From the disputed territory of the Western Sahrara to the ancient lands of Egypt, North Africa has followed its own path to independence heavily influenced by its Muslim heritage.
With the arrival of Alexander the Great, Egypt began an extend period of foreign domination: Ptolemeic Greeks (330-32 BCE), Romans (32 BCE-395 CE), Byzantines (395-640), Arabs (642-1251), Mamelukes (1260-1571), Ottoman Turks (1517-1798), French (1789-1801). There followed a brief interlude until the British arrived (1882-1922). Partial independence was achieved in 1922, but the British still maintained significant control over the country.
Full independence was achieved in 1936. In 1952 Lieutenant-Colonel Nasser seized power. A year later General Neguib was proclaimed president of the Republic of Egypt, only to be deposed by Nasser in 5194.
This region was once a Roman province, and had been colonized along the coast by the Vandals in ancient times. It was also invaded by the Byzantines and then absorbed into the Ottoman Empire. In 1911 the Turks were expelled when the country was annexed by Italy. An independent monarchy, under King Idris, was created in 1951 with help from the UN, but the monarchy was abolished when Gadaffi took power in 1969.
The region was conquered by the Almoravids in the second half of the eleventh century and a capital founded at Marrakech. They eventually had an empire which included Algeria, Ghana and much of Spain. In the second part of the twelfth century the region was conquered in turn by the Almohads, also Berber Muslims, who took over the empire, and extended it to the west as far as Tripoli.
From the fifteenth century, Portuguese and Spanish attempted to invade coastal areas, taking several ports, including Ceuta -- they met strong resistance. In the sixteenth century, Ahmad Al-Mansur, the Golden overthrew the Sonhai empire to the south and retook coastal areas from the Spanish. The region became a major destination for trans-Saharan slave trade despite internal conflict over whether free men could be
