- published: 05 Mar 2008
- views: 31599
- author: Horagalles
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- Abuja
- Accra
- Addis Ababa
- Afrikaans
- Afrikaner
- Algiers
- Allan Donald
- Anglo-Boer War
- Antananarivo
- Arthur Tolkien
- Asmara
- Astronomy
- At Boshoff
- Bafana Bafana
- Bamako
- Bangui
- Banjul
- Baptist Church
- Basotho
- Battle of Paardeberg
- BCVO
- Bhisho
- Bissau
- Black African
- Bloemfontein
- Bloemfontein Celtic
- Bloemnuus
- Blood Diamond (film)
- Blue Bulls
- Boer
- Botshabelo
- Boyden Observatory
- Brazzaville
- Bujumbura
- Cairo
- Calvinist
- Cape Colony
- Cape Town
- Central Cheetahs
- Cheetah
- Christiaan de Wet
- Coenie de Villiers
- Coloured
- Conakry
- Cricket
- Currie Cup
- Dakar
- Dale Stewart
- Dan Pienaar
- Djibouti (city)
- Dodoma
- Dutch language
- Eagles cricket team
- Eiffel Tower
- Fauna, Bloemfontein
- First language
- Francois Steyn
- Free State Cheetahs
- Free State Stadium
- Free State Times
- Freetown
- Gaborone
- Gao
- Gerrit Badenhorst
- Gliding
- Go-kart
- Golden Lions
- Griqua people
- Griqualand
- Hansie Cronje
- Harare
- Hargeisa
- Heidedal
- Henry Douglas Warden
- Heuwelsig
- Highveld
- Hotel Rwanda
- Indian South African
- Invictus (film)
- J. R. R. Tolkien
- Johannesburg
- Juan Smith
- Juba
- Judicial
- Kampala
- Karoo
- Khartoum
- KhoiKhoi
- Kigali
- Kinshasa
- Leon Schuster
- Lesedi FM
- Libreville
- Lilongwe
- Lobamba
- Loftus Versfeld
- Lomé
- Lord of War
- Louis Marchesi
- Luanda
- Lucas Maree
- Lusaka
- Mafikeng
- Malabo
- Mamoudzou
- Maputo
- Maseru
- Mbabane
- Med FM
- Mogadishu
- Monrovia
- Morne van Wyk
- Moroni, Comoros
- Motheo FM
- Motocross
- N'Djamena
- Nairobi
- Nelspruit
- New Tempe Airport
- Niamey
- Norwich
- Nouakchott
- OFM (South Africa)
- Ons Stad
- Orange Free State
- Orange River Colony
- Os du Randt
- Ouagadougou
- OUTsurance Oval
- Pietermaritzburg
- Polokwane
- Port Louis
- Porto-Novo
- Praia
- Pretoria
- Rabat
- Radio Rosestad
- Radio Suid Afrika
- Rose
- Round Table (club)
- Rugby union
- Ryk Neethling
- Sacred Heart
- Saint-Denis, Réunion
- Second Boer War
- Seether
- Semi-arid climate
- Sesotho
- Shaun Morgan
- Skin (2009 film)
- Sotho language
- South Africa
- Super Rugby
- São Tomé
- Talk Bloemfontein
- The Hobbit
- The Silmarillion
- The Weekly
- Thunderstorm
- Time zone
- Transoranje
- Trek Boers
- Tripoli
- Tswana language
- Tunis
- UTC+2
- Victoria, Seychelles
- Volksblad
- White South African
- Willem Jackson
- Windhoek
- Xhosa language
- Yamoussoukro
- Yaoundé
- Zola Budd
-
Abuja
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the center of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos, which is still the country's most populous city. At the 2006 census, the city of Abuja had a population of 778,567, making it one of the top ten most populous cities in Nigeria.
Abuja's geography is defined by Aso Rock, a 400-metre monolith left by water erosion. The Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the town extend to the south of the rock.
Other sights include the Nigerian National Mosque and the Nigerian National Christian Centre. The city is served by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, while Zuma Rock lies nearby. Abuja is known for being the best purpose-built city in Africa as well as being one of the wealthiest and most expensive; however, the population on the semi-developed edges of the city are living in rural areas such as Karu, Nasarawa State.
wn.com/Abuja -
Accra
Accra /əˈkrɑː/ is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an estimated urban population of 2,291,352 as of 2012[update]. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous. Accra is furthermore the anchor of a larger metropolitan area, the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA), which is home to about 4 million people, making it the largest metropolitan conglomeration in Ghana by population, and the eleventh-largest metropolitan area in Africa.
Accra stretches along the Ghanaian Atlantic coast and extends north into the country's interior. Originally built around a port, it served as the capital of the British-ruled Gold Coast between 1877 and 1957. Once merely a 19th-century suburb of Victoriaborg, Accra has since transitioned into a modern metropolis; the city's architecture reflects this history, ranging from 19th-century British colonial buildings to modern skyscrapers and apartment blocks.
Accra is Ghana's primate city, serving as the nation's economic and administrative hub. It is furthermore a centre of culture and tourism, sporting a wide range of nightclubs, restaurants and hotels. Since the early 1990s, a number of new buildings have been built, including the multi-storey French-owned Novotel hotel. The city's National Theatre was built with Chinese assistance. In 2010, the GaWC designated Accra a Gamma-minus-level world city, indicating a growing level of international influence and connectedness.
wn.com/Accra -
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (sometimes spelled Addis Abeba, the spelling used by the official Ethiopian Mapping Authority) is the capital city of Ethiopia. (In Ethiopian languages: Amharic, Addis Abäba [ad�?i�?s aβəβa] "new flower"; Oromo, Finfinne;Ge'ez ኣዲ�?� ኣበባ) It is the largest city in Ethiopia, with a population of 3,384,569 according to the 2007 population census.
As a chartered city (ras gez astedader), Addis Ababa has the status of both a city and a state. It is where the African Union and its predecessor the OAU are based. It also hosts the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and numerous other continental and international organizations. Addis Ababa is therefore often referred to as "the political capital of Africa", due to its historical, diplomatic and political significance for the continent. The city is populated by people from different regions of Ethiopia – the country has as many as 80 nationalities speaking 80 languages and belonging to a wide variety of religious communities. It is home to Addis Ababa University. The Federation of African Societies of Chemistry (FASC) and Horn of Africa Press Institute (HAPI) are also headquartered in Addis Ababa.
wn.com/Addis_Ababa -
Algiers
Algiers (Arabic: الجزائر, al-Jazā’ir; Algerian Arabic: دزاير, Berber: Dzayer / ⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000. An estimate puts the population at about 3,574,000 as of 2010.
Called El-Behdja (البهجة) or alternatively Alger la Blanche ("Algiers the White") for the glistening white of its buildings as seen rising up from the sea, Algiers is situated on the west side of a bay of the Mediterranean Sea. The modern part of the city is built on the level ground by the seashore; the old part, the ancient city of the deys, climbs the steep hill behind the modern town and is crowned by the casbah or citadel, 122 metres (400 ft) above the sea. The casbah and the two quays form a triangle.
The city name is derived (via French Alger and Catalan Alger) from the Arabic name الجزائر al-Jazā’ir, which translates as "The Islands", referring to the four islands which lay off the city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525. Al-Jazā’ir is itself a truncated form of the city's older name جزائر بني مازغان Jazā’ir Banī Mazghannā, "The Islands of the Sons of Mazghanna", used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.
wn.com/Algiers -
Antananarivo
Antananarivo (
/ˌæntəˌnænəˈriːvoʊ/; Malagasy [antaˈnanaˈrivʷ], from Tanànan'ny Arivolahy), formerly Tananarive ( /təˌnænəˈriːv/ or /təˌnɑːnəˈriːv/), is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana. The larger urban area surrounding the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "Antananarivo-Capital"), is the capital of Analamanga Region.
Antananarivo is situated in the center of the island length-wise, and 145 km (90 mi) away from the eastern coast. The city occupies a commanding position, being built on the summit and slopes of a long and narrow rocky ridge, which extends north and south for about 4 km (2 mi) and rises at its highest point to about 200 m (660 ft) above the extensive rice plain to the west, although the town is at about 1,275 m (4,183 ft) above sea level. It is Madagascar's largest city and is its administrative, communications, and economic center. The city is located 215 km (134 mi) west-southwest of Toamasina, the principal seaport of the island, with which it is connected by railway, and for about 100 km (62 mi) along the coastal lagoons.
wn.com/Antananarivo -
Asmara
Asmara (Arabic: أسمرة, Tigrinya: ኣስመራ Asmera, formerly known as Asmera, meaning "Made them United" in Tigrinya) is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea, home to a population of 563,930 inhabitants. Sitting at an elevation of 2,325 metres (7,628 ft), it is located at the tip of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Eritrean highlands and the Great Rift Valley.
Asmara is located in Eritrea's central Maekel Region. It is known for its well-preserved colonial Italian modern architecture, and is divided into thirteen districts or administrative areas: Acria, Abbashaul, Edaga Hamus, Arbaete Asmara, Mai Temenai, Paradiso, Sembel, Godaif, Maekel Ketema or Downtown, Tiravolo, Gejeret, Tsetserat and Gheza Banda.
Although it would be easy to think of Asmara, the Eritrean capital, solely as an Italian built colonial city, its origins actually reach back some 700 years. The Tigringa and Tigre people live around there. Originally, it is said, there were four clans living in the Asmara area on the Kebessa Plateau: the Gheza Gurtom, the Gheza Shelele, the Gheza Serenser and Gheza Asmae. These towns fought each other until the women of each clan decided that to preserve peace the four clans must unite. The men accepted, hence the name Arbate Asmera. Arbaete Asmara literally means, in the Tigrinya language, "the four made them united." Eventually Arbaete was dropped and it has been called Asmara which means "they [feminine, thus referring to the women] made them united", though there is still a zone called Arbaete Asmara. It is now called the Italianized version of the word Asmara. The westernized version of the name is used by a majority of non-Eritreans, while the multilingual inhabitants of Eritrea and neighboring peoples remain loyal to the original pronunciation, Asmera. Another legend tells that in this region the Queen of Sheba gave birth to the son of Solomon, Menelik I.
wn.com/Asmara -
Bamako
Bamako is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a population of 1.8 million (2009 Census, provisional). In 2006, it was estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country.
Bamako is the nation's administrative center. The city proper is a cercle in its own right. Bamako's river port is located in nearby Koulikoro, along with a major regional trade and conference center. Bamako is the seventh largest West African urban center after Lagos, Abidjan, Kano, Ibadan, Dakar, and Accra. Locally manufactured goods include textiles, processed meat and metal goods. There is commercial fishing on the Niger River.
The name Bamako comes from the Bambara word meaning "crocodile river".
The area of the city has been continuously inhabited since the Palaeolithic era for more than 150,000 years. The fertile lands of the Niger River Valley provided the people with an abundant food supply and early kingdoms in the area grew wealthy as they established trade routes linking across west Africa the Sahara and leading to northern Africa and Europe. The early inhabitants traded gold, ivory, Kola nuts and salt. By the 11th century the Empire of Ghana became the first kingdom to dominate the area. Bamako had become a major market town, and a centre for Islamic scholars, with the establishment of two universities and numerous mosques in medieval times.
wn.com/Bamako -
Bangui
Bangui is the capital of and the largest city in the Central African Republic. The majority of the population of the Central African Republic lives in the western parts of the country, near Bangui. Though located within Ombella-M'Poko prefecture, it is an independent commune, and thus politically independent of the surrounding prefecture.
The city was founded in 1889 in what was then the French colony Haut-Oubangui ('Upper Ubangi'), later renamed Oubangui-Chari and made part of French Equatorial Africa. Named for local rapids, the city grew around the French military post on the Ubangi river. Bangui served as an administration center in the colonial era and continues to be the administrative center of the CAR.
Widespread violence in Bangui followed the March 1981 elections, which took place following a French operation to depose Jean-Bédel Bokassa in 1979 and replace him with David Dacko. Opponents of unpopular Dacko laid siege to Bangui and compelled his flight to exile. Andre Kolingba then formed the Comité Militaire pour le Redressement National (See History of the Central African Republic).
wn.com/Bangui -
Banjul
Banjul (formerly Bathurst), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital of The Gambia, and is in the division of the same name. The population of the city proper is only 34,828, with the Greater Banjul Area, which includes the City of Banjul and the Kanifing Municipal Council, at a population of 357,238 (2003 census). Banjul is on St Mary's Island (Banjul Island), where the Gambia River enters the Atlantic Ocean. The island is connected to the mainland — by passenger and vehicle ferries to the north and by bridges to the south.
Banjul takes its name from the Mandé people who gathered specific fibres on the island, which were used in the manufacture of ropes. Bang julo is the Mandinka (Mande) word for rope fibre. The mispronunciation led to the word Banjul.[citation needed]
In 1651 Banjul was leased by the Duke of Courland from the king of Kombo, as part of Courland colonization.
In 1816, the British founded Banjul as a trading post and base for suppressing the slave trade. The British renamed the Banjul Island to St. Mary and first named Bathurst after Henry Bathurst, the secretary of the British Colonial Office, but was changed to Banjul in 1973.
wn.com/Banjul -
Battle of Paardeberg
The Battle of Paardeberg or Perdeberg ("Horse Mountain") was a major battle during the Second Anglo-Boer War. It was fought near Paardeberg Drift on the banks of the Modder River in the Orange Free State near Kimberley.
Lord Methuen advanced up the railway line in November 1899 with the objective of relieving the besieged city of Kimberley (and the town of Mafeking, also under siege). Battles were fought on this front at Graspan, Colenso, Modder River before the advance was halted for two months after the British defeat at the Battle of Magersfontein. In February 1900, Field Marshal Lord Roberts assumed personal command of a significantly reinforced British offensive.
The army of Boer General Piet Cronjé was retreating from its entrenched position at Magersfontein towards Bloemfontein after its lines of communication were cut by Major General John French, whose cavalry had recently outflanked the Boer position to relieve Kimberley. Cronje's slow-moving column was intercepted by French at Paardeberg, where the Boer general eventually surrendered after a prolonged siege, having fought off an attempted direct assault by Lieutenant General Horatio Kitchener.
