The Asian country that became independent from the United States on July 4, 1946, was the Philippines.
The date marked the United States’ formal recognition of Philippine independence after the Second World War. The transfer was established through the Treaty of Manila, signed on July 4, 1946, which ended American sovereignty and created the independent Republic of the Philippines.
The Philippines had earlier declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, but that declaration was not recognized by Spain or the United States. Spain ceded the archipelago to the United States through the 1898 Treaty of Paris, leading to the Philippine-American War and decades of American rule.
July 4 was observed as Philippine Independence Day for many years. In 1964, President Diosdado Macapagal signed legislation moving the national observance to June 12, the date of the 1898 declaration. July 4 remains Philippine Republic Day, so the two dates refer to different milestones in the country’s complicated path to independence.