State · 1960
The Year of Africa
Lagos, Nigeria
After Ghana became independent from Britain on 6 March 1957, decolonisation swept the continent, and in 1960 alone seventeen African countries won independence: fourteen from France, two from Britain (Somalia and Nigeria, Africa's most populous country) and one from Belgium (the Congo). The process was often violent, as in the Algerian War (1954–1962) and the Congo Crisis that followed Congolese independence.
Why it mattered
Between the mid-1950s and 1976 the colonial states created in the Scramble for Africa gave way to independent nations, and Africa emerged as a major force in the United Nations.
Related
- The world in 1960: The Year of Africa chapter
- Vietnam War previous moment · 1955–1975
- Cuban Missile Crisis next moment · 1962