Between 1870 and 1900 Africa territories were under European states control, such as Britain, France, Germany, Portugal among others. Besides, the majority of African territories lost their sovereignty and control of natural resources. Imperial policies which favored resource exploitation and cheap labor weakened local economies. As a result, revolts started to spread by the middle of the 20th century since colonies did not want to accept the Europeans policies which ruled African territories. The African Movements for independence from European rulers took place in the 20th century. It was a slow process; but, by 1977, 54 African countries got rid of European imperial rulers. Consequently, the word they received when the Africans pushed for independence was "Africa".