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Bhisho
Bhisho (formerly Bisho) is the capital of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The Provincial legislature and many other government departments are headquartered in the town.
Bhisho is the Xhosa word for buffalo, which is also the name of the river that runs through this town.
The town is part of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality of the Eastern Cape, the urban agglomeration around East London.
On 16 July 2004, the town was officially renamed from Bisho to Bhisho.
Under its former name of Bisho, it was the capital of the former bantustan of Ciskei. Ciskei was nominally granted independence in 1981, although this was never recognised outside South Africa, and was reincorporated into South Africa on 12 August 1994.
During its time as a bantustan capital, Bisho signed a sister-city agreement with the settlement of Ariel in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
On 7 September 1992, this small town became the scene of what is known as the Bisho Massacre, when about 80–100,000 people marched on Bisho protesting for the dismantling of the Ciskei, which still maintained a measure of independence, and removal of Ciskei leader Brigadier Oupa Gqozo. The Ciskei Defence Force opened fire, shooting dead 28 or 29 people, and wounding 100. The massacre came at a critical time when negotiations towards democracy were underway.
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Bissau
Bissau is the capital city of Guinea-Bissau. The city's borders are conterminous with the Bissau Autonomous Sector. In 2007, the city had an estimated population of 407,424 according to the Instituto Nacional de Estatística e Censos. The city which is located on the Geba River estuary, off the Atlantic Ocean, is the country's largest city, major port, administrative and military centre.
The city was founded in 1687 by Portugal as a fortified port and trading center. In 1942 it became the capital of Portuguese Guinea. After the declaration of independence by the anti-colonial guerrillas of PAIGC, in 1973, the capital of the de facto independent territories was declared to be Madina do Boe, but Bissau remained as the capital of the Portuguese-occupied regions, and the de jure capital of the entire Portuguese Guinea. When Portugal recognized the independence of Guinea-Bissau and pulled out in 1974 due to the military coup of April 25 in Lisbon, the two territories merged and Bissau became the capital of the new independent state. The city is known for its annual carnival.
wn.com/Bissau -
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein ( /ˈblʊmfɒnteɪn/, Dutch for "fountain of flowers" – lit., "blooms") is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.
Bloemfontein is popularly and poetically known as "the city of roses", owing to the abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there. The city's Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning "place of cheetahs" and it has been included in the Mangaung Local Municipality since 2000[dated info].
Bloemfontein is situated on dry grassland at 29°06′S 26°13′E / 29.1°S 26.217°E / -29.1; 26.217, at an altitude of 1,395 m (4,577 ft) above sea level. The city is home to 369,568 residents, while the Mangaung Local Municipality has a population of 645,455.
wn.com/Bloemfontein -
Botshabelo
Botshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large black settlement set up by the then apartheid government 45 km east of Bloemfontein, Free State province, South Africa. As many people moved away from the farms in the Free State, they looked for places to stay in the region of Thaba Nchu, another homeland under the old Bophutatswana government. The policy governing Bophutatswana at the time clearly stated that Bophutatswana belongs to those who are of Tswana tribe. As a result, all other tribes, mainly Southern Sotho and Xhosa, were put at a skwatta camp named “Kromdraai”. Kromdraai was initiated by a man who was only referred to as "Khoza". He was selling a stand for only 50 cents around the year of 1976. Later on the government of Bophutatswana started to strongly condemn the development of that area and worked hard through their police force during the day and night, striving to dispatch everybody living in the region and who is not a Tswana. As the pressure mounted for the people of Kromdraai, Khoza fled and he was no longer to be seen anywhere. In 1979, the then Prime Minister of Qwa-Qwa, Kenneth Mopeli together with the apartheid government found a place for all the people of Kromdraai at a farm called Onverwacht. All the people who were not Tswana started to move to Onverwacht for free, and later on when they started to settle in the area paid ZAR80 for a stand. Late in 1980 to early 1981 the name Onverwacht started to disappear and people started to call their place by the name of Botshabelo, this name given by Julius Nkoko.
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Brazzaville
Brazzaville is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo and is located on the Congo River. As of the 2001 census, it has a population of 1,018,541 in the city proper, and about 1.5 million in total when including the suburbs located in the Pool Region. The populous city of Kinshasa (more than 10 million inhabitants in 2009), capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies just across the Congo River from Brazzaville. Together with Kinshasa, the combined conurbation of Kinshasa-Brazzaville has thus nearly 12 million inhabitants (although significant political and infrastructure challenges prevent the two cities from functioning with any meaningful connection). Over a third of the population of the Republic of Congo lives in the capital, and it is home to 40% of non-agricultural employment. It is also a financial and administrative capital.
In order to distinguish between the two African countries with "Congo" in their names, the Republic of the Congo is sometimes called Congo-Brazzaville, as opposed to Congo-Kinshasa (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known from 1971 to 1997 as Zaire, the capital of which is Kinshasa). Kinshasa lies on the southern bank of the Congo, across from Brazzaville. This is the only place in the world where two national capital cities are situated on opposite banks of a river, within sight of each other.
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Bujumbura
Bujumbura ( /ˌbuːdʒəmˈbʊərə/; French pronunciation: [buʒumbuʁa]) is the capital and largest city and main port of Burundi and ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton, skins, and tin ore. It is located on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika.
The city center is a colonial town with a large market, the national stadium, a large mosque, and the cathedral for the Archdiocese of Bujumbura. Museums in the city include the Burundi Museum of Life and the Burundi Geological Museum. Other nearby attractions include the Rusizi National Park, the Livingstone-Stanley Monument at Mugere (where David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley visited 14 days after their first historic meeting at Ujiji in Tanzania), the presidential palace and the source of the southernmost tributary of the Nile, described locally as the source of the Nile.
Ferries sail from Bujumbura to Kigoma in Tanzania, while the city is also home to the Bujumbura International Airport and the University of Burundi.
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Cairo
Cairo ( /ˈkaɪroʊ/ KYE-roh; Arabic: القاهرة al-Qāhira, literally "The Vanquisher" or "The Conqueror"), is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Located near the Nile Delta, it was founded in the year 969 A.D. making it 1,043 years old. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life. Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century AD.; but the land composing the present-day city was the site of national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo. Cairo is also associated with Ancient Egypt due to its proximity to the ancient cities of Memphis, Giza and Fustat which are nearby to the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza.
Egyptians today often refer to Cairo as Maṣr (Arabic: مصر), the Arabic pronunciation of the name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the city's continued role in Egyptian influence. Cairo has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab World, as well as the world's second-oldest institution of higher learning, al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city, and the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.
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Cape Town
Cape Town (Afrikaans: Kaapstad; Xhosa: iKapa) is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The city is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, including such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is also Africa's most popular tourist destination.
Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck's arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa.
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Conakry
Conakry (Sosso: Kɔnakiri) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500. Originally situated on Tombo Island, one of the Îles de Los, it has since spread up the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula.
The population of Conakry is difficult to ascertain, although the U.S. Bureau of African Affairs has estimated it at 2 million. Conakry is thought to contain almost a quarter of the population of Guinea.
According to a legend, the name of the city comes from the fusion of the name "Cona", a wine producer of the Baga people, and the word "nakiri", which means in Sosso the other bank or side.
Conakry was originally settled on tiny Tombo Island and later spread to the neighboring Kaloum Peninsula, a 36-kilometer (22 mi) long stretch of land 0.2 to 6 kilometers (660 to 20,000 ft) wide. The city was essentially founded after Britain ceded the island to France in 1887. In 1885, the two island villages of Conakry and Boubinet had fewer than 500 inhabitants. Conakry became the capital of French Guinea in 1904 and prospered as an export port, particularly after a (now closed) railway to Kankan opened the large scale export of groundnut from the interior.
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Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland. Its position, on the western edge of Africa, is an advantageous departure point for trans-Atlantic and European trade; this fact aided its growth into a major regional port.
According to December 31, 2005 official estimates, the city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 2.45 million people.
Dakar is a major administrative centre, home to the National Assembly of Senegal and Senegal's President's Palace.
The Cape Verde Peninsula was settled, no later than the 15th century, by the Lebou, an ethnic group related to the neighboring Wolof and Sereer. The original villages: Ouakam, Ngor, Yoff and Hann, still constitute distinctively Lebou neighborhoods of the city today. Meanwhile, in 1444, the Portuguese arrived on the island of Gorée and founded a settlement there. By 1536, they had begun using it as a base for the export of slaves. The mainland of Cap-Vert, however, was under control of the Jolof Empire, as part of the western province of Cayor which seceded from Jolof in its own right in 1549. A new Lebou village, called Ndakaaru, was established directly across from Gorée in the 17th century to service the European trading factory with food and drinking water. Gorée was captured by the United Netherlands in 1588, which gave it its present name (spelled Goeree, after Goeree-Overflakkee in Holland). The island was to switch hands between the Portuguese and Dutch several more times before falling to the English under Admiral Robert Holmes on January 23, 1664, and finally to the French in 1677. Though under continuous French administration since, Métis families, descendant from Dutch and French traders and African wives, dominated the slave trade. The infamous "House of Slaves" was built here in 1776.
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Dodoma
Dodoma (literally "It has sunk" in Gogo), officially Dodoma Urban District, population 324,347 (2002 census), is the national capital of Tanzania, and the capital of the Dodoma region. In 1973, plans were made to move the capital to Dodoma. Tanzania's National Assembly moved there in February 1996, but many government offices remain in the previous national capital, Dar es Salaam, which remains the commercial capital.
Located at 6°10′23″S 35°44′31″E / 6.17306°S 35.74194°E / -6.17306; 35.74194Coordinates: 6°10′23″S 35°44′31″E / 6.17306°S 35.74194°E / -6.17306; 35.74194, in the centre of the country, the town is 486 kilometres (302 mi) west of the former capital at Dar es Salaam and 441 kilometres (274 mi) south of Arusha, the headquarters of the East African Community. It covers an area of 2,669 square kilometres (1,031 sq mi) of which 625 square kilometres (241 sq mi) is urbanized. It is located near Ihumwa, another largely populated area.
Out of the total population, 157,469 people (48.5 percent) are male while 166,878 people (51.5 percent) are female. The estimated total number of households is 74,914 with an average household size of 4.3 people. The Roman Catholic Church reports that 19.2% of the population are Roman Catholics. Dodoma is populated by different ethnic groups because it is a government administrative centre, although the indigenous ethnic groups are the Gogo, Rangi, and Sandawe. There are also small Arab and Indian minorities.[citation needed]
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Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, [tuʁ ɛfɛl], nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is a puddle ironlattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
The tower stands 320 metres (1,050 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-story building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building in New York City was built in 1930. However, because of the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas, it is the second-tallest structure in France, after the Millau Viaduct.
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Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city in the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. Freetown is Sierra Leone's economic, financial, cultural and educational center. The city's economy revolves largely around its harbor - occupying a part of the estuary of the Sierra Leone River in one of the world's largest natural deep water harbours. Queen Elizabeth II Quay is capable of receiving oceangoing vessels and handles Sierra Leone's main exports.
The city proper had a population of 772,873 at the 2004 census, with a current estimate of 1,070,200 (about 17% of Sierra Leone's total population). The population of Freetown is ethnically, culturally and religiously diverse. The city is home to significant numbers of all of the country's ethnic groups, although it is the primary home of the Sierra Leone Creole people (descendants of Liberated Africans, African-Americans and West Indians) who make up the minority of the population in the city. As in virtually all parts of Sierra Leone, the Krio language is the city's primary language of communication and is by far the most widely spoken language in the city.
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Gaborone
Gaborone (Tswana IPA: [χabʊˈrʊnɪ];[missing tone] English /ˌɡæbəˈroʊniː/ or /ˌxɑːbəˈroʊneɪ/, named after Chief Kgosi Gabarone) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 191,776 based on a 2006 survey, about 10% of the total population of Botswana.
Gaborone is situated between Kgale and Oodi Hills, on the Notwane River in the southeastern corner of Botswana, and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the South African border. The city is served by the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. It is an administrative district in its own right, but is the capital of the surrounding South-East District. Locals often refer to the city as Gabs.
Because the city had no tribal affiliation and was close to fresh water, the city was planned to be the capital in the mid-1960s when the Bechuanaland Protectorate became an independent nation. The center of the city is a long strip of commercial businesses, called the Mall, with a semicircle-shaped area of government offices to the west of the Mall. The city is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, and this has created problems with housing and illegal settlements. The city has also dealt with conflicts spilling into the country from Zimbabwe and South Africa during the 1980s.
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Gao
Gao (pronounced /goʊ/) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, lying 320 km (200 mi) east-southeast of Timbuktu. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it had a population of 86,633 in 2009.
For much of its history Gao was an important commercial centre involved in the trans-Saharan trade. External Arabic sources state that by the 9th century Gao was already an important regional power, and by the end of the 10th century, the local ruler was a Muslim. Towards the end of the 13th century, Gao lost its independence and became part of the Mali Empire, but in first half of the 15th century, the town regained its independence and with the conquests of Sonni Ali (ruled 1464–1492) Gao became the capital of the Songhai Empire. The Empire collapsed after the Moroccan invasion in 1591 and the invaders chose to make Timbuktu their stronghold. By the time of Heinrich Barth's visit in 1854, Gao had declined to become a impoverished village with 300 huts constructed from matting. By 2009, it had a population of 86633.
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Harare
Harare ( /həˈrɑreɪ/; before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,606,000 (2009), with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area (2006). Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its administrative, commercial, and communications centre. The city is a trade centre for tobacco, maize, cotton, and citrus fruits. Manufactures include textiles, steel, and chemicals, and gold is mined in the area. Harare is situated at an elevation of 1483 metres (4865 feet) and its climate falls into the warm temperate category.
Harare is the site of the University of Zimbabwe, the largest institution of higher learning in Zimbabwe, which is situated in the suburb of Mount Pleasant, about 6 km north of the city centre. Numerous suburbs surround the city, retaining the names colonial administrators gave them during the 19th century, such as Warren Park, Borrowdale, Mount Pleasant, Marlborough, Tynwald and Avondale.
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Hargeisa
Hargeisa (Somali: Hargaysa, Arabic: هرجيسا) is a the second-largest city in Somalia, located in the Woqooyi Galbeed region. Hargeisa is the capital of Somaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognized as an autonomous region of Somalia. It was the colonial capital of the British Somaliland protectorate from 1941 to 1960, when it gained independence as the State of Somaliland and united with Italian Somaliland to form the Somali Republic.
