August 19, 2007: An Afghan man emerges from a doorway beneath a large national flag as Afghanistan celebrates its independence day in Kabul. The holiday marks the signing of the treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919, when Afghanistan became formally independent from Britain.

September 15, 2007: A conch player from the Garifuna ethnic group plays typical “Punta” music in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, during the country's 186th anniversary celebrations. Spain granted independence to Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and El Salvador all on the same day in 1821.

July 29, 2004: Members of a local self-defense force march in the official parade celebrating the 183rd anniversary of Peruvian independence in Lima. Peru’s self-defense militias were created in the 1990s to fight terrorism, with the help of the government and regular military.

September 16, 2006: A girl with false eyelashes and a hairband in the colors of the Mexican flag celebrate in Mexico City’s central Zócalo Square. Mexico declared independence from Spain in 1810, but the Spanish monarchy refused to grant official recognition until 11 years later.

May 19, 2006: Military school students form a living monument to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic, during the Youth and Sport Festival celebrations at Inönü Stadium in downtown Istanbul. Every May 19, dignitaries, politicians, and military leaders celebrate Atatürk’s arrival at Samsun—the event that began Turkey’s “war of independence” from the Ottoman Empire. The country’s official independence day is October 29, however, marking the founding of the Turkish Republic.

August 17, 2007: Balinese performers dance during a carnival in Jakarta. Several hundred performers from some 30 provinces of Indonesia took part in the carnival as part of celebrations marking the country’s 62nd Independence Day. Formerly known as the Dutch East Indies, Indonesia became independent from the Netherlands in 1945 after being occupied by Japan during World War II.

March 1, 2005: South Korean women sing during a celebration honoring the March First Independence Movement in Seoul. South Koreans celebrate the holiday to commemorate the failed 1919 civilian uprising against Japanese colonial rule, which lasted from 1910 to 1945.

January 26, 2008: Indian soldiers from the Light Maratha Infrantry perform a traditional sport called Malkhumb during Republic Day celebrations in Bangalore. Republic Day marks the proclamation of India as a republic in 1950—three years after it won independence from British rule.

August 14, 2007: Pakistani girls hold national flags as they sing patriotic songs during Independence Day celebrations in Islamabad. Pakistan celebrated its 60th anniversary of independence last year with prayers and a national minute of silence. For Pakistanis, celebrating independence is bittersweet: The partition of British colonial India was extremely bloody and its terms remain hotly contested.

August 20, 2007: Malaysia's deputy defense minister enjoys a dance with Punjabi folk dancers during a welcome ceremony for the ‘Malaysian 50th Independence Day Car Rally 2007,” as the vehicles cross the India-Pakistan border. The car rally, comprising 52 participants, took off from Cape Town in South Africa on July 28 and traveled though Africa and Asia before reaching Kuala Lumpur in time for Hari Merdeka, Independence Day, on August 31.

February 16, 2008: A Kosovo Albanian boy wraps himself in an Albanian flag as he walks in the village of Livoc. One day later, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia and became either the world’s newest country or a rogue province, depending on your point of view. So far, 43 of 192 United Nations member states have recognized Kosovo.