Timeline of national independence

A timeline of national independence shows us when countries became independent (free) from other countries and gained the ability to rule themselves and make their own laws. This means that the people in that country are allowed to decide how their country is run and who their leaders will be. Before this time, their country may have been ruled or occupied by another country, and their people would not have had any say in how their country was run. Every country is unique and will have a different day that it gained its independence.