Year of Africa

1960 is called the Year of Africa because seventeen countries on the continent became independent in that single year. Most were former French territories, among them Senegal, Mali, Madagascar, and Côte d’Ivoire. The Democratic Republic of the Congo became independent on 30 June, Somalia on 1 July, Nigeria on 1 October.

No one day stands for all of them. The moment is the year itself. Independence was not the end of the story: coups, civil wars, and the Cold War followed in several of the new states. What 1960 changed was the map, and the membership of the United Nations, within twelve months.