Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2019 April 11

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April 11

1960

The article and graphic seen here https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960 appears to indicate that in 1960 15 countries in Africa gained their independence, yet the graphis does not seem to show this. Please can someone explain what I am missing or is the article wrong? Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.131.40.58 (talk) 15:57, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

In 1960, there were, in fact, 15 new African nations that formed. See Decolonisation of Africa and the timeline therein, the 15 new nations being: Cameroon, Mali, Togo, Senegal, Madagascar, Congo-Leopoldville (Zaire/Modern DRC), Somalia, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Chad, CAR, Congo-Brazzaville (modern Republic of Congo), and Gabon. The graphic moves by too fast for me to count the number of new nations, but it looks to roughly correspond. --Jayron32 16:12, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

Yes, but the timeline to the right of the graphic shows the years progressing yet when it reaches 1960 there is little movement. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.131.40.58 (talk) 16:48, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

Because it clicks through each country one-at-a-time in 1960. It takes 15 cycles of the gif to get through all 15 countries, which is why the timeline doesn't move. --Jayron32 17:44, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

We have an English article specifically on the topic: Year of Africa. After the French Fourth Republic collapsed, the Fifth Republic constitution permitted French colonies to seek independence, and most of those in Africa did so, more rapidly than expected. Some other colonies did as well, and UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan signaled an acceptance of this in his well-known "Wind of Change" speech. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 23:13, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

In fact Year of Africa says 17 independent countries were formed in Africa that year (bringing the total from 9 to 26), while the timeline at Decolonisation of Africa shows 16. The extra one that Jayron didn't mention is Nigeria. The additional one counted in Year of Africa is Ghana, which was already independent before 1960 and merely converted that year from a monarchy (specifically, a Commonwealth Realm like Canada or Australia) to a republic. The article in Afrikaans linked by the original poster also shows 17; the additional one there is Cyprus, which is usually considered part of Europe or Asia, not Africa. --76.69.46.228 (talk) 04:56, 13 April 2019 (UTC)