Category: Histories of countries and key towns and cities around the world

By Tim Lambert Ancient Spain From about 900 BC a seafaring people called the Phoenicians who came from what is now Lebanon traded with what is now Spain. They founded a chain of trading settlements along the coast on islands and peninsulas. The Iberians gave the Phoenicians silver in return for wine and olive oil… Continue reading A Brief History of Spain

By Tim Lambert Ancient Sweden The first humans arrived in Sweden by 8,000 BC after the end of the ice age, when warming temperatures first made the country habitable. The first Swedes were stone-age hunters and fishermen who lived near the coast. However, after 4,000 BC, farming was introduced into Sweden. The farmers used stone… Continue reading A Brief History of Sweden

By Tim Lambert Early Switzerland About 500 BC a Celtic people called the Helveti entered Switzerland from the west. However, by 58 BC the Romans ruled the area and they built a capital at Aventicum (Avenches). In the following centuries, Switzerland became thoroughly Romanized. The Romans built roads and other towns. However, in 260 a… Continue reading A Brief History of Switzerland

By Tim Lambert Ancient Tanzania The first human beings in Tanzania lived by hunting animals and gathering plants. Agriculture in Tanzania probably began about 1,000 BC but the farmers still made wooden and stone tools. However, by the 4th century AD, Bantu people began to migrate to Tanzania. They brought iron tools and weapons. Meanwhile,… Continue reading A Brief History of Tanzania

By Tim Lambert The early Gambia By about 500 AD a sophisticated culture existed in the Gambia, which was able to build stone circles. Shortly afterward trade across the Sahara with the Arabs began and it later flourished. As a result of the trade powerful states were built in western Africa. In the 13th century,… Continue reading A Brief History of The Gambia

By Tim Lambert Ancient Tunisia By about 8,000 BC human beings lived in what is now Tunisia by hunting and gathering. After about 5,000 BC they began farming although they still used stone tools. Then from about 1100 BC the Phoenicians from what is now Lebanon settled and traded in the area. About 480 BC… Continue reading A Brief History of Tunisia

By Tim Lambert Early Uganda In 1875 the explorer Henry Stanley reached Uganda. At that time Uganda was divided into kingdoms. Shortly afterward the first missionaries came to Uganda. The first Anglican missionaries arrived in Uganda in 1877. The first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived in 1879. Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims all tried to convert the… Continue reading A Brief History of Uganda

By Tim Lambert The Early History of Ukraine In the 7th century BC, a people called the Scythians lived in what is now Ukraine. Later the Greeks settled on the north coast of the Black Sea and they founded city-states there. Slavs settled in Ukraine in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. Then in the… Continue reading A Brief History of Ukraine

By Tim Lambert Early Uruguay In 1516 a Spaniard named Juan Diaz de Solis became the first European to reach Uruguay. In the 16th century, the Spanish took Argentina while Portugal took Brazil. What is now Uruguay was between them but its lack of mineral wealth meant that for a long time both nations took… Continue reading A Brief History of Uruguay

By Tim Lambert Early Venezuela For centuries the indigenous peoples of Venezuela lived by farming but also by hunting and fishing. Then in 1498, Christopher Columbus became the first European to reach Venezuela. In 1499 a Spaniard named Alonso de Ojeda led another expedition to the area. He called it Venezuela, meaning little Venice, after… Continue reading A Brief History of Venezuela