Pictures at the polls showed some residents of the islands draped in Union flags as they cast their votes.

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Soldiers from the African Union prepared to invade Anjouan, one of the Comoro Islands off the coast of Mozambique.

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Author and anthropologist Simon Kuper agrees, saying the political context may also explain why places like Gibraltar and the Falkland islands have more symbols of Britishness than many areas in the UK, where ostentatiously displaying union jacks might be seen as old-fashioned or embarrassing.

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