On January 8, 1961, voters in France overwhelmingly approved self-determination for Algeria. By a 75% margin, French citizens voted in favor of a referendum, which allowed the colony of Algeria to determine its own future. On July 1, 1961, Algerians elected to become an independent nation by a near-unanimous margin.



These events concluded nearly a decade of fighting in the French-Algerian War. Learn more about the history of the French-Algerian War from Global Security.