Africa in 1990.

Most independent African countries exist within prior colonial borders. However [[Morocco]] merged [[French Morocco]] with [[Spanish Morocco]], and [[Somalia]] formed from the merger of [[British Somaliland]] and [[Italian Somaliland]]. [[Eritrea]] merged with Ethiopia in 1952, but became an independent country in 1993.

Most African countries became independent as [[republic]]s. [[Morocco]], [[Lesotho]], and [[Eswatini]] remain monarchies under dynasties that predate colonial rule. [[Burundi]], [[Egypt]], [[Libya]], and [[Tunisia]] gained independence as monarchies, but all four countries' monarchs were later deposed, and they became republics.

African countries cooperate in various multi-state associations. The [[African Union]] includes all 55 African states. There are several regional associations of states, including the [[East African Community]], [[Southern African Development Community]], and [[Economic Community of West African States]], some of which have overlapping membership.
* {{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}: [[Sudan]] (1956); [[Ghana]] (1957); [[Nigeria]] (1960); [[Sierra Leone]] and [[Tanganyika (1961–1964)|Tanganyika]] (1961); [[Uganda]] (1962); [[Kenya]] and [[Sultanate of Zanzibar]] (1963); [[Malawi]] and [[Zambia]] (1964); [[The Gambia|Gambia]] and [[Rhodesia]] (1965); [[Botswana]] and [[Lesotho]] (1966); [[Mauritius]] and [[Swaziland]] (1968); [[Seychelles]] (1976)
* {{flagcountry|France}}: [[Morocco]] and [[Tunisia]] (1956); [[Guinea]] (1958); [[Cameroon]], [[Togo]], [[Mali]], [[Senegal]], [[Madagascar]], [[Benin]], [[Niger]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Ivory Coast]], [[Chad]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Republic of the Congo]], [[Gabon]] and [[Mauritania]] (1960); [[Algeria]] (1962); [[Comoros]] (1975); [[Djibouti]] (1977)
* {{flagcountry|Spain}}: [[Equatorial Guinea]] (1968)
* {{flagcountry|Portugal}}: [[Guinea-Bissau]] (1974); [[Mozambique]], [[Cape Verde]], [[São Tomé and Príncipe]] and [[Angola]] (1975)
* {{flagcountry|Belgium}}: [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] (1960); [[Burundi]] and [[Rwanda]] (1962)