North Africa

===Arab conquest to modern times===
{{Main|History of North Africa#Arrival of Islam}}
{{Further|Decolonisation of Africa|Postcolonial Africa#North Africa|Neocolonialism}}
{{See also|Status of forces agreement}}
[[File:Kairouan Mosque Courtyard.jpg|thumb|The [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]] in [[Tunisia]], founded by Arab general [[Uqba ibn Nafi]] in 670, one of the oldest and most notable mosques in North Africa.<ref>{{cite book|last=Küng|first=Hans|author-link=Hans Küng|title=Tracing The Way: Spiritual Dimensions of the World Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sm0BfUKwct0C&pg=PA248|year=2006|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-8264-9423-8}}, page 248</ref>]]
The [[early Muslim conquests]] included North Africa by 640. By 700, most of North Africa had come under Muslim rule. Indigenous Berbers subsequently started to form their own polities in response in places such as [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]] and [[Sijilmasa]]. In the eleventh century, a reformist movement made up of members that called themselves the [[Almoravid dynasty]] expanded south into [[Sub-Saharan Africa]].

North Africa's populous and flourishing civilization collapsed after exhausting its resources in internal fighting and suffering devastation from the invasion of the [[Banu Sulaym]] and [[Banu Hilal]]. Ibn Khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become completely arid desert.<ref>[http://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/Newsletters/GINL9603/PopCrises3.htm Populations Crises and Population Cycles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527170154/http://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/Newsletters/GINL9603/PopCrises3.htm |date=27 May 2013 }}, Claire Russell and W.M.S. Russell, Galton Institute, March 1996</ref>

[[File:Cedid Atlas (Africa) 1803.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|1803 [[Cedid Atlas]], showing the Ottoman held regions of North Africa]]
After the [[Middle Ages]] much of the area was loosely under the control of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The [[Spanish Empire]] conquered several coastal cities between the 16th and 18th centuries. After the 19th century, the imperial and colonial presence of [[French colonial empire|France]], [[British Empire|the United Kingdom]], [[Spanish Empire|Spain]] and [[Italy]] left the entirety of the region under one form of European occupation.

In [[World War II]] from 1940 to 1943 the area was the setting for the [[North African Campaign]]. During the 1950s and 1960s all of the North African states gained independence. There remains a dispute over [[Western Sahara]] between [[Morocco]] and the [[Algeria]]n-backed [[Polisario Front]].

The wider protest movement known as the [[Arab Spring]] began with revolutions in [[Tunisian Revolution|Tunisia]] and [[Egyptian revolution of 2011|Egypt]] which ultimately led to the overthrow of their governments, as well as [[First Libyan Civil War|civil war]] in Libya. Large protests also occurred in Algeria and Morocco to a lesser extent. Many hundreds died in the uprisings.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/02/201122164254698620.html |title=In search of an African revolution |first=Azad |last=Essa |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=21 February 2011}}</ref>