Italian settlers in Libya terms of the 1947 peace treaty with the Allies, Italy relinquished all claims to Libya. On November 21, 1949, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution stating that Libya should become independent before January 1, 1952. On December 24, 1951, Libya declared its independence as the United Kingdom of Libya, a constitutional and hereditary monarchy. The Italian population virtually disappeared after the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ordered the expulsion of remaining Italians (about 20,000) in 1970. Only a few hundred of them have been allowed to return to Libya in the 2000s. On 30 August 2008, Gaddafi and Italian Prime
Rhodesian mission in Lisbon after Reedman's investiture, Rhodesia went one further and unilaterally declared its independence from Britain. The mission in Lisbon operated until 1975, when it was closed following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal the previous year. Having been governed and developed by the British South Africa Company since the 1890s, Southern Rhodesia became a self-governing colony within the British Empire in 1923, when it was granted responsible government by Whitehall. The Southern Rhodesian capital, Salisbury, was henceforth empowered to run its own affairs in almost all matters, including defence. Foreign affairs was one of the few areas reserved by the British government.