French Fifth Republic of the election on 9 January 1959. The new president began his office on that date, appointing Michel Debré as Prime Minister. The 1958 constitution also replaced the French Union with the French Community, which allowed fourteen member territories (these did not include Algeria) to assert their independence. 1960 became known as the "Year of Africa" because of this wave of newly independent states. Algeria became independent on 5 July 1962. The president was initially elected by an electoral college, but in 1962 de Gaulle proposed that the president be directly elected by the citizens, and held a referendum on
The Museum of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan museum recognizes the establishment of the state sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the historical role of President Nursultan Nazarbayev in building an independent country as its first president. Tours of the museum are held inside the building, with tours being given in Kazakh, Russian and English. Nowadays the collection of the museum totals 37,733 units of storage, including 2,240 books and printing editions. The museum is also the former residence of the President of Kazakhstan. The Museum of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan The Museum of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakh: