Happy Birthday to Panama!

Pupils in front of their school in Mozambique. *Photo from Wikipedia June 25 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Mozambique from Portugal in 1975. Between the 1st and 5th centuries AD, Bantu-speaking peoples migrated from farther north and west. Swahili (and later Arab) commercial ports existed along the coasts until the arrival of Europeans. The area was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498 and colonised by Portugal from 1505. The country was an important place where Somali merchants enslaved the local population, starting what is now known as the Somali slave trade. After over four centuries of Portuguese

Temple of Bacchus, which is considered one of the best preserved Roman temples in the world. *Photo from Wikipedia November 22 is Independence Day, which celebrates the independence of Lebanon from France in 1943. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, and eventually became one of the Empire’s leading centers of Christianity. In the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion and identity. However, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon

Typical Sri Lankan dish of rice and prawns. *Photo from Wikipedia February 4 is Sri Lanka’s Independence Day, which is celebrated to commemorate its internal political independence from British rule on that day in 1948. Its geographic location and deep harbors made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II. From the 16th century, some coastal areas of the country were also controlled by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. Between 1597 and 1658, a substantial part of the island was under Portuguese rule. The Portuguese lost their possessions in Ceylon