Libya has had a tumultuous political situation over the last several years after Muammar Gaddafi's regime fell and he was assassinated. The country is showing signs of moving past his massive impact on all sectors of society, though it is nearly impossible to discuss Libya's recent history without mentioning Gaddafi. He was at times a brutal dictator and was always an enigmatic representative of Libya to the world for a long time.

Jordan has a hereditary monarchy, with the kingship passing through the family since the formation of Jordan in the early 1920s (then Transjordan). The Hashemites are the ruling family of Jordan, and King Hussein (ruling from 1953–1999) ruled over several decades of modernization and regional warring. Abdullah II, the current King of Jordan, is King Hussein's son.

Ghana gained its independence in 1957, while Kenya gained its in 1963; Mozambique gained its in 1975 and Zimbabwe gained its in 1980.

As India became a Hindu state and West and East Pakistan were Muslim states, millions of Hindus in Pakistan and vice versa had to leave their homes and go to the state that housed their religion.

Negritude also included Marxist ideals and literary elements, and was important in pushing for independence amongst many African colonies. Its main leaders included Aime Cesaire, Leopold Senghor, and Leon Damas. Proponents of the movement were mostly black, French-educated, intellectuals who stressed the common bond of French speaking Africans and its fight against colonialism. While largely a literary movement that focused on realism, it was also influenced by surrealism as well as the Harlem Renaissance as that movement also stressed a common black identity and pride. 

Ghana achieved independence from Britain in 1957. Conflict between native Ghanaians and their British colonizers had been ongoing for over a hundred years, first in the Anglo-Ashanti Wars in the 1800's and then the War of the Golden Stool in the early 1900's. By 1947, however, tensions had largely subsided and when the newly formed United Gold Coast Convention called for "self-government within the shortest possible time" the British did little in protest. Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah was elected as the first prime minister of Ghana in the Gold Coast elections of 1951, and officially declared independence from Britain on March 6, 1957. 

Although the terminology of how the term "Mau Mau" came to be is unclear, the Mau Mau and the Mau Mau Uprising were crucial to the fight for Kenya's independence. The uprising was the climax of years of oppression from British colonizers. British settlers in Kenya were given preferred plots of the best farmland while the native Kenyans were paid poorly as wage laborers that were unable to reap in the profits of their efforts. The Mau Mau organized themselves in early 1952 and continued their struggle against the British until 1960. Although their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, Kenya eventually achieved independence from Britain in 1963. 

The reception to Britain's annexation of territory in South Africa was not wholly positive. This was especially true of the reaction of the Boers, Dutch settlers in the Transvaal region. Fiercely independent, they did not take to British occupation kindly, resulting in a series of conflicts between 1880 and 1902. Britain was eventually able to, with some difficulty, subdue the Boers. 

Tanganyika was a part of German East Africa, a colony lost to the British and Belgium after World War I. Britain administered Tanganyika until its independence as a Commonwealth nation from 1961 to 1964. It joined with the Zanzibar archipelago known as the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba in 1964. 

Despite not being part of the traditional Empire of Ghana, modern Ghana is a stable democracy on the West African coast. Mali and Songhai were both ancient empires, but Mali was governed by French colonists and Songhai isn't a modern nation. Senegal was another former French colony, while Nigeria became independent from the UK in 1960.