Happy Birthday to Morocco!

Central market in Chișinău, the capital and largest city of Moldova. *Photo from Wikipedia August 27 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Moldova from the USSR in 1991. Most of the Moldovan territory was a part of the Principality of Moldavia from the 14th century until 1812, when it was ceded to the Russian Empire by the Ottoman Empire (to which Moldavia was a vassal state) and became known as Bessarabia. In 1856, southern Bessarabia was returned to Moldavia, which three years later united with Wallachia to form Romania, but Russian rule was restored over the whole of the

Malé, the capital of the Maldives. *Photo from Wikipedia July 26 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Maldives from the United Kingdom in 1965. The Maldives have been historically and culturally linked to the Indian subcontinent since the fourth century BCE (before the Common Era). The Maldivian archipelago was Islamized in the 12th century and consolidated as a sultanate, developing strong commercial and cultural ties with Asia and Africa. From the mid 16th-century, the region came under the increasing influence of European colonial powers, with the Maldives becoming a British protectorate in 1887. Independence from the United Kingdom was

Traditional Mongolian wrestling. *Photo from Wikipedia November 26 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Mongolia from China on July 11, 1921 and the establishment of “Mongolian People’s Republic” on the day in 1924. The area that is now Mongolia was ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu (匈奴), the Xianbei (鮮卑), the Rouran (柔然), the Turkic Khaganate (突厥汗国), among others. In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous land empire in history. His grandson Kublai Khan conquered China to establish the Yuan dynasty (元朝). After the collapse of the Yuan, the Mongols retreated