1977 — Djibouti's Independence

On June 27, 1977, Djibouti gained independence from France, the last colony in Africa to break free. Hassan Gouled Aptidon became the nation's first president as the blue-green flag with the red star rose over the Gulf of Tadjoura, and a small territory on a storied coast took its place among sovereign nations.

An entire continent's colonial era ended on this day. That is what gives Djibouti's independence its special weight in African history. Country after country had already raised its own flag; Djibouti's was the last of that long sequence. When its flag rose, the map of colonial Africa was finally, fully closed.