Colonial Venezuela of the Junta as a step toward outright independence. The Venezuelan War of Independence ensued. It ran concurrently with that of New Granada. On 17 December 1819 the Congress of Angostura declared Gran Colombia an independent country. After two more years of war, the country achieved independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of its most famous son, Simón Bolívar. Venezuela, along with the countries of Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador, formed part of the Republic of Gran Colombia until 1830, when Venezuela separated and became a separate sovereign country. Colonial Venezuela Spanish expeditions led by Columbus and Pepito Perez
History of the Jews in the Democratic Republic of the Congo History of the Jews in the Democratic Republic of the Congo The history of the Jews in the Democratic Republic of the Congo can be traced back to 1907, when the first Jewish immigrants began to arrive in the country. Current Jewish Congolese population is mostly of Sephardi background. The territory which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo was first annexed and colonised by Europeans after 1885 within what was then the Congo Free State. By 1908, the Free State had itself been annexed by Belgium, becoming the Belgian Congo. The first Jews in the Congo were Eastern