Happy Birthday to Panama!

Road from Nouakchott to the Mauritanian–Senegalese border. *Photo from Wikipedia November 28 is Independence Day, which celebrates the independence of Mauritania from France in 1960. Berber immigration took place from about the 3rd century. Mauritania takes its name from the ancient Berber kingdom and later Roman province of Mauretania, and thus ultimately from the Mauri people, even though the respective territories do not overlap, historical Mauritania being considerably further north than modern Mauritania. The Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th and 8th centuries did not reach as far south, and Islam came to Mauritania only gradually, from about

Naadam ceremony in Ulaanbaatar. Nadaam is a traditional festival in Mongolia, which is held during the National Holiday from July 11 to 13. *Photo from Wikipedia July 11 is the day Russia’s Red Army captures Mongolia from the White Army and established the Mongolian People’s Republic. Genghis Khan was able to unite and conquer the Mongols, forging them into a fighting force which went on to create the largest contiguous empire in world history, the Mongol Empire. After the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in 1368, the Mongols returned to their earlier patterns of internal strife. Buddhism in Mongolia

The Grand marché (Main Market) in Burkina Faso. *Photo from Wikipedia August 5 is Independence Day of Burkina Faso. Various ethnic groups of present-day Burkina Faso, such as the Mossi, Fula and Dyula, arrived in successive waves between the 8th and 15th centuries. From the 11th century the Mossi people established several separate kingdoms. In the 1890s during the European Scramble for Africa, the territory of Burkina Faso was invaded by France, and colonial control was established following a war of conquest between 1896 and 1904. The territory was made part of French West Africa in 1904, and the colony