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
Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Ukraine became an independent country, Crimea remained part of the newly independent Ukraine. However, in March 2014, following the Ukrainian revolution that ousted the Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, pro-Russian separatists and Russian Armed Forces took over the territory. A controversial Crimea-wide referendum, unconstitutional under the Ukrainian and Crimean constitutions, was held on the issue of reunification with Russia which official results indicated was supported by a large majority of Crimeans. Crimea was then annexed by Russia to incorporate the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol as federal subjects of Russia. While Russia and ten other UN