The city is situated in a valley in the Galgodon (Ogo) highlands, and sits at an elevation of 4,377 feet (1,334 m). Home to rock art from the Neolithic period, Hargeisa is also a commercial hub for precious stone-cutting, construction, retail services and importing/exporting, among other activities.
Numerous cave paintings from the Neolithic period are found in the Laas Gaal complex, on the outskirts of Hargeisa. During November and December 2002, an archaeological survey was carried out in the area by a French team of researchers. The expedition's objective was to search for rock shelters and caves containing stratified archaeological infills capable of documenting the period when production economy appeared in this part of Somalia (circa 5,000 and 2,000 BCE). During the course of the survey, the French archaeological team discovered the Laas Gaal rock art, encompassing an area of ten rock alcoves (caves). In an excellent state of preservation, the paintings show human figures with their hands raised and facing long-horned, humpless cattle.
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Heuwelsig
Heuwelsig is a suburb of Bloemfontein. It can be accessed via two roads, Lucas Steyn(both directions) and Rayton Road
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Highveld
Coordinates: 26°12′13″S 28°2′43″E / 26.20361°S 28.04528°E / -26.20361; 28.04528
The Highveld is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above approximately 1500 m, but below 2100 m, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east of the Highveld. It is home to some of the country's most important commercial farming areas, as well as its largest concentration of metropolitan centers, especially the Gauteng City Region, which accommodates one-third of South Africa's population.
The Highveld constitutes parts of the Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, and Limpopo provinces, and virtually all of Gauteng and the northern Free State. The Highveld is bordered by the Bushveld and the Lowveld in the north, northeast, and northwest, the Drakensberg mountains to the east and southeast, the Kalahari desert in the west, and the Great Karoo to the southwest. The Highveld covers an area of almost 400,000 km², or roughly thirty percent of South Africa's land area.
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Johannesburg
Johannesburg (/dʒoʊˈhænɪsbɜrɡ/; Afrikaans: [joˈhɑnəsbʏrx]) also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or eGoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa. The city is one of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the world, and is also the world's largest city not situated on a river, lake, or coastline. It claims to be the lightning capital of the world, though this title is also claimed by others.
While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa's three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court, which has the final word on interpretation of South Africa's new post-Apartheid constitution. The city is the source of a large-scale gold and diamond trade, due to its location on the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills. Johannesburg is served by O.R. Tambo International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Africa and a gateway for international air travel to and from the rest of Southern Africa. More recently Lanseria International Airport has started international flights, and is situated conveniently on the opposite side of the metropolis.
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Juba
Juba is the capital and largest city of the Republic of South Sudan. It also serves as the capital of Central Equatoria, the smallest of the ten states of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and functions as the seat and metropolis of Juba County.
In 2005, Juba's population was 163,442. Based on analysis of aerial photos, the best estimate of several donors working in Juba calculated the 2006 population at approximately 250,000. The 5th Sudan Population and Housing Census took place in April/May 2008, stating the population of Juba County to be 372,413 (the majority residing in Juba City, which dominates the county), but the results were rejected by the Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan. Juba is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, and is developing very rapidly due to oil money and the Chinese coming for work and development. In 2011, the population of the city of Juba is estimated at approximately 372,410.
Population growth:
In the 19th century, a trading post and a mission was located in the vicinity of Juba called Gondokoro. It was the southernmost outpost of the Egyptian garrison, supported by a handful of soldiers, mostly ill due to the malaria and blackwater fever that was dominant in the region. Gondokoro was also the base of the explorer and campaigner Sir Samuel Baker during his expeditions to what is now Southern Sudan and northern Uganda from 1863 to 1865, and from 1871 to 1873.
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Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.
Mutesa I, the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, had chosen the area that was to become Kampala as one of his favorite hunting grounds. The area was made up of hills and wetlands. It was an ideal breeding ground for various game, particularly a species of antelope, the impala (Aepyceros melampus).
The city grew as the capital of the Buganda kingdom, from which several buildings survive, including the Kasubi Tombs (built in 1881), the Lubiri Palace, the Buganda Parliament and the Buganda Court of Justice. Severely damaged in the Uganda-Tanzania War, the city has since then been rebuilt with constructions of new buildings including hotels, banks, shopping malls, educational institutions, hospitals and improvement of war torn buildings and infrastructure. Traditionally, Kampala was a city of seven hills, but over time it has come to have a lot more.
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Karoo
The Karoo (a Khoisan word of uncertain etymology) is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. Its inland section, the Nama Karoo, has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. The western section is the Succulent Karoo, situated in a winter rainfall region near the Atlantic coast.
In geological terms the Karoo Supergroup refers to an extensive and geologically recent (100 to 260 million years old) sequence of sedimentary and igneous rocks, which is flanked to the south by the Cape Supergroup, and to the north by the more ancient Witwatersrand Supergroup. It covers two-thirds of South Africa and extends in places to 8,000 m below the land surface, constituting an immense volume of rocks which was formed, geologically speaking, in a short period of time.
Extinct Karoo vertebrates
The Great Karoo has an area of more than 400,000 square kilometers. From a geological point of view it has been a vast inland basin for most of the past 250 million years. At one stage the area was glaciated and the evidence for this is found in the widely-distributed Dwyka tillite. Later, at various times, there were great inland deltas, seas, lakes or swamps. Enormous deposits of coal formed and these are one of the pillars of the economy of South Africa today. Ancient reptiles and amphibians prospered in the wet forests and their remains have made the Karoo famous amongst palaeontologists. About 180 million years ago, volcanic activity took place on a titanic scale, which brought an end to a flourishing reptile evolution. The following genera represent some of the extinct animals of the Karoo:
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Khartoum
Khartoum (Arabic: الخرطوم al Ḫarṭūm) is the capital and second largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran", meaning the Confluence. The main Nile continues to flow north towards Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.
Divided by the Niles, Khartoum is a tripartite metropolis with an estimated overall population of over five million people consisting of Khartoum proper[clarification needed], and linked by bridges to Khartoum North called (al-Khartūm Bahrī) and Omdurman (Umm Durmān) to the west.
The origin of the word is uncertain. One tradition is that khartoum derives from Arabic kartūm الخرطوم meaning 'end of an elephant’s trunk', probably referring to the narrow strip of land extending between the Blue and White Niles. Captain J. A. Grant, who reached Khartoum in 1863 with Captain Speke’s expedition, thought that the derivation was most probably from the Arabic qurtum, safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), which was cultivated extensively in Egypt for its oil, used in burning.[citation needed]
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Kigali
Kigali (rarely Kigale), with population of almost 1 million (2009), is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation. The city has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of Rwanda are located in the city, as are the government ministries. The city is coterminous with the province of Kigali City, which was enlarged in January 2006, as part of local government reorganisation in the country. The city's urban area covers about 70% of the municipal boundaries. The city population has varied around the national percentages: Hutu 84%, Tutsi 15% and Twa (Pygmy) at 1%.
Kigali was founded in 1907 under German colonial rule, but did not become the capital until Rwandan independence in 1962. The traditional capital was the seat of the mwami (king) in Nyanza, while the colonial seat of power was in Butare, then known as Astrida. Butare was initially the leading contender to be the capital of the new independent nation, but Kigali was chosen because of its more central location. Since then the city has grown very quickly and is now the major political, economic and cultural centre of Rwanda.
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Kinshasa
Kinshasa (formerly French Léopoldville, and Dutch Leopoldstad (help·info)) is the capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River.
Once a site of fishing villages, Kinshasa is now an urban area with a population of nearly 10 million inhabitants. It faces the capital of the neighbouring Republic of Congo, Brazzaville which can be seen in the distance across the wide Congo River. Because the administrative boundaries cover such a vast area, over 60% of the city's land is rural in nature, and the urban area only occupies a small section in the far western end of the province.
Kinshasa holds the status of the second largest city in Africa, after Cairo.
Residents of Kinshasa are known as Kinois (in French and sometimes in English) or Kinshasans (English).
The city was founded as a trading post by Henry Morton Stanley in 1881 and named Léopoldville in honor of King Leopold II of Belgium, who controlled the vast territory that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, not as a colony but as a private property. The post flourished as the first navigable port on the Congo River above Livingstone Falls, a series of rapids over 300 kilometres (190 mi) below Leopoldville. At first, all goods arriving by sea or being sent by sea had to be carried by porters between Léopoldville and Matadi, the port below the rapids and 150 km (93 mi) from the coast. The completion of the Matadi-Kinshasa portage railway in 1898 provided a faster and more efficient alternative route around the rapids and sparked the rapid development of Léopoldville. By 1920, the city was elevated to capital of the Belgian Congo, replacing the town of Boma in the Congo estuary.
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Libreville
Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in west central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea, and a trade center for a timber region. As of 2005, it has a population of 578,156.
The area was inhabited by the Mpongwé tribe long before the French acquired the land in 1839. In 1846, L'Elizia, a Brazilian ship carrying slaves for sale, was captured by the French navy near Loango. The slaves were freed and founded Libreville (French for "Freetown") in 1848. It was the chief port of French Equatorial Africa from 1934 to 1946 and was the central focus of the Battle of Gabon in 1940.
Libreville was named in imitation of Freetown and grew only slowly as a trading post and a minor administrative centre to a population of 32,000 on independence in 1960. It only received its first bank branch when Bank of West Africa (BAO) opened a branch in 1930. Since independence, the city has grown rapidly and now houses nearly half the national population.
From north to south, major districts of the city are the residential area Batterie IV, Quartier Louis (known for its nightlife), Mont-Bouët and Nombakélé (busy commercial areas), Glass (the first European settlement in Gabon), Oloumi (a major industrial area) and Lalala, a residential area. The city’s port and train station on the Trans-Gabon Railway line to Franceville lie in Owendo, south of the main built-up area. Inland from these districts lie poorer residential areas.
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Lilongwe
Lilongwe, estimated population 781,538 as of 2012, is the capital and largest city of Malawi. It lies in the country's central region, on the Lilongwe River, near the border of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, and on the main north-south highway of Malawi, the M1.
The city started life as a small village on the banks of the Lilongwe river, and became a British colonial administrative centre at the beginning of the 20th century. Due to its location on the main north-south route through the country and the road to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Lilongwe became the second largest city in Malawi after Blantyre. In 1975, the capital of the country was formally moved from Zomba to Lilongwe. Lilongwe has grown immensely since then and since 2008 has been the largest city in Malawi. All parliament members are required to spend time in the capital. Although Lilongwe is the political centre of Malawi, in some respects Blantyre remains the economic capital.
Many European and South African expatriates live in Lilongwe, and many NGOs (Care International, Plan International, Concern Worldwide, Population Services International, The UNC Project, World Camp, Baylor International AIDS Initiative, Baobab Health Trust, WaterAID), international aid organisations (Peace Corps, USAID, DFID,UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFAO, WFP), and international corporations, particularly tobacco-related firms, operate out of Lilongwe. As a result, most western visitors will find the city to be accommodating and friendly. Many coffee shops, cafes, bars, clubs, restaurants, and even a casino are located in Lilongwe. In Lilongwe, as opposed to rural Malawi, one can live, work, or vacation in a manner that most westerners would consider typical, if not luxurious.
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Lobamba
Lobamba is the traditional and legislative capital of Swaziland, seat of the Parliament and residence of the Queen Mother. It is located in the west of the country, in the Ezulwini Valley , 16 km from Mbabane, in the district of Hhohho. Its population is 5,800.
Lobamba is famous for two ceremonies: the Reed Dance, celebrated in August and September in honour of the Queen Mother, and the Incwala, in December and January in honour of the King. These ceremonies include dancing, singing, and celebrations with traditional attire.
The Embo State Palace, the Royal Kraal, Swazi National Museum, Parliament of Swaziland and a museum dedicated to Sobhuza II of Swaziland lie in the town, while the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary and Matsapha Airport lie nearby.
Coordinates: 26°28′S 31°12′E / 26.467°S 31.2°E / -26.467; 31.2
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Lomé
Lomé, with a population of 837,437 (Metro population 1,570,283), is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels. It also has an oil refinery.
The city was founded in the 18th century by the Ewe people.
The city's population grew rapidly in the second half of the 20th century. The city had approximately 30,000 inhabitants in 1950: by 1960 (the year Togo gained its independence from France) the population had reached 80,000, increasing to 200,000 by 1970.
Since 1975, investments grew by 10% in the past year and had been targeted for development. At the same time, railways, which have an important role in serving the suburbs of the city, deteriorated however.
Market gardening around the city increased, spurred by growing unemployment, rural migration and the demand for vegetables. Market gardening, first extended to the north, is carried on mainly along the beach (whose sand is very salty), and planting hedges provides protection.
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Luanda
Coordinates: 8°50′18″S 13°14′04″E / 8.83833°S 13.23444°E / -8.83833; 13.23444
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of over 5 million. It is also the capital city of Luanda Province, and the world's third most populous Portuguese-speaking city, behind only São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, both in Brazil.
The city is currently undergoing a major reconstruction, with many large developments taking place that will alter the cityscape significantly. Luanda was ranked the most expensive city to live in for expatriates by Mercer, for 2011.
Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais founded Luanda on 25 January 1576 as "São Paulo da Assumpção de Loanda", with a hundred families of settlers and four hundred soldiers. In 1618 the Portuguese built the fortress called Fortaleza São Pedro da Barra, and they subsequently built two more: Fortaleza de São Miguel (1634) and Forte de São Francisco do Penedo (1765-6). Of these, the Fortaleza de São Miguel is the best preserved.
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Lusaka
Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau, at an elevation of about 1,300 metres (4,265 feet). It has a population of about 1.7 million (2010 census). It is a commercial centre as well as the centre of government, and the four main highways of Zambia head north, south, east and west from it. The three main languages spoken in Lusaka are English, Nyanja, and Bemba (the latter two are Bantu languages). English is the official language. Lusaka is one of the fastest-developing cities in Southern Africa.
