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When Europeans began to make long sea voyages in the 1400s, they learned of the riches of Africa beyond the Sahara and began to set up colonies.
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European powers took control of and transformed most of Africa.
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In the 1400s, Africans beyond the Sahara began trading with Europeans who had recently arrived on their coastlines.
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The trans-Saharan trade had long included enslaved people. In the 1500s, African traders began selling enslaved people for guns and other European goods.
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The trans-Saharan trade had long included enslaved people. In the 1500s, African traders began selling enslaved people for guns and other European goods.
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Beginning in the 1500s, Europeans had built trading posts on the African coast.
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Southern and Eastern Africa were also colonized as early as the 1600s.
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The slave trade was mostly outlawed in the early 1800s, but European interference in Africa continued.
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By the early 1800s, European powers began actively colonizing Africa.
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In the 1900s, Africans regained power over their own lands.
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By 1900, European nations had divided most of Africa into colonies.
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In South Africa, independence came as early as 1910. However, this did not immediately bring all the freedoms most South Africa desired.
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In South Africa, independence came as early as 1910. However, this did not immediately bring all the freedoms most South Africa desired.
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South Africa gained independence from Britain in 1910.
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South Africa gained independence from Britain in 1910.
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In Kenya, the Kikuyu people started a political organization in the 1920s with the goal of independence from Britain.
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The only country that was not colonized was Ethiopia, though it was invaded by Italy in the 1930s.
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In 1948, South Africa adopted apartheid, a former South African policy of strict separation of races.
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In 1948, South Africa adopted apartheid, a former South African policy of strict separation of races.
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Most of Africa gained independence in in the 1950s and 1960s.
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Sudan gained independence in 1956
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Sudan gained independence in 1956
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Civil wars raged until 2005 and killed several million people.
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Ghana became independent in 1957
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Nigeria became independent in 1960.
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Belgium abruptly granted independence to the Belgian Congo in 1960.
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Nelson Mandela played a key role in ending apartheid. He was later jailed in 1962.
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After years of negotiation and finally violence between the British and Kenyan fighters, Kenya gained independence in 1963.
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By 1967, an oil-rich region controlled by the Igbo ethnic group attempted to leave Nigeria.
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F.W. de Klerk, South Africa's president from 1989 to 1994, realized that apartheid was destroying South Africa.
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In 1990, F.W. de Klerk released Nelson Mandela from prison and agreed to end apartheid.
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F.W. de Klerk ends apartheid.
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Nelson Mandela wan the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. de Klerk in 1993.
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In 1994, South Africans of all races voted together and Mandela became president.
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In 1994, South Africans of all races voted together and Mandela became president.
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During a few months in 1994, Hutu military and militia groups killed an estimated 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis.
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During a few months in 1994, Hutu military and militia groups killed an estimated 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis.
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Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly black farmers, were killed in the early 2000s.
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Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly black farmers, were killed in the early 2000s.
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Nelson Mandela's Birthday, July 18, has been declared Nelson Mandela International Day by the United Nations.
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In 2011, South Sudan became independent.