AFRICA. There are more than 50 independent countries in Africa and on the islands off its coasts. Together, they make up more than one third of the membership of the United Nations. In 1991 Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister Boutros Boutros-Ghali became the first African and the first Arab to serve as secretary-general of the United Nations. After the conclusion of World War II, the African people gained their independence from European countries that had controlled most of the continent since the 19th century. France and the United Kingdom had the largest colonial empires, though Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, and Italy also had African possessions. By the end of 1990, only South Afr