As national capital, Lusaka is the seat of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, epitomized by the presence of the National Assembly (parliament), the State House (office of the President), and the High Court. The Parliament is situated at the Parliament complex, which features a 15-story building. The city is also the capital of Lusaka Province, the smallest and most populous of the country's nine provinces, and forms an administrative district run by Lusaka City Council. In 2007, the mayor was Steven Chilatu (PF), and the deputy mayor was Mary Phiri.
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Malabo
Malabo ( /məˈlɑːboʊ/) is the capital of Equatorial Guinea, located on the northern coast of Bioko Island (formerly Fernando Pó) on the rim of a sunken volcano.. With a fast growing population of 155,963 (2005) it is also the second largest city in the country, after Bata in Río Muni on the African mainland.
The city was first founded by the British in 1827, who leased the island from Spain during the colonial period. Named Port Clarence, it was used as a naval station in the effort to suppress the slave trade. Many newly freed slaves were also settled there, prior to the establishment of Liberia as a colony for freed slaves. While many of them later relocated to Sierra Leone, some of their descendants, called Fernandinos, can still be found in Malabo and the surrounding area, where they constitute a distinct ethnic group, speaking their own Afro-Portuguese pidgin dialect.
When the island reverted to complete Spanish control, Malabo was renamed Santa Isabel. It was chosen to replace the mainland city of Bata as the capital of the country in 1969, and was renamed Malabo in 1973 as part of President Francisco Macías Nguema's campaign to replace European place names with "authentic" African ones.
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Mamoudzou
Coordinates: 12°46′50″S 45°13′40″E / 12.7806°S 45.2278°E / -12.7806; 45.2278
Mamoudzou is the capital of the French overseas region and department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean. Mamoudzou, known as Momoju in the local Shimaore language, is the most populated commune (municipality) of Mayotte. It is located on Grande-Terre (or Mahoré), the main island of Mayotte. The former capital of Mayotte was Dzaoudzi, on the small island of Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), but Mamoudzou was chosen as the capital in 1977. The island is located in the Mozambique Channel, between northern Mozambique and northern Madagascar.
The commune is composed of 6 villages in addition to its central habitation, also called Mamoudzou. These are: Kawéni, Mtsapéré, Passamainti, Vahibé, Tsoundzou I and Tsoundzou II.
The commune is also subdivided into 3 cantons; Mamoudzou I, Mamoudzou II and Mamoudzou III.
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Maputo
Maputo, known as Lourenço Marques before independence, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its municipal building. Today it is a port city on the Indian Ocean, with its economy centered around the harbour. According to the 2007 census, the population is 1,766,184.Cotton, sugar, chromite, sisal, copra, and hardwood are the chief exports. The city manufactures cement, pottery, furniture, shoes, and rubber. The city is surrounded by Maputo Province, but is administered as its own province.
It is estimated that 80% of the city's population live in slums without running water or electricity, but the city has little money to invest in infrastructure. Inequality in Maputo has grown considerably as it experienced economic growth rates as high as 9% annually.
On the northern bank of Espírito Santo Estuary of Delagoa Bay, an inlet of the Indian Ocean, Lourenço Marques was named after the Portuguese navigator, who with a companion (António Caldeira) was sent in 1544 by the governor of Mozambique on a voyage of exploration. They explored the lower courses of the rivers emptying their waters into Delagoa Bay, notably the Espírito Santo. The various forts and trading stations which the Portuguese established, abandoned and reoccupied on the north bank of the river were all called Lourenço Marques. The existing town dates from about 1850, the previous settlement having been entirely destroyed by the natives. The town developed around a Portuguese fortress completed in 1787.
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Maseru
Maseru is the capital of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, bordering South Africa, Maseru is Lesotho's only sizable city, with a population of approximately 227,880 (2006). The city was established as a police camp and assigned as the capital after the country became a British protectorate in 1869. When the country achieved independence in 1966, Maseru retained its status as capital. The name of the city is a Sesotho word meaning "place of the red sandstone".
Maseru was founded by the British as a small police camp in 1869, following the conclusion of the Free State-Basotho Wars when Basutoland became a British protectorate. Maseru is located at the edge of the "conquered territories" relinquished to the Orange Free State (now the Free State province of South Africa) as part of the peace terms. It was located 24 kilometres (15 mi) west of Basotho King Moshoeshoe I's stronghold of Thaba Bosiu, the previous de facto capital. A bustling market town soon grew around the area.
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Mbabane
Mbabane (Swati: ÉMbábáne), with an estimated population of 95,000 (2007), is the capital and second largest city in Swaziland after Manzini. It is located on the Mbabane River and its tributary the Polinjane River in the Mdimba Mountains. It is located in the district of Hhohho, of which it is also the capital. The average elevation of the city is 1243 meters. The population (estimated) in 1987 was 30,000. It lies on the MR3 road.
The town grew after the nation's administrative centre moved from Bremersdorp (now called Manzini) in 1902. It derives its name from a Chief, Mbabane Kunene, who lived in the area when British settlers arrived.
Mbabane is located in the district of Hhohho, of which it is also the capital, and lies on the Mbabane River and its tributary the Polinjane River in the Mdimba Mountains. The average elevation of the city is 1243 meters. Neighborhoods and suburbs include Mbangweni, Sidwashini, Kent Rock, Sandla, Westridge Park, Malunge, New Checkers, Msunduza and Vukutentele.
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Mogadishu
Mogadishu ( /ˌmɒɡəˈdɪʃuː/; Somali: Muqdisho; Arabic: مقديشو Maqadīshū; Italian: Mogadiscio, literally "The Seat of the Shah"), popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries.
Tradition and old records assert that southern Somalia, including the Mogadishu area, was historically inhabited by hunter-gatherers of Bushman physical stock. These were later joined by Cushitic agro-pastoralists, who would go on to establish local aristocracies. Starting in the late 9th or 10th centuries, Arab and Persian traders also began to settle in the region.
During its medieval Golden Age, Mogadishu was ruled by the Somali-Arab Muzaffar dynasty, a vassal of the Ajuuraan State. It subsequently fell under the control of an assortment of local Sultanates and polities, most notably the Gobroon Dynasty. The city later became the capital of Italian Somaliland in the colonial period.
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Monrovia
Monrovia is the capital city of the West African nation of Liberia. Located on the Atlantic Coast at Cape Mesurado, it lies geographically within Montserrado County, but is administered separately. The city is governed as a metropolitan city called Greater Monrovia District, which had a population of 970,824 as of the 2008 census, containing 29% of the total population of Liberia and is the country's most populous city. Monrovia is the cultural, political and financial hub for the entire country. The body that administers the government of Greater Monrovia District is the Monrovia City Corporation.
Founded in 1822, Monrovia is named in honor of U.S. President James Monroe, a prominent supporter of the colonization of Liberia. Along with Washington, D.C., it is one of two national capitals to be named after a U.S. President. Monrovia was founded thirty years after Freetown, Sierra Leone, the first permanent Black American settlement in Africa. The city's economy is dominated by its harbor, and government offices. Monrovia's harbor was significantly expanded by U.S. forces during the Second World War and the main exports include latex and iron ore. Materials are also manufactured on-site, such as cement, refined petroleum, food products, bricks and tiles, furniture and chemicals. Located near the confluence of the Mesurado and Saint Paul rivers, the harbor also has facilities for storing and repairing vessels.
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Nairobi
Nairobi ( /naɪˈroʊbi/) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nairobi, which translates to "cold water," the Maasai name of the Nairobi river, which in turn lent its name to the city. However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is surrounded by several expanding villa suburbs. Residents of Nairobi are known as Nairobians.
Founded by the British in 1899 as a simple rail depot on the railway linking Mombasa to Uganda, the town quickly grew to become the capital of British East Africa in 1907 and eventually the capital of a free Kenyan republic in 1963. During Kenya's colonial period, the city became a centre for the colony's coffee, tea and sisal industry. Nairobi is also the capital of the Nairobi Province and of the Nairobi District. The city lies on the Nairobi River, in the south of the nation, and has an elevation of 1795 m above sea-level.
Nairobi is the most populous city in East Africa, with a current estimated population of about 3 million. According to the 2009 Census, in the administrative area of Nairobi, 3,138,295 inhabitants lived within 696 km2 (269 sq mi). Nairobi is currently the 12th largest city in Africa, including the population of its suburbs.
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Nelspruit
Nelspruit is a city situated in northeastern South Africa. It is the capital of the Mpumalanga province (formerly Eastern Transvaal). Located on the Crocodile River, Nelspruit lies about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of the Mozambique border and 330 kilometres (210 mi) east of Johannesburg. The towns of Nelspruit are Kanyamazane and Pienaar which are tens of kilometres east of Nelspruit. There are many orange farms in the area around Nelspruit. It is a key manufacturing and agricultural hub for northeastern South Africa. Major industries include the canning of citrus fruit, paper production, furniture manufacture and timbermills. Fertile soils and subtropical climate provide perfect conditions for the growing of citrus and tropical fruits, mainly mango, banana, avocado and Macadamia nuts.
Nelspruit was founded in 1905 by three brothers of the Nel family who grazed their cattle around the site of Nelspruit during the winter months. During the Boer War, Nelspruit served briefly as the seat of government for the South African Republic (not to be confused with the Republic of South Africa), an independent Boer republic. The leadership of the South African republic included Paul Kruger. Nelspruit and the surrounding area also contain San art.
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Niamey
Niamey (French pronunciation: [njaˈmɛ]) is the capital and largest city of the West African country of Niger. Niamey lies on the Niger River, primarily situated on the east bank. It is an administrative, cultural and economic centre. Niamey's population, which was estimated at 774,235 in 2006, is now projected to be much higher.
The city is located in a pearl millet growing region, while manufacturing industries include bricks, ceramic goods, cement and weaving.
Niamey was probably founded in the eighteenth century, but was of little importance to most of the country until the French developed a colonial post in the 1890s. This rapidly grew into an important center. In 1926 it became the capital of Niger, and the population gradually increased, from about 3,000 in 1930 to around 30,000 in 1960. The period from 1970 to 1988 was one in which the economy of Niger boomed, driven by revenue from the uranium mines at Arlit. In this period, the population of Niamey grew from 108,000 to 398,365 inhabitants. The city expanded from 1,367 hectares (3,380 acres) in 1970 to 4,400 hectares (11,000 acres) by 1977, in the process annexing peripheral villages such as Lazaret.
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Norwich
Norwich (
i/ˈnɒrɪdʒ/ NORR-ij, (also /ˈnɒrɪtʃ/ NORR-ich) is a city on the River Wensum in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom. Until the Industrial Revolution, Norwich was the capital of England's most populous county and vied with Bristol as England's second city.
The urban area of Norwich has a population of 194,839. This area extends beyond the city boundary, with extensive suburban areas on the western, northern and eastern sides, including Costessey, Hellesdon, Bowthorpe, Old Catton, Sprowston and Thorpe St Andrew. The parliamentary seats cross over into adjacent local government districts. 135,800 (2008 est.) people live in the City of Norwich and the population of the Norwich Travel to Work Area (i.e. the area of Norwich in which most people both live and work) is 367,035 (the 1991 figure was 351,340)[citation needed]. Norwich is the fourth most densely populated local government district within the East of England with 3,480 people per square kilometre (8,993 per square mile).
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Nouakchott
Nouakchott (Arabic: نواكشوط or انواكشوط (believed translation from Berber "The place of the winds", Nawākšūṭ) is the capital and by far the largest city of Mauritania. It is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. The city is the administrative and economic centre of Mauritania.
A tiny fishing town until 1958, Nouakchott was little mentioned during pre-colonial and colonial history. It is possible that the Berber Muslim Almoravids were originally from the area. Despite its name, based on a Berber expression meaning "place of the winds", the city was selected as the capital city for its moderate climate and central location within the country. It did, however, sit on one of the most valuable trade routes to West Africa.
Mauritania was part of the larger French colony of French West Africa, and as such had no capital during the colonial period: Saint-Louis, in Senegal, held that position. In 1957, this small port town was chosen to be the capital of the new country, and an ambitious building program was begun to increase its population to 15,000, starting a year later. In 1958, Mauritania was formed as an autonomous republic in the French Community, and in 1960 it became an independent country, with Nouakchott as its capital.
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Orange Free State
The Orange Free State (Dutch: Oranje-Vrijstaat Afrikaans: Oranje-Vrystaat) was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province. Extending between the Orange and Vaal rivers, its borders were determined by the United Kingdom in 1848 when the region was proclaimed as the Orange River Sovereignty, with a seat of a British Resident in Bloemfontein.
In the northern part of the territory a Voortrekker Republic was established at Winburg in 1837. This state merged with the Republic of Potchefstroom which later formed part of the South African Republic (Transvaal).
Following the granting of independence to the Transvaal Republic, the British recognized the independence of the Orange River Sovereignty on 17 February 1854 and the country officially became independent as the Orange Free State on 23 February 1854, with the signing of the Orange River Convention. The United States and the Orange Free State mutually recognized each other in 1871. The new republic incorporated both the Orange River Sovereignty and the traditions of the Winburg-Potchefstroom Republic.
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Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou ( /ˌwɑːɡəˈduːɡuː/; Mossi: [ˈwaɡᵊdᵊɡᵊ]) is the capital of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic center of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 1,475,223 (as of 2006). The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais. The spelling of the name Ouagadougou is derived from the French orthography common in former French African colonies. If English orthography were used (as in Ghana or Nigeria), the spelling would be Wagadugu.
Ouagadougou's primary industries are food processing and textiles. It is served by an international airport, rail links to Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire and to Kaya in the north of Burkina, and a highway to Niamey, Niger. Ouagadougou was the site of Ouagadougou grand market, one of the largest markets in West Africa, which burned in 2003 and remains closed. Other attractions include the National Museum of Burkina Faso, the Moro-Naba Palace (site of the Moro-Naba Ceremony), the National Museum of Music, and several craft markets.
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Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality. Pietermaritzburg is popularly called Maritzburg in English and Zulu alike, and often informally abbreviated to PMB. It is a regionally important industrial hub, producing aluminium, timber and dairy products. It is home to many schools and tertiary education institutions, including a campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It had a population of 228,549 in 1991; the estimated current population is around 500,000 (including neighbouring townships) and has one of the largest populations of Indian South Africans in South Africa.
The city was originally founded by the Voortrekkers, following the defeat of Dingane at the Battle of Blood River, and was the capital of the short-lived Boer republic, Natalia. Britain took over Pietermaritzburg in 1843 and it became the seat of the Natal Colony's administration with the first lieutenant-governor, Martin West, making it his home. Fort Napier, named after the governor of the Cape Colony, Sir George Thomas Napier, was built to house a garrison. In 1893 Natal received responsibility for their own government and an assembly building was built along with the city hall. In 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed, Natal became a province of the union, and Pietermaritzburg remained the capital.
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Polokwane
Polokwane, meaning "Place of Safety", is a city in the Polokwane Local Municipality and the capital of the Limpopo province, South Africa. It is also often referred to by its former name,Pietersburg. Polokwane is a major urban centre, the biggest and most important north of Gauteng. Polokwane was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In the 1840s, Voortrekkers under the leadership of Andries Potgieter established Zoutpansbergdorp, a town 100 km to the north west. This settlement had to be abandoned because of clashes with the local tribes. They founded a new town in 1886 and named it Pietersburg in honour of Voortrekker leader Petrus Jacobus Joubert. The British built a concentration camp at Pietersburg during the Boer War to house almost 4,000 Boer women and children. The town officially became a city on April 23, 1992; on February 25, 2005, the government declared the official name of the city as Polokwane, a name that was generally in use by the speakers of Northern Sotho. The city was the site of the ANC national conference which saw Jacob Zuma take over as head of the party.
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Port Louis
Port Louis (French pronunciation: [pɔʁlwi]) is the capital of Mauritius. It is the largest city of the country and main port, which borders the Indian Ocean. It is located in the Port Louis District. The population of the administrative district was estimated at 128,483, and the urban area at 148,416 in December 2010[update].
Port Louis was already in use as a harbor in 1638. In 1735, under French government, it became the administrative center of Mauritius and a major reprovisioning halt for French ships travelling around the Cape of Good Hope. The Port is named in honour of King Louis XV. The first Governor was Count Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais.
The population of the city is now largely made up of the descendants of laborers who were hired for labour from India in the 19th century. Slaves were previously introduced by the British and French who colonized the island in the 18th century. After the abolition of slavery in 1835, many Indian and Chinese workers were brought to work the land, and cultivate sugar cane, at that time used to produce rum. The Immigration Depot in Port Louis is a World Heritage Site commemorating this great migration.
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Praia
Praia (pronounced Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpɾajɐ], meaning "beach", in both Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole), is the capital and largest city of Cape Verde, an island nation in the Atlantic Ocean west of Senegal. It lies on the southern coast of Santiago island in the Sotavento Islands group. It is the island's ferry port and is home to one of the nation’s four international airports. The city centre is known as Plateau due to its location on a small plateau.
Praia is Cape Verde's largest city, a commercial centre, and a port that ships coffee, sugar cane, and tropical fruits. Praia also has a fishing industry and there are resort beaches nearby. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name.
The town of Praia de Santa Maria appeared in 1615 when it took the place of the previous settlement on the plateau, which was originally favored because the nearby port (Santa Maria beach) offered good conditions for ships. Initially used as a clandestine harbor (in order to avoid customs fees at the then capital Ribeira Grande), the settlement gradually acquired the characteristics of a town after much of the population from Ribeira Grande fled there during its decline in the midst of frequent pirate attacks. The official transfer of capital status from Ribeira Grande to Praia took place in 1770.
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Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive (administrative) and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital. Pretoria is contained within the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality as one of several constituent former administrations (among which also Centurion and Soshanguve). Pretoria itself is sometimes referred to as "Tshwane" due to a long-running and controversial proposed change of name, which has yet to decided as of 2012.
The city's original name was Pretoria Philadelphia ("Pretoria of brotherly love"). It gave its name to the Pax Praetoriana, referring to the country's relative stability.
Pretoria in South Africa is popularly known as The Jacaranda City due to the thousands of Jacaranda trees planted in its streets, parks and gardens.
The Southern Transvaal Ndebele occupied the river valley, which was to become the location of the city of Pretoria, by around 1600.
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Rabat
Rabat (Arabic الرباط; Amazigh ⵕⴱⴰⵟ, transliterated ar-Rabāṭ or ar-Ribāṭ or Rbat, literally "Fortified Place"; French Ville de Rabat; Spanish Ciudad de Rabat), is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000 (2010). It is also the capital of the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer region.
The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. On the facing shore of the river lies Salé, the city's main commuter town. Together with Temara the cities account for a combined metropolitan population of 1.8 million. Silting problems have diminished the Rabat's role as a port; however, Rabat and Salé still maintain important textile, food processing and construction industries. In addition, tourism and the presence of all foreign embassies in Morocco serve to make Rabat one of the most important cities in the country. Controversy surrounds sweatshop labour by major multinational corporations in the area (see Salé).
Rabat is accessible by train through the ONCF system and by plane through the nearby Rabat-Salé Airport.
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South Africa
Coordinates: 30°S 25°E / 30°S 25°E / -30; 25
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of Africa. It is divided into nine provinces and has 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline. To the north of the country lie the neighbouring territories of Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe; to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland; while Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South African territory.
South Africa is multi-ethnic and has diverse cultures and languages. Eleven official languages are recognised in the constitution. Two of these languages are of European origin: South African English and Afrikaans, a language which originated mainly from Dutch that is spoken by the majority of white and Coloured South Africans. Though English is commonly used in public and commercial life, it is only the fifth most-spoken home language. All ethnic and language groups have political representation in the country's constitutional democracy comprising a parliamentary republic; unlike most parliamentary republics, the positions of head of state and head of government are merged in a parliament-dependent President.
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São Tomé
São Tomé (population 56,166 in 2005) is the capital city of São Tomé and Príncipe and is by far that nation's largest town. Its name is Portuguese for "Saint Thomas".
São Tomé was founded by Portugal in 1485. The Portuguese came to São Tomé in search of land to grow sugar. The island was uninhabited before the arrival of the Portuguese sometime around 1470. São Tomé was right on the equator and wet enough to grow sugar in wild abundance. Its proximity to the African Kingdom of Kongo provided an eventual source of slave laborers to work the sugar plantations. São Tomé is centred on a sixteenth century cathedral. Another early building is Fort São Sebastião, built in 1575 and now the São Tomé National Museum. In 1599, the city as well as the islands were taken by the Dutch for two days and again in 1641 for a year. It was the capital of the Portugues colony of São Tomé and Príncipe and, since São Tomé and Príncipe's independence in 1975, capital of the sovereign nation.
São Tomé is located at 0°20′10″N 6°40′53″E / 0.33611°N 6.68139°E / 0.33611; 6.68139Coordinates: 0°20′10″N 6°40′53″E / 0.33611°N 6.68139°E / 0.33611; 6.68139. [1]
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Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Tripoli-of-the-West (Arabic: طرابلس الغرب Ṭarābulus al-Gharb), to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean (Arabic: عروسة البحر ʼarūsat el-baḥr; lit: "bride of the sea"), describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli (English pronunciation: /ˈtrɪpɵli/) is a Greek name that means "Three Cities", introduced in Western European languages through the Italian Tripoli. In Arabic: طرابلس it is called Ṭarābulus ( pronunciation (help·info), Libyan Arabic: Ṭrābləs pronunciation (help·info), Berber: Ṭrables, from Ancient Greek: Τρίπολις Trípolis). As of 2011, the Tripoli metropolitan area (district area) had a population of 2.2 million. The city is located in the northwest part of the country on the edge of the desert, on a point of rocky land projecting into the Mediterranean and forming a bay.
The city includes the Port of Tripoli and the country's largest commercial and manufacturing centre. It is also the site of the University of Tripoli. The vast Bab al-Azizia barracks, which includes the former family compound of Muammar Gaddafi, is also located in the city; Gaddafi largely ruled the country from his residence in this barracks.
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Tunis
Tunis (Arabic: تونس Tūnis) is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants.
Situated on a large Mediterranean Sea gulf (the Gulf of Tunis), behind the Lake of Tunis and the port of La Goulette (Halq al Wadi), the city extends along the coastal plain and the hills that surround it. At the centre of more modern development (from the colonial era and later) lies the old medina. Beyond this district lie the suburbs of Carthage, La Marsa, and Sidi Bou Said.
The medina is found at the centre of the city: a dense agglomeration of alleys and covered passages, full of intense scents and colours, boisterous and active trade, and a surfeit of goods on offer ranging from leather to plastic, tin to the finest filigree, tourist souvenirs to the works of tiny crafts shops.
Just through the Sea Gate (also known as the Bab el Bahr and the Porte de France) begins the modern city, or Ville Nouvelle, transversed by the grand Avenue Habib Bourguiba (often referred to by popular press and travel guides as "the Tunisian Champs-Élysées"), where the colonial-era buildings provide a clear contrast to smaller, older structures. As the capital city of the country, Tunis is the focus of Tunisian political and administrative life; it is also the centre of the country's commercial activity. The expansion of the Tunisian economy in recent decades is reflected in the booming development of the outer city where one can see clearly the social challenges brought about by rapid modernization in Tunisia.
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Windhoek
Windhoek ( /ˈvɪnt.hʊk/ VINT-huuk; German: Windhuk (help·info)) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) above sea level. The population of Windhoek in 2011 was 322,500 and grows continually due to an influx from all over Namibia.
The town developed at the site of a permanent spring known to the indigenous pastoral communities. It developed rapidly after Jonker Afrikaner, Captain of the Orlam settled here in 1840 and built a stone church for his community. However, in the decades thereafter multiple wars and hostilities led to the neglect and destruction of the new settlement such that Windhoek was founded a second time in 1890 by Imperial German army Major Curt von François.
Windhoek is the social, economic, and cultural centre of the country. Nearly every Namibian national enterprise, governmental body, educational and cultural institution is headquartered here.
The City of Windhoek is traditionally known by two names: ǀAiǁGams, (Khoekhoe: hot springs) and Otjomuise (Otjiherero: place of steam). Both traditional names reference the hot springs near today's city centre.
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Yamoussoukro
The District of Yamoussoukro /ˌjɑːməˈsuːkroʊ/ is the official political capital and administrative capital city of Côte d'Ivoire, while the economic capital of the country is Abidjan. As of 2010, it was estimated to have 242,744 inhabitants. Located 240 kilometres (150 mi) north-west of Abidjan, the administrative center on the coast, upon rolling hills and plains, the municipality covers 3,500 square kilometres (1,400 sq mi) and is coterminous with the department of the same name. The department and municipality are split into four sub-prefectures: Attiégouakro, Didiévi, Tié-diékro and the Commune of Yamoussoukro. In total, the district contains 169 settlements.
In 1998, the city had about 155,803 inhabitants. It is the fourth most populous city in Côte d'Ivoire, after Abidjan, Bouaké, and Daloa.
The current governor of the district is N'Dri Koffi Apollinaire.
Yamoussoukro is pronounced "Yam-So-Kro" by Ivorians. It's possible to hear "Ya-Mu-So-Kro"; the second "U" is silent.[citation needed]
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Yaoundé
Yaoundé ( /ˌjɑːuːnˈdeɪ/ or /jaːˈʊndeɪ/, French pronunciation: [ja.un.de]) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of approximately 2.5 million, the second largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the center of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,500 ft) above sea level.
Yaoundé was founded in 1888 by German traders as a base for the ivory trade and as an agricultural research station. It was occupied by Belgian troops during World War I. After Germany's defeat, France became the colonial power in eastern Cameroon. Yaoundé consequently became the capital of French Cameroon, and continued as the capital of the Republic of Cameroon at independence.
Major industries in Yaoundé include tobacco, dairy products, breweries, clay, glass goods, and lumber. It is also a regional distribution center for coffee, cocoa, copra, sugar cane, and rubber.
The city centre houses government offices, some hotels, and the central market. The Bastos neighbourhood, with most homes owned by Cameroonians, is home to foreign embassies and the expatriate European community (drawn mainly from the diplomatic corps). The presidential palace and compound is in the Etoudi neighborhood.
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Afrikaner
Afrikaners (including the Boer subgroup ) are a Germanic ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from Dutch (including Flemish), French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.
Their ancestors were Dutch Calvinists, with smaller numbers of Frisians, English, Germans and French Huguenots, and with minor numbers of other European groups (such as Dutch Jews, Scandinavians, Portuguese, Greeks, Italians, Spaniards, Scots, Irish, Polish).
Most Afrikaner families have between 5% and 7% non-white ancestry, such as Khoi African, Indonesian and Indian, as the early Dutch settlement at the Cape allowed inter-racial marriage. During the Apartheid era, race classification was based on appearance and there were many borderline cases.
South Africans of British descent are considered a separate ethnic group from Afrikaners, and their first language is English.
The term Afrikaner as used in the 20th and 21st century context refers to all white Afrikaans-speaking people, i.e. those of the larger Cape Dutch origin and of the smaller Boer origin, who are descended from European settlers who first arrived in the Cape of Good Hope during the period of administration (1652 – 1795) by the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC).
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Allan Donald
Allan Anthony Donald (born 20 October 1966) is a former South African cricketer and one of their most successful pace bowlers.
In his prime, he was one of the best fast bowlers ever seen in Test cricket, reaching the top of the ICC Test rankings in 1998 and peaked with a top ICC ranking of 895 points the next year, the 25th best ranking ever. In ODIs, he reached 794 points in 1998, second place to his teammate Shaun Pollock, the 28th best ranking ever. In the early 1990s, he was arguably the only world-class bowler in the South African team, until the emergence of Pollock, with whom he made a healthy new-ball partnership from the 1996/1997 tour of India until his retirement in 2002.
He made his Test debut on 18 April 1992 in South Africa's first test since their return to world sport after the abolition of apartheid. South Africa lost to the West Indies in Barbados by 52 runs, but Donald took 2-67 and 4-77, including the prized wicket of Brian Lara.
Known as 'White Lightning', he is remembered as a fearsome fast bowler, scowling and aggressive, with a circular white area of zinc cream across his cheeks and nose. When he retired, he was South Africa's record wicket-taker with 330 Test wickets at an average of 22.25, and claimed 272 One Day International wickets at an average of 21.78. Both of these records have now been overtaken by Shaun Pollock.
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Arthur Tolkien
The Tolkien family is an English family whose best known member is J. R. R. Tolkien, Oxford academic and author of the fantasy books The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien CBE (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English philologist, writer and professor of Oxford University.
He was a devout Roman Catholic.
Much of Tolkien's published fiction is a connected body of tales, fictional histories, invented languages, and literary essays about an imagined world called Arda, and Middle-earth (derived from the Old English word middangeard, the lands inhabitable by humans) in particular, loosely identified as an "alternative" remote past of our own world. Tolkien applied the word legendarium to the totality of these writings. Most of the "legendarium" was edited and posthumously published by his son Christopher.
While Tolkien was preceded by other fantasy authors, his enduringly popular and successful works have had a remarkable influence on the genre. Thus he has been popularly identified as the "father of modern fantasy literature", or to be precise, high fantasy.L. Sprague de Camp and others consider him the father of modern fantasy together with sword and sorcery author Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan the Barbarian).
wn.com/Arthur_Tolkien -
At Boshoff
At Boshoff is a well-known South African religious leader. He is an executive member of the International Federation of Christian Churches IFCC, and the pastor of the second largest and fastest growing church in South Africa.
He was born in Bloemfontein South Africa on 30 December 1964 and was schooled at Grey College, Bloemfontein. At the age of seventeen Boshoff experienced a drastic conversion; as he left his old life of brawling, drugs and alcohol; and became committed to a radical Christian way of life. After school he was enlisted in the South African Defense Force; where he completed a two year service 1982-1984. At the age of twenty one he started with a full-time career in Christian ministry.
He started his ministry as an associate pastor in a small Charismatic church in Bloemfontein. In 1988 he set out to a small town called Ladybrand in the eastern Free State province of South Africa, where he started his first church. For the size of this town the church grew phenomenally to over 300 committed members within five years. He also built a beautiful church building cash, to house his congregation. In 1993, due to the onset of few events, he was led to broaden the churches horizons and return to Bloemfontein to start the prominent: Christian Revival Church (CRC) in Bloemfontein. At the end of 1993 the first service of CRC was held in the Red Cross Hall in Bloemfontein with about 180 people. Within 15 years CRC has grown to beyond 30 000 members and is seeing what is known as the Bloemfontein Revival.
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Christiaan de Wet
Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (7 October 1854 – 3 February 1922) was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician.
He was born on the Leeuwkop farm, in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State. He later resided at Dewetsdorp, named after his father, Jacobus Ignatius de Wet.
De Wet is mentioned in Kipling's poem Ubique.
De Wet served in the first Anglo-Boer War of 1880-81 as a Field Cornet, taking part in the Battle of Majuba Mountain, in which the Boers achieved a victory over the British forces under Major General Sir George Pomeroy Colley. This eventually led to the end of the war and the reinstatement of the independence of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, more commonly known as the Transvaal Republic.
In the years between the First and Second Boer Wars, from 1881 to 1896, he lived on his farm, becoming a member of the Volksraad in 1897.
He took part in the early battles of the Boer War of 1899 in Natal as a commandant, later serving as a general under Piet Cronjé in the west. His first successful action was the surprise attack on Sanna's Post near Bloemfontein, which was followed a little later by the victory of Reddersburg. He came to be regarded as the most formidable leader of the Boers in their guerrilla warfare. Sometimes severely handled by the British, sometimes escaping only by the narrowest of margins from the columns which attempted to surround him and falling upon and annihilating isolated British posts, De Wet continued his successful career to the end of the war, striking heavily where he could and evading every attempt to bring him to bay. His brother Piet De Wet, another successful Boer general, was captured by the British in July 1901 and subsequently served against Christiaan as a member of the National Scouts (Boers serving with the British forces).
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Coenie de Villiers
Coenie de Villiers (Coenraad Grabe de Villiers), born 11 October 1956, is a South African singer/songwriter, piano player, pop artist who sings in his mother tongue, Afrikaans. If any comparison was required, Coenie's music is best compared to the pop/rock of Herbert Groenemeyer (German language) or Billy Joel (USA English language).
Born in Bloemfontein, South Africa25, Coenie was educated at University of the Free State majoring in media studies where he later on lectured in the Communications faculty. He is Manager of a Marketing Company in Gauteng and has also spent time as a radio DJ, TV presenter and advertising executive. Currently he is the presenter for the TV show "Kwêla" on DStv's KykNET channel. He has always viewed his musical career as his second vocation. He is also a classically trained pianist. During the late 1980s, Coenie spent a few years in self imposed exile in Cyprus. Coenie has also performed in New Zealand, Canada, England, Holland and Belgium6
Coenie signed with Mountain Records1 in 1983, and recorded his debut album, Skoppensboer, working with producer, Patrick Lee-Thorp and engineer, Kevin Shirley, in the same year. He subsequently recorded 4 albums for the label many of which won industry awards. In addition he contributed to label compilations of his work. Since leaving Mountain Records he has recorded a number of one off projects for different labels.
wn.com/Coenie_de_Villiers -
Coloured
In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured (also known as Bruinmense, Kleurlinge or Bruin Afrikaners in Afrikaans) refers to an heterogeneous ethnic group who possess ancestry from Europe, various Khoisan and Bantu tribes of Southern Africa, West Africa, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaya, India, Mozambique, Mauritius, and Saint Helena.
Besides the extensive combining of these diverse heritages in the Western Cape — in which a distinctive 'Cape Coloured' and affiliated Cape Malay culture developed — in other parts of Southern Africa, their development has usually been the result of the meeting of two distinct groups. Genetic studies suggest the group has the highest levels of mixed ancestry in the world, second only to the United States of America. However, the maternal (female) contribution to the Coloured population, measured by mitochondrial DNA studies, was found to come mostly from the Khoisan population.
In KwaZulu-Natal, most Coloureds come from British and Zulu heritage, while Zimbabwean Coloureds come from Shona or Ndebele mixing with British and Afrikaner settlers. Griqua, on the other hand, are descendants of Khoisan and Afrikaner trekboers. Despite these major differences, the fact that they draw parentage from more than one 'naturalised' racial group means that they are 'coloured' in the southern African context. Such people did not necessarily self-identify this way; some preferred to call themselves 'black' or 'Khoisan' or just 'South African'. The history of racial segregation and labelling in South Africa and neighbouring countries has meant that the governments placed all such 'mixed race' people in a certain relationship together. The imperial and apartheid governments categorized them as Coloureds. In addition, other ethnic groups also traditionally viewed them as a separate group.
wn.com/Coloured -
Dale Stewart
Dale William Stewart (born November 30, 1979) is a South African musician, best known as the bass guitarist of the post-grunge band Seether.
wn.com/Dale_Stewart -
Dan Pienaar
Major General Daniel Hermanus ("Dan") Pienaar CB, DSO & Bar was a South African World War II military commander.
Pienaar joined the artillery branch of the Natal Police (NP) in 1911, and transferred to the Union Defence Forces (UDF) when they took over the NP in 1913. In World War I, he served as an artilleryman with the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force in German East Africa and Palestine.
Between the two world wars, Pienaar held various staff and command posts.
In 1940-1941, during the East African Campaign, Pienaar commanded the 1st South African Infantry Brigade. He fought in the battles of El Wak, The Juba, Combolcia, and Amba Alagi).
In 1941-1942, during the North Africa Campaign, Pienaar fought in the battles of Sidi Rezegh and Gazala). On 10 March 1942, he was promoted to GOC 1st South African Infantry Division, which he led in the battle of Gazala, the retreat to Egypt, the defence of El Alamein, and the final battle of El Alamein. He was twice awarded the DSO and mentioned in dispatches twice for his service in North Africa.
wn.com/Dan_Pienaar -
Gerrit Badenhorst
Gerrit Badenhorst (born October 10, 1962) is a world champion powerlifter and professional strongman competitor from South Africa. Gerrit was 8 times South Africa's Strongest Man. and is a 7 time World's Strongest Man finalist, coming second in 1995.
Gerrit was born on 10 October 1962 in De Aar, Orange Free State, South Africa. As a sportsman he played rugby union, but excelled in the sports of weightlifting and powerlifting.
Before Gerrit was able to compete for South Africa internationally on the strongman stage, he did represent his country as a powelifter. Between 1988 and 1990, Gerrit won three world titles in the World Powerlifting Congress organization. In so doing he broke world records in the squat at 450 kilograms (990 lb), and the deadlift at 402 kg (886 lb). He also broke the world record in the total (squat, deadlift and bench press) of 1102.5 kg (2431 lb).
His world titles and world records led to him being acclaimed the greatest ever powerlifter at the time, with his totals having beaten the likes of Lars Noren, Don Reinhoudt and Bill Kazmaier. Having reached the pinnacle of the sport of powerlifting, a lack of financial incentive led him to strongman competitions.
wn.com/Gerrit_Badenhorst -
Griqua people
The Griqua (Afrikaans Griekwa, sometimes incorrectly called Korana) are a subgroup of South Africa's heterogeneous and multiracial Coloured people. However, they have a unique origin in the early history of the Cape Colony. Similar to the other Afrikaans-speaking group at the time, the Trekboers, they originally populated the frontiers of the infant Cape Colony, living as semi-nomadic commandos of mounted gunmen. Also like the Boers, they migrated inland from the Cape, and established several states in what is now modern South Africa and Namibia.
Under Apartheid they were classified as "Coloured" and have since mostly integrated with other mixed populations in South Africa.
The Griqua are a racially and culturally mixed people who originated in the intermarriages or sexual relations between European colonists in the Cape and the Khoikhoi already living there in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The different mixed-race groups which developed in the early Cape Colony had a variety of different names for themselves. "Bastaards", "Basters", "Korana", "Oorlam" and "Griqua" were just a few of them, with each group often having a different preference. Like the Afrikaners, these groups frequently migrated inland to escape colonial rule.
wn.com/Griqua_people -
Hansie Cronje
Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje (25 September 1969 – 1 June 2002) was a South African cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team in the 1990s. He was voted the 11th greatest South African in 2004 despite having been banned for life from professional cricket for his role in a match-fixing scandal.
Born in Bloemfontein, Cronje matriculated in 1987 from the prestigious Grey College school in Bloemfontein. An excellent all round sportsman, he represented the then Orange Free State Province in cricket and rugby at schools level. Cronje earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of the Free State.
His father Ewie had played for Orange Free State in the 1960s, and Hansie's older brother Frans had also played first-class cricket.
Cronje made his first-class debut for Orange Free State against Transvaal at Johannesburg in January 1988 at the age of 18. In the following season, he was a regular appearing in all eight Currie Cup matches plus being part of the Benson and Hedges Series winning team, scoring 73 as an opener in the final. In 1989-90, despite playing all the Currie Cup matches, he failed to make a century, and averaged only 19.76; however, in one-day games he averaged 60.12. During that season he scored his maiden century for South African Universities against Mike Gatting's rebels.
wn.com/Hansie_Cronje -
Henry Douglas Warden
Henry Douglas Warden was the British Resident of the Orange River Sovereignty from 1848-1852, bought the farm Bloemfontein from Johannes Nicolaas Brits Bloemfontein.
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Juan Smith
Juan Hugo Smith (born 30 July 1981 in Bloemfontein, South Africa) is a South African rugby union footballer who represents South Africa in international test rugby, the Vodacom Cheetahs in the Super Rugby competition, and the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup. Smith usually plays as a blindside flanker, although he has also played number eight. He is the current captain of the Vodacom Cheetahs.
Smith made his international debut for South Africa on 7 June 2003 as a reserve in the 29-25 victory over Scotland at Kings Park Stadium in Durban. He was also named in the Springboks' team for the second Scottish Test the following week. He then played at number 8 during the 2003 Tri Nations Series against Australia and the All Blacks.
Smith was included in the Springboks squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. He played in four matches at the World Cup and scored a try in the match against Manu Samoa. Although he only played the one Test for South Africa during 2004 - against Wales at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in November, he was capped 10 times for the Springboks the following season.
wn.com/Juan_Smith -
KhoiKhoi
The Khoikhoi ("people people" or "real people") or Khoi, in standardised Khoekhoe/Nama orthography spelled Khoekhoe, are a historical division of the Khoisan ethnic group, the native people of southwestern Africa, closely related to the Bushmen (or San, as the Khoikhoi called them). They had lived in southern Africa since the 5th century AD. When European immigrants colonized the area in 1652, the Khoikhoi were practising extensive pastoral agriculture in the Cape region, with large herds of Nguni cattle. The European immigrants labeled them Hottentots, in imitation of the sound of the Khoekhoe language, but this term is today considered derogatory by some.
Archaeological evidence shows that the Khoikhoi entered South Africa from Botswana through two distinct routes – traveling west, skirting the Kalahari to the west coast, then down to the Cape, and travelling south-east out into the Highveld and then southwards to the south coast. Most of the Khoikhoi have largely disappeared as a group, except for the largest group, the Namas.
wn.com/KhoiKhoi -
Leon Schuster
Leon Ernest "Schuks" Schuster (born May 21, 1951) is a South African filmmaker, comedian, actor, presenter and singer.
Schuster was drawn to the filmmaking process at an early age. As children he and his brother would play practical jokes on his family and film these with an old home movie camera.
Schuster studied for a BA degree at the University of the Orange Free State and spent two years teaching at a high school in Bloemfontein.
Schuster began working for the South African Broadcasting Corporation in 1975. During his time at the SABC, Leon created the Afrikaans radio series Vrypostige Mikrofoon with Fanus Rautenbach– where he would disguise his voice and take the mickey out of unsuspecting victims.
In 1982, Leon was approached by Decibel Records to compile a series of sports songs and his first record, Leon Schuster sold 100,000 units. His second album Broekskeur sold in excess of 40,000 units and this was followed by Briekdans and Leon Schuster – 20 Treffers which sold in excess of 270,000 copies.
wn.com/Leon_Schuster -
Louis Marchesi
Eminio William Louis Marchesi (19 January 1898 – 10 December 1968) founded the Round Table, an international fellowship and community charitable organisation for young businessmen.
His mother was Irish and his father was Swiss. Marchesi was a young member of the Rotary Club in Norwich when he conceived of a club which could support younger businessmen. The first Round Table was formed at Suckling House in that community on 14 March 1927 with Marchesi as Secretary and other Rotarians among its officers.
The following phrases are attributed to him:
Marchesi died at his residence in Norwich on 10 January 1968.
wn.com/Louis_Marchesi -
Orange River Colony
The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after this nation first occupied (1900) and then annexed (1902) the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War. The colony ceased to exist in 1910, when it was absorbed into the Union of South Africa as Orange Free State Province.
During the Second Boer War the British forces entered the territory of the Orange Free State and occupied the capital Bloemfontein on 13 March 1900. Five months later, on 6 October 1900 the British government declared an official annexation of the full territory of the Orange Free State, despite the fact that the British had not yet occupied the full territory of the state, nor defeated the Free State forces.
The Orange Free State government had moved to Kroonstad during the first months of the war and would subsequently convene in the field until the end of the war. From the perspective of the Orange Free State, independence was only lost with the ratification of the Treaty of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902.
wn.com/Orange_River_Colony -
Os du Randt
Jacobus Petrus du Randt, better known as Os du Randt (born 8 September 1972 in Elliot, South Africa), is a former South African rugby union loosehead prop who retired as the most-capped forward in the history of the Springboks (a record since surpassed by current Springboks John Smit and Victor Matfield). For most of his career, he played in the domestic Currie Cup for the Free State Cheetahs, though he spent one season with the Blue Bulls. In Super Rugby, he represented the Free State Cheetahs when South Africa sent its top Currie Cup teams to the competition instead of franchised sides, later represented the Cats franchise (now known as the Lions), spent one season with the Bulls before returning to the Cats, and still later played for the Vodacom Cheetahs. He ended his career as one of the last remaining international-level players from the amateur era of the sport and the last active member of the 1995 World Cup-winning squad. His final match was the 2007 Rugby World Cup final, which the Springboks won, with du Randt playing the entire 80 minutes.
wn.com/Os_du_Randt -
Ryk Neethling
Ryk Neethling (born 17 November 1977) is a South African swimmer. He won an Olympic gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He is the former joint owner of the 4×100 m freestyle relay world record and holds several South African records. He also is the first South African to compete four successive Olympic Games.
Born in Bloemfontein, he attended Grey College, where he excelled in swimming, earning a place in the South African swimming team for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he came fifth in the 1500 m freestyle.
Immediately following the Games he was enrolled at The University of Arizona in the United States of America, where he further cemented his swimming reputation, earning a numerous awards and accolades, including being the 9 times NCAA National Champion, Arizona Athlete of the Year and PAC-10 Athlete of the Year for four consecutive years, 1999 NCAA Swimmer of the Year, and the University of Arizona Athlete of the Century award.
He continued his international career at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, winning the silver medal in the 1500 m freestyle, but only managing fifth at the 1998 World Aquatics Championships. In 1999 he had a much better Pan Pacific Championships winning silver in the 1500 m freestyle, and bronze in the 400 m and 200 m freestyle. After achieving a disappointing 5th in the 1500 m freestyle event and 8th in the 400 m freestyle at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney he elected to discontinue competing in the 1500 m event, concentrating instead on the 50 m and 100 m freestyle events. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games he won a bronze medal in the 100 m freestyle and came 4th in the 50 m freestyle events. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games he won silver in the 100 m freestyle and was part of the S.A gold medal winning 4×100 m freestyle relay team.
wn.com/Ryk_Neethling -
Sacred Heart
The Sacred Heart (also known as Most Sacred Heart of Jesus) is one of the most famous religious devotions to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity.
This devotion is predominantly used in the Catholic Church and among some high-church Anglicans and Lutherans. The devotion especially emphasizes the unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity. The origin of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a French Roman Catholic nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a mystical experience. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Sacred Heart has been closely associated with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ. In his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, Pope Pius XI stated: "the spirit of expiation or reparation has always had the first and foremost place in the worship given to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus". The Golden Arrow Prayer directly refers to the Sacred Heart.
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Second Boer War
The Second Boer War (Dutch: Tweede Boerenoorlog, Afrikaans: Tweede Vryheidsoorlog or Tweede Boereoorlog) was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic) and the Orange Free State. It ended with a British victory and the annexation of both republics by the British Empire; both would eventually be incorporated into the Union of South Africa, a dominion of the British Empire, in 1910. The conflict is commonly referred to as The Boer War but is also known as the South African War outside South Africa, the Anglo-Boer War among most South Africans, and in Afrikaans as the Anglo-Boereoorlog or Tweede Vryheidsoorlog ("Second War of Liberation" or lit. "Second Freedom War") or the Engelse oorlog (English War).
The Second Boer War and the earlier, much less well known, First Boer War (December 1880 to March 1881) are collectively known as the Boer Wars.
wn.com/Second_Boer_War -
Shaun Morgan
Shaun Morgan Welgemoed (December 21, 1978) is a South African musician known as the lead singer and the lead/rhythm guitarist of the alternative metal band Seether.
Welgemoed (pronounced "Velgamoot" (guttural 'g') meaning "cheer" in Dutch), spent all of his early life in South Africa. His parents divorced when Welgemoed was still a child. At 14 years old, he first discovered the Seattle grunge movement after listening to Nirvana’s Nevermind album, which inspired him to become a musician. He began to play the guitar, first learning “Polly”, before starting to piece together bands. However his father did not approve of his son playing in a band, so Welgemoed ran away from home in order to “cut a demo” while living in friends’ cars and garages. Welgemoed then returned home to Pietermaritzburg to live with his mother and stepfather and started playing in a band again, although he stopped playing music after three years as he was not getting anywhere.
Prior to forming their band, Saron Gas, Shaun was a member of a tribute band, tributing songs of bands such as Korn and Metallica. In May 1999, Welgemoed became the rhythm guitarist and back-up vocalist of a new band, Saron Gas. There were four other members to the band; a female vocalist, a lead guitarist, bassist and drummer. However, when the singer and guitarist did not turn up to the first practice, the band decided to stay as a three-piece, with Welgemoed on lead vocals and guitar. Saron Gas enjoyed moderate success before the bass player decided to quit in January 2000, causing Welgemoed to get in touch with the only other good bass player he knew, Dale Stewart. The band released an album later that year, entitled Fragile.
wn.com/Shaun_Morgan -
White South African
White South African is a term which refers to people from South Africa who are of European descent and who do not regard themselves, or are not regarded as being part of another racial group, for example, as Coloured. In linguistic, cultural and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of mainly Dutch, German and French settlers, known as Afrikaners, and the English-speaking Anglo-Africans who share an Anglophone background (mainly of British and Irish descent). South Africa's white population is divided into about three-fifths Afrikaans-speakers (approx. 60%), with English-speakers constituting the remaining two-fifths (approx. 40%). Approximately 1% of the white population speak another language, most notably Portuguese. White South Africans are by far the largest European-descended population group in Africa.
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Willem Jackson
Willem Jackson (born March 26, 1972 in Bloemfontein, Free State) is a South African footballer playing as defender for Platinum Stars of the Premier Soccer League.
A fullback capable of lining up on either flank, he played mostly for Bloemfontein Celtic and Orlando Pirates.
Jackson also played for South Africa, earning 18 caps, and was a part of the squad that travelled to France for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. During the tournament, he appeared in the first-round matches against France and Saudi Arabia, starting both matches at right back. Jackson made his international debut against France on October 11, 1997. His final international appearance came on April 29, 2001, a 3-0 victory over Mozambique in the COSAFA Castle Cup.
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Zola Budd
Zola Pieterse (born Zola Budd, 26 May 1966 in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State, South Africa), is a former Olympic track and field competitor who, in less than three years, twice broke the world record in the women's 5000 metres and twice was the women's winner at the World Cross Country Championships. Budd's career was unusual in that she mainly trained and raced barefoot. Her achievements on the track were often overshadowed by the political controversy she aroused during her short stay in the United Kingdom.
Budd achieved fame in 1984, at the age of 17, when she broke the women's 5000 metres world record with a time of 15:01.83. Since her performance took place in South Africa, then excluded from international athletics competition because of its apartheid policy, the International Amateur Athletic Federation refused to ratify Budd's time as an official world record.
In 1985 she claimed the world record officially while representing Great Britain, clocking 14:48.07.
The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, persuaded Budd's father to encourage her to apply for British citizenship, on the grounds that her grandfather was British, to circumvent the international Sporting boycott of South Africa so that she could compete in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. With a strong push from the Daily Mail, British citizenship was granted in short order and she moved to Guildford. Her application and arrival was controversial due to the opposition of anti-apartheid campaigners.
wn.com/Zola_Budd
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Reitz Racist Video Bloemfontein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:10
- Updated: 10 Dec 2012
allegedly racist video made by Reitz hostel students of the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. Showing actually people having a good time. But the trouble in Bloemfontein continues: zahell.blogspot.com
http://wn.com/Reitz_Racist_Video_Bloemfontein
allegedly racist video made by Reitz hostel students of the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein. Showing actually people having a good time. But the trouble in Bloemfontein continues: zahell.blogspot.com
Bloemfontein Free State South Africa
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:32
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province in South Africa. Copyright to www.roomsforafrica.com
http://wn.com/Bloemfontein_Free_State_South_Africa
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province in South Africa. Copyright to www.roomsforafrica.com
- published: 10 Aug 2010
- views: 4410
- author: RoomsForAfrica
Partyfest 2011 @Bloemfontein Ladies Soetdoring(Aeroplane).
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:33
- Updated: 23 Nov 2012
It's Party Fest 2011 - Season 1 in South Africa! 5 Ladies hostels competing for the Social title of their University & a total prize money of R20 000! Each hostel gets 1 night to host the social event of the year! This is the 1st individual Party with the ladies of Soetdoring, the genius behind the night is none other than Biejangka Calitz! Their SLOGAN: Come & join Soetdoring for the Flight of your LIFE! Owner/Presenter - Lian Fourie. Join the FB page: Party Fest 2011 for full updates on the NATIONAL COMPETITION & also check out the web: www.party-fest.com
http://wn.com/Partyfest_2011_@Bloemfontein_Ladies_SoetdoringAeroplane
It's Party Fest 2011 - Season 1 in South Africa! 5 Ladies hostels competing for the Social title of their University & a total prize money of R20 000! Each hostel gets 1 night to host the social event of the year! This is the 1st individual Party with the ladies of Soetdoring, the genius behind the night is none other than Biejangka Calitz! Their SLOGAN: Come & join Soetdoring for the Flight of your LIFE! Owner/Presenter - Lian Fourie. Join the FB page: Party Fest 2011 for full updates on the NATIONAL COMPETITION & also check out the web: www.party-fest.com
- published: 01 Mar 2011
- views: 1237
- author: MrLianfourie
Grey College Bloemfontein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:38
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
Grey College Bloemfontein
http://wn.com/Grey_College_Bloemfontein
Jaywalking in Bloemfontein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:23
- Updated: 07 Dec 2012
Person jaywalks in front of a taxi in Bloemfontein. Taxi driver gets revenge by driving into him and then kicking him www.southafrica.to
http://wn.com/Jaywalking_in_Bloemfontein
Person jaywalks in front of a taxi in Bloemfontein. Taxi driver gets revenge by driving into him and then kicking him www.southafrica.to
- published: 17 Apr 2012
- views: 2530
- author: southafricaTO
Bloemfontein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:31
- Updated: 01 Dec 2012
City of Bloemfontein, South Africa seen from Naval hill. You can read about my trip from Cameroon to South Africa at this link www.njeitimah-outlook.com
http://wn.com/Bloemfontein
City of Bloemfontein, South Africa seen from Naval hill. You can read about my trip from Cameroon to South Africa at this link www.njeitimah-outlook.com
- published: 07 Dec 2006
- views: 11923
- author: Njei Moses Timah
Monster Moves : The Train From Bloemfontein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:51
- Updated: 25 Dec 2012
historic 15F steam locomotive travelled 7000kms on rails, in a ship and on truck from the South African town of Bloemfontein to Glasgow in Scotland over 40 days and nights to display at Glasgow's Transport Museum. This song tells the story of its journey. The excerpt is from the forthcoming Five series 'Monster Moves' airing in Spring 2008.
http://wn.com/Monster_Moves_The_Train_From_Bloemfontein
historic 15F steam locomotive travelled 7000kms on rails, in a ship and on truck from the South African town of Bloemfontein to Glasgow in Scotland over 40 days and nights to display at Glasgow's Transport Museum. This song tells the story of its journey. The excerpt is from the forthcoming Five series 'Monster Moves' airing in Spring 2008.
- published: 11 Apr 2008
- views: 66427
- author: whappen100
Arrival at Bloemfontein, South Africa with Mango Airlines; 13 April 2011
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:09
- Updated: 09 Jun 2012
On board Mango Airlines flight JE423 as it approaches and lands at Bloemfontein Airport in Bloemfontein, South Africa on the morning of April 13, 2011. Got some views of the beautiful landscape of the Free State province.
http://wn.com/Arrival_at_Bloemfontein,_South_Africa_with_Mango_Airlines;_13_April_2011
On board Mango Airlines flight JE423 as it approaches and lands at Bloemfontein Airport in Bloemfontein, South Africa on the morning of April 13, 2011. Got some views of the beautiful landscape of the Free State province.
- published: 07 May 2011
- views: 1036
- author: Jeremy Slavin
Bains Game Lodge Accommodation Bloemfontein South Africa
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:54
- Updated: 29 Jun 2012
Africa Travel Channel - Bains Game Lodge is situated 2km west of Bloemfontein. It is here that the visionary design of Marius Strydom is unfolding. The 24-hour security village includes conference facilities, restaurants, entertainment and a variety of accommodation options
http://wn.com/Bains_Game_Lodge_Accommodation_Bloemfontein_South_Africa
Africa Travel Channel - Bains Game Lodge is situated 2km west of Bloemfontein. It is here that the visionary design of Marius Strydom is unfolding. The 24-hour security village includes conference facilities, restaurants, entertainment and a variety of accommodation options
- published: 25 Jan 2011
- views: 743
- author: Africatravelchannel
Finding Fish Bloemfontein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:25
- Updated: 01 Dec 2012
Robert Bailey and Cameron Bailey flyfishing for Carp in Bloemfontein, South Africa
http://wn.com/Finding_Fish_Bloemfontein
Robert Bailey and Cameron Bailey flyfishing for Carp in Bloemfontein, South Africa
- published: 13 Feb 2011
- views: 370
- author: Cameron Bailey
Guitar Fine Tuning in Bloemfontein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:53
- Updated: 28 Nov 2012
Each string has a different character and requires a unique tuning mechanism. In Africa, alternate guitar tuning requires special ergonomics - - "Eesh, if only they could make the tuning mechanism as durable as the rest of the guitar..." This guy taught me a lot about about tuning. "Jy bou die wysie op." You build up a tune. The key is to know what sound you want - and to take your time getting there. Use any tool that will help you bring that timeless mood across. Tsamaia hantle, Blomfanten!
http://wn.com/Guitar_Fine_Tuning_in_Bloemfontein
Each string has a different character and requires a unique tuning mechanism. In Africa, alternate guitar tuning requires special ergonomics - - "Eesh, if only they could make the tuning mechanism as durable as the rest of the guitar..." This guy taught me a lot about about tuning. "Jy bou die wysie op." You build up a tune. The key is to know what sound you want - and to take your time getting there. Use any tool that will help you bring that timeless mood across. Tsamaia hantle, Blomfanten!
- published: 27 May 2007
- views: 10460
- author: Pentamonium
Radio Bloemfontein Documentaire (Deel 1)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:56
- Updated: 27 Sep 2012
Een documentaire over de etherpiraat van Kollum en omstreken. Bekijk maar us even. Dit is deel 1 Deel 2: nl.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Radio_Bloemfontein_Documentaire_Deel_1
Een documentaire over de etherpiraat van Kollum en omstreken. Bekijk maar us even. Dit is deel 1 Deel 2: nl.youtube.com
- published: 06 Jan 2008
- views: 20314
- author: Ate van der kooi
Welcome to Bloemfontein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:55
- Updated: 22 May 2012
Join the team as they arrive in Bloemfontein
http://wn.com/Welcome_to_Bloemfontein
1Time Landing in Bloemfontein South Africa
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:48
- Updated: 02 May 2012
1Time Landing in Bloemfontein Airport South Africa
http://wn.com/1Time_Landing_in_Bloemfontein_South_Africa
1Time Landing in Bloemfontein Airport South Africa
- published: 28 Apr 2007
- views: 4541
- author: 96aburns1ramnat
X-COM Enemy Unknown - E08 - "Hot Pipe" - Bloemfontein, South Africa [1080P]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 36:46
- Updated: 22 Dec 2012
****See Soldier Bios and Journals Here: bit.ly **** Subscribe: bit.ly Thanks for every time you "LIKE" a video. It really helps my channel to grow! Thanks so much! Mr. Odd Plays X-COM: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Bioshock: bit.ly Let the Bone Charms Decide - Dishonored Lethal - bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life 2: Episode 1 Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Dishonored Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life 2 Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Black Mesa (Source Mod) Playlist - bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life (1998) Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life: Opposing Force (1999) Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life: Blue Shift (2001) Playlist: bit.ly An ODD Intermission (Channel Updates): bit.ly Developer: Firaxis Much like its predecessor, XCOM: Enemy Unknown casts the player as the commander of an elite military organization. As commander, the player directs his or her soldiers in turn-based combat missions against alien enemies; between missions, the player directs the organization's research and engineering divisions in creating new technologies and improving XCOM's base of operations, and manages the organization's finances. The combat view. See the file description page for an extensive explanation of the elements shown. The turn-based ground combat uses an isometric 3D perspective. The player controls a squad of between four and six human soldiers or robotic units as they hunt the aliens on the map and attempt to complete other objectives dependent on the mission. Fog of war ...
http://wn.com/X-COM_Enemy_Unknown_E08_Hot_Pipe_Bloemfontein,_South_Africa_1080P_
****See Soldier Bios and Journals Here: bit.ly **** Subscribe: bit.ly Thanks for every time you "LIKE" a video. It really helps my channel to grow! Thanks so much! Mr. Odd Plays X-COM: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Bioshock: bit.ly Let the Bone Charms Decide - Dishonored Lethal - bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life 2: Episode 1 Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Dishonored Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life 2 Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Black Mesa (Source Mod) Playlist - bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life (1998) Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life: Opposing Force (1999) Playlist: bit.ly Mr. Odd Plays Half-Life: Blue Shift (2001) Playlist: bit.ly An ODD Intermission (Channel Updates): bit.ly Developer: Firaxis Much like its predecessor, XCOM: Enemy Unknown casts the player as the commander of an elite military organization. As commander, the player directs his or her soldiers in turn-based combat missions against alien enemies; between missions, the player directs the organization's research and engineering divisions in creating new technologies and improving XCOM's base of operations, and manages the organization's finances. The combat view. See the file description page for an extensive explanation of the elements shown. The turn-based ground combat uses an isometric 3D perspective. The player controls a squad of between four and six human soldiers or robotic units as they hunt the aliens on the map and attempt to complete other objectives dependent on the mission. Fog of war ...
- published: 22 Nov 2012
- views: 429
- author: ChristopherOdd
Bloemfontein Airport to be renamed Bram Fischer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:58
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
The Bloemfontein Airport is to be renamed Bram Fischer International Airport today. The new name is in recognition of one of the Free State's struggle icons. Bram Fischer was born in the then then Orange Free State in 1908 into a prominent Afrikaner family. He attended one of the most famous schools in the country - Grey College in Bloemfontein...ow.ly
http://wn.com/Bloemfontein_Airport_to_be_renamed_Bram_Fischer
The Bloemfontein Airport is to be renamed Bram Fischer International Airport today. The new name is in recognition of one of the Free State's struggle icons. Bram Fischer was born in the then then Orange Free State in 1908 into a prominent Afrikaner family. He attended one of the most famous schools in the country - Grey College in Bloemfontein...ow.ly
- published: 13 Dec 2012
- views: 72
- author: sabcdigitalnews
Telkom Cup final 2012 Bloemfontein Celtic V Mamelodi Sundowns
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:44
- Updated: 07 Dec 2012
Bloem Celtic fans before the kick off of the final in Durban
http://wn.com/Telkom_Cup_final_2012_Bloemfontein_Celtic_V_Mamelodi_Sundowns
Bloem Celtic fans before the kick off of the final in Durban
- published: 02 Dec 2012
- views: 506
- author: rebelbigmac
President Kagame arrives in Bloemfontein, South Africa to attend ANC Centenary- 7 January 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:49
- Updated: 13 Oct 2012
http://wn.com/President_Kagame_arrives_in_Bloemfontein,_South_Africa_to_attend_ANC_Centenary_7_January_2012
Shakespeare in Bloemfontein? South African accent.
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:20
- Updated: 04 Sep 2012
My audition tape for the Royal Shakespeare Company. I'm still waiting to hear back from them. Maybe they dont have the right phone number, or something. Maybe they don't like my South African accent. This is supposed to be comedy, so spare me the death threats, okay? Supposedly filmed on location in Bloemfontein, capital of the Free Sate Province of South Africa. With the appropriate accent. Why am I naked? Its a naturalistic thing. Getting down to the core of the character and all that. Prince of Denmark. The Danes are naked all the time, arent they? Or maybe I'm confusing them with some mythical race of Scandinavian uber-babes with a pathological desire to disrobe. The skull is that of a Wildebeest. That's what I happened to have lying around at the time. WARNING: Pedantic digression follows. Of course, it is a BLUE wildebeest (or WAS a blue wildebeest, I suppose) otherwise known as a brindled gnu, which is an antelope of the lowland savannah. Where I live. If this had really been filmed in Bloem, I might have happened to have a BLACK wildebeest skull lying around. Otherwise known as a white-tailed gnu. But very few people are likely to watch this video and vastly fewer still are likely to notice this little factual inconsistency. Otherwise known as LYING, unless you're a politician or a journalist or a lawyer or... well a member of the human race. Of course, the number of people watching this video and knowing the difference between the two species of South African gnu ...
http://wn.com/Shakespeare_in_Bloemfontein?_South_African_accent
My audition tape for the Royal Shakespeare Company. I'm still waiting to hear back from them. Maybe they dont have the right phone number, or something. Maybe they don't like my South African accent. This is supposed to be comedy, so spare me the death threats, okay? Supposedly filmed on location in Bloemfontein, capital of the Free Sate Province of South Africa. With the appropriate accent. Why am I naked? Its a naturalistic thing. Getting down to the core of the character and all that. Prince of Denmark. The Danes are naked all the time, arent they? Or maybe I'm confusing them with some mythical race of Scandinavian uber-babes with a pathological desire to disrobe. The skull is that of a Wildebeest. That's what I happened to have lying around at the time. WARNING: Pedantic digression follows. Of course, it is a BLUE wildebeest (or WAS a blue wildebeest, I suppose) otherwise known as a brindled gnu, which is an antelope of the lowland savannah. Where I live. If this had really been filmed in Bloem, I might have happened to have a BLACK wildebeest skull lying around. Otherwise known as a white-tailed gnu. But very few people are likely to watch this video and vastly fewer still are likely to notice this little factual inconsistency. Otherwise known as LYING, unless you're a politician or a journalist or a lawyer or... well a member of the human race. Of course, the number of people watching this video and knowing the difference between the two species of South African gnu ...
- published: 14 Sep 2008
- views: 16666
- author: ROBwithaB
Sandstone Sleeper Estate and Wedding Venue Bloemfontein South Africa
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:12
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
Africa Travel Channel - Sandstone Sleeper Estate is situated in the heart of the historical province of the Free State. This idyllic country venue is situated in the countryside 20 kilometers north of Bloemfontein. It has its own warm and inviting character and tranquil atmosphere. Website: www.sandstonesleeperestate.co.za Phone +27 51 861 2291 Email: info@sandstonesleeperestate.co.za
http://wn.com/Sandstone_Sleeper_Estate_and_Wedding_Venue_Bloemfontein_South_Africa
Africa Travel Channel - Sandstone Sleeper Estate is situated in the heart of the historical province of the Free State. This idyllic country venue is situated in the countryside 20 kilometers north of Bloemfontein. It has its own warm and inviting character and tranquil atmosphere. Website: www.sandstonesleeperestate.co.za Phone +27 51 861 2291 Email: info@sandstonesleeperestate.co.za
- published: 01 Feb 2011
- views: 418
- author: Africatravelchannel
Bloemstantia Guest House Bloemfontein South Africa - Africa Travel Channel
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:18
- Updated: 26 Oct 2012
www.africa-24.com Bloemstantia Guest House - The Bloemstantia Guest House offers luxurious and spacious accommodation in the wonderful city of Bloemfontein.
http://wn.com/Bloemstantia_Guest_House_Bloemfontein_South_Africa_Africa_Travel_Channel
www.africa-24.com Bloemstantia Guest House - The Bloemstantia Guest House offers luxurious and spacious accommodation in the wonderful city of Bloemfontein.
- published: 09 Feb 2009
- views: 552
- author: Africatravelchannel
Bloemfontein Airport to be renamed Bram Fischer - Palesa Matshane update
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:52
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
The Bloemfontein Airport is to be renamed Bram Fischer International Airport today. The new name is in recognition of one of the Free State's struggle icons...ow.ly
http://wn.com/Bloemfontein_Airport_to_be_renamed_Bram_Fischer_Palesa_Matshane_update
The Bloemfontein Airport is to be renamed Bram Fischer International Airport today. The new name is in recognition of one of the Free State's struggle icons...ow.ly
- published: 13 Dec 2012
- views: 51
- author: sabcdigitalnews
VVS Laxman 32 vs South Africa 2001 Bloemfontein 1st test
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:24
- Updated: 01 Dec 2012
VVS Laxman plays a cracking short innings before being dismissed softly once again.
http://wn.com/VVS_Laxman_32_vs_South_Africa_2001_Bloemfontein_1st_test
VVS Laxman plays a cracking short innings before being dismissed softly once again.
- published: 21 Aug 2012
- views: 2795
- author: robelinda2
photo: US Navy / HMC Josh Ives
27 Dec 2012
Imperial adventures are nothing new in the Middle East. Neither is their glorification, as Peter O’Toole’s pained Lawrence of Arabia eternally reminds us. But for a decade or so now, things have been heating up, as if to coincide with climate change and fears of declining petroleum reserves ... The Belly for Belligerence? ... The question loomed over beltway intelligentsia like an ephemeral Gordian knot ... We’re All Hawks Now ... While George W ... ....(size: 9.3Kb)
photo: WN / Janice Sabnal
27 Dec 2012
Washington. Six people, including two young children, were left dead in weather-related accidents, as winter snowstorms complicated travel for many Americans in the Midwest and Northeast on Wednesday. Snow totals in parts of Indiana ranged from 6 to 12 inches, CNN reported. About 350 snowploughs were clearing roads throughout the city. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told residents they should avoid nonessential travel ... IANS ... ....(size: 2.2Kb)
photo: AP / Khalil Hamra, File
26 Dec 2012
Cairo • The official approval of Egypt’s disputed, Islamist-backed constitution Tuesday held out little hope of stabilizing the country after two years of turmoil and Islamist President Mohammed Morsi may now face a more immediate crisis with the economy falling deeper into distress ... Join the Discussion. The battle over the constitution left Egypt deeply polarized at a time when the government is increasingly cash-strapped ... The U.S ... " ... ....(size: 5.7Kb)
photo: AP / K.M.Chaudary
27 Dec 2012
Large crowds of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) supporters are gathering to mark the fifth anniversary of the murder of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Ms Bhutto died in a gun and bomb attack during her 2007 election campaign. Hundreds of thousands of people have set up camp near the Bhutto family's ancestral home in Sindh province ... He cannot contest an election until his 25th birthday. Show of strength ... ....(size: 2.4Kb)
News24
28 Dec 2012
Change your location National Cape Town George Johannesburg Pretoria East London Port Elizabeth Bloemfontein Durban Pietermaritzburg Polokwane Mbombela Kimberley Mahikeng * ... Change your location National Cape Town George Johannesburg Pretoria East London Port Elizabeth Bloemfontein Durban Pietermaritzburg Polokwane Mbombela Kimberley Mahikeng *....(size: 31.0Kb)
noodls
28 Dec 2012
(Source. SAFA - South African Football Association). Bafana Bafana have started their training camp at Orlando Stadium in Soweto which runs from Thursday, 27 December