- — Oceania:
Republic of Vanuatu proclaimed
The New Hebrides became the independent Republic of Vanuatu, with Walter Lini as first prime minister; Papua New Guinean troops then crushed the Santo secession.
Era: Independence and the Coconut War
Sources: Vanuatu — History (Melanesian, Colonization, Independence) · Encyclopædia Britannica, U.S. Relations With Vanuatu · U.S. Department of State
- — Africa:
Independence under Robert Mugabe
Zimbabwe became an internationally recognised independent state, with Mugabe's ZANU(PF) in power after winning the February 1980 election.
Era: Independence, Gukurahundi and the Mugabe years
Sources: Zimbabwe: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Robert Mugabe · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- — North America:
Independence as Belize
Belize became an independent state within the Commonwealth on 21 September 1981 with George Price as first prime minister — the last British colony on the Central American mainland to win independence, its frontier still claimed by Guatemala.
Era: Price, the PUP and independence
Sources: A Guide to the History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country: Belize · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, History of Belize · Encyclopædia Britannica, Our History · Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Belize
- — North America:
Patriation of the Constitution
The Constitution Act, 1982, patriated Canada's constitution, entrenched the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, recognised Aboriginal rights, and ended the need for British legislation — completing Canada's path to full sovereignty. Until then, because the original constitution was an act of the British Parliament, major changes to it could only be made by the United Kingdom Parliament. At Canada's request, Westminster passed the Canada Act 1982 (royal assent 29 March 1982), the last British statute to extend to Canada, and on 17 April 1982 Queen Elizabeth II signed the proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982, in Ottawa.
Era: Modern Canada — multiculturalism, patriation, and reconciliation
Sources: Constitution Act, 1982 · The Canadian Encyclopedia, Canada · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Learn about the Charter — History of the Charter · Department of Justice Canada, Canada's System of Justice — The Constitution · Department of Justice Canada, Canada Act 1982 (as enacted) · The National Archives (UK), legislation.gov.uk
- — Asia:
Declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
The Turkish-Cypriot assembly under Rauf Denktaş unilaterally declared the independent Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the island's north, presenting it as an act of self-determination.
Era: The Declaration of Independence and Its Rejection
Sources: Cyprus - History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Security Council Resolution 541 (1983) [Cyprus] · United Nations (UNSCR archive)
- — Asia:
Full independence and Malay Islamic Monarchy
Brunei resumes full sovereignty from Britain; the sultan becomes prime minister and proclaims Melayu Islam Beraja, the Malay Islamic Monarchy, as the national philosophy.
Era: The 1962 Revolt, Independence, and the Modern Sultanate
Sources: A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition, Diplomatic, and Consular Relations, by Country: Brunei · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, Country Facts: Brunei Darussalam · Permanent Mission of Brunei Darussalam to the United Nations
- — Oceania:
FLNKS founded
Pro-independence parties united in the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) under Jean-Marie Tjibaou, demanding sovereignty for a country it called Kanaky and opening the most intense phase of the independence struggle.
Era: The Movement and les Événements
Sources: New Caledonia — History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, New Caledonia — The United Nations and Decolonization · United Nations, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
- — Oceania:
Australia Act and full legal independence
The Australia Act 1986, building on the Statute of Westminster adopted in 1942, ended the British Parliament's power to legislate for Australia and abolished appeals to the Privy Council, completing Australia's legal independence.
Era: Modern Australia: multiculturalism, reconciliation, and the apology
Sources: Australia (country) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- — Asia:
Declaration of the State of Palestine
The Palestinian National Council in Algiers, chaired by Yasser Arafat, proclaimed the independent State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.
Era: Occupation, Dispossession, and the Present
Sources: Palestinian Declaration of Independence · Wikipedia, Palestine - region, history · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- — Asia:
Azerbaijan declares sovereignty
Azerbaijan declared its sovereignty in 1989 as Soviet authority weakened, a first step toward the restoration of independence two years later.
Era: The Azerbaijan SSR
Sources: Azerbaijan: Russian suzerainty and the road to independence · Encyclopædia Britannica
- — Europe:
The Velvet Revolution
A suppressed student march in Prague on 17 November 1989 set off mass protests that toppled the communist regime within weeks; Vaclav Havel was elected president on 29 December.
Era: Expulsion, Communism, the Velvet Revolution and the Modern Republic
Sources: Velvet Revolution · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vaclav Havel · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- — Europe:
The Pan-European Picnic and the opening of the border
A border gate opened near Sopron let some 700 East Germans flee west; Hungary's subsequent full opening of its frontier breached the Iron Curtain and helped bring down the Berlin Wall.
Era: Communism, 1956 and the Return to Europe
Sources: Pan-European Picnic (19 August 1989) · Federal Government of Germany (Bundesregierung)
- — Europe:
Proclamation of the republic
On the anniversary of the 1956 rising Hungary proclaimed itself a free republic, ending four decades of communist rule and beginning its transition to democracy.
Era: Communism, 1956 and the Return to Europe
Sources: János Kádár · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hungarian Revolution (1956) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- — Africa:
UN-supervised elections
With Resolution 435 in force from 1 April 1989 under the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG), Namibians elected a Constituent Assembly that SWAPO won with about 57 percent of the vote; the assembly drafted a democratic constitution adopted in February 1990.
Era: The liberation struggle, the Border War and the road to independence
Sources: South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) · Wikipedia, United Nations Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) · Wikipedia, The UN's role in Namibian Independence · United Nations in Namibia
- — Europe:
Semi-free elections and the fall of communism
Round Table talks produced partly free elections that Solidarity won overwhelmingly, ending communist rule in Poland and helping trigger the collapse of the Soviet bloc.
Era: Communist Poland, Solidarity and the Modern Republic
Sources: Solidarity (Polish trade union) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Lech Walesa · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- — Europe:
The Velvet Revolution
Beginning with a student march in Bratislava on 16 November and protests in Prague the next day, six weeks of demonstrations led the Communist Party to give up its monopoly, ending one-party rule peacefully.
Era: Communism, the Velvet Revolution and the Velvet Divorce
Sources: Velvet Revolution · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Slovakia · Slovakia.travel (official tourism portal)
Independence in the 1980s
Every event in the Terralore archive tagged independence — declarations, recognitions and transfers of sovereignty, narrowed to the 1980s — 16 of them, drawn from 15 nations, running from 1980 to 1989. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.
- Events
- 16
- Nations
- 15
- Earliest
- 1980
- Latest
- 1989
- Europe
- 5
- Asia
- 4
- Oceania
- 3
- Africa
- 2
- North America
- 2
Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.