Happy Birthday to Panama!

The market in Dar es Salaam, the former capital as well as the most populous city in Tanzania. *Photo from Wikipedia April 26 is the Union Day, which is Tanzania’s national day commemorating the unification of Tanganyika and the People’s Republic of Zanzibar in 1964. Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a sovereign state in eastern Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Kenya and Uganda to the north; Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south; and the Indian Ocean to the east. European

Aerial view of Valletta, the capital city of Malta. *Photo from Wikipedia September 21 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Malta from the United Kingdom in 1964. Malta’s location in the middle of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, and a succession of powers, including the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Sicilians, Spanish, Knights of St. John, French, and British have ruled the islands. King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the then British colony’s bravery in the Second World War.

Bissau-Guinean women. *Photo from Wikipedia September 24 is Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Guinea-Bissau from Portugal in 1973. Guinea-Bissau was once part of the Kaabu Empire, as well as part of the Mali Empire. Parts of this kingdom persisted until the 18th century, while a few others were under some rule by the Portuguese Empire since the 16th century. In the 19th century, it was colonized as Portuguese Guinea. Upon independence, declared in 1973 and recognized in 1974, the name of its capital, Bissau, was added to the country’s name to prevent confusion with Guinea (formerly French Guinea). Guinea-Bissau,