History of Africa Egypt and Ethiopia were already independent. Many countries followed in the 1950s and 1960s, with a peak in 1960 with the Year of Africa, which saw 17 African nations declare independence, including a large part of French West Africa. Most of the remaining countries gained independence throughout the 1960s, although some colonizers (Portugal in particular) were reluctant to relinquish sovereignty, resulting in bitter wars of independence which lasted for a decade or more. The last African countries to gain formal independence were Guinea-Bissau (1974), Mozambique (1975) and Angola (1975) from Portugal; Djibouti from France in 1977; Zimbabwe from the United
Health in Mozambique both been reduced by over 50% between the years of 1997 and 2011. Per the same source, maternal mortality rates also declined faster during this 14-year period than in any other sub-saharan country – falling from 692/100.000 to 408/100.000 between 1997 and 2011. Health resources for pregnant women in Mozambique have also been improving in order to be more accessible in recent years thanks to overarching government initiatives in human rights, which influence access to information, education, and resources to women in need. In Mozambique 23% of women are of reproductive age and 46% are younger than 15. Because of