Independence Day

An Independence day is an annual celebration commemorating the anniversary of a nation's assumption of independent statehood, usually after ceasing to be a colony of another state. Most countries honor their respective independence day as a national holiday.

List of Independence Days

The following is a partial list of independence days around the world:

Albania - Dita e Pavarësisë, November 28, proclaimed by Ismail Qemali and signaled the end of five centuries of Ottoman rule in Albania.
Argentina - July 9 1816, marking independence from Spain.
Brazil - September 7, 1822, independence from Portugal.
Burundi - July 1 1962, independence from Belgium.
Central America - September 15, celebrated in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, the former states of the United States of Central America, who achieved independence from Spain or Mexico on this date.
Canada - Canada Day, July 1, marking partial independence from the British Empire in 1867.
Colombia - July 20, marks independence from Spain in 1810.
Croatia - October 8, marking independence from Yugoslavia.
East Timor - May 20, marks independence from Portugal in 2002.
Estonia - February 24, marks independence from Imperial Russia in 1918.
Finland - December 6, marks independence from Russia in 1917.
Iceland - June 17, marks independence from Denmark in 1944.
India - August 15, marks independence from the UK in 1947.
Israel - Yom Ha'atzma'ut, Hebrew date of 5 Iyar (unless that falls on Shabbat, in which case it is the 3rd) which occurs usually at the end of spring (May). The Gregorian date for the day in which Israel independence was proclaimed is May 14th. See also Jewish holidays.
Kyrgyzstan - August 31, marks independence from USSR in [1991].
Latvia - Neatkaribas diena, November 18, marks independence from Imperial Russia in 1918.
Lithuania - February 16, marks independence from Imperial Russia in 1918.
Malaysia - Hari Merdeka, August 31, marks independence from the UK.
Mexico - Dieciséis de septiembre, September 16.
Mongolia - November 26
Pakistan - Yaum e Azadi, August 14, marks Pakistan's independence from the United Kingdom.
Panama - November 3, independence from Colombia in 1903.
Paraguay - Día de Independencia, May 15, marks independence from Spain in 1811.
Philippines - Araw ng Kalayaan, June 12, marks independence from Spain in 1898.
Poland - Narodowe Święto;, November 11, in memory of the restoration of Polish independence in 1918.
Romania - May 9, marks independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1877.
Russia - Russia Day, June 12.
Rwanda - July 1 1962, marks independence from Belgium.
Singapore - August 9.
Slovakia - July 17, anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (only a remembrance day), but the independence came only on January 1 (public holiday).
Slovenia - Dan neodvisnosti, December 26, marking date of the official results of the independence plebiscite in 1990.
Switzerland - August 1, marks alliance against the Holy Roman Empire in 1291.
United States - Independence Day, July 4, often called the Fourth of July, which marks the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Tonga - June 4
Vietnam - Quốc Khánh;, September 2, marking Ho Chi Minh's 1945 speech.

Titles of Works

Independence Day, movie, 1996.
Independence Day, novel by Richard Ford.

This is a disambiguation page; that is, one that points to other pages that might otherwise have the same name. If you followed a link here, you might want to go back and fix that link to point to the appropriate specific page.