The government of Tristan da Cunha, a four-island archipelago of about 250 people, has announced that it will be protecting approximately 700,000 square kilometers of its waters, creating the world’s fourth-largest Marine Protected Area.
The World Health Organization has validated that the disease has been eliminated from the country: This is extra impressive, because in 2005, trachoma was responsible for 4% of all cases of blindness there. The nation joins Nepal in the WHO South-East Asia Region and 12 countries globally to achieve this feat.
Following the declaration of the federal republic, an election was held for the Constituent Assembly that would draft a new constitution.
On 29 May 1999, Abubakar transferred power to the winner of the 1999 presidential election, former military ruler General Olusegun Obasanjo as the second democratically elected civilian President of Nigeria heralding the beginning of the Fourth Nigerian Republic.
The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force on 1 November 1993. In 1995, Austria, Finland, and Sweden joined the EU.
In late 1993 a presidential council was formed, the life presidency was abolished and a new constitution was put into place. In 1994 the first multi-party elections were held in Malawi.
The constitution instituted the first meaningful system of checks and balances the country had ever seen.
Following the August 1991 aborted coup attempt in Moscow, Kazakhstan declared independence on 16 December 1991, thus becoming the last Soviet republic to declare independence. Ten days later, the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist.
With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan is recognized as independent state at first by Turkey, Israel, Romania and Pakistan.
On 1 December, voters approved a referendum formalizing independence from the Soviet Union. Over 90% of Ukrainian citizens voted for independence, with majorities in every region, including 56% in Crimea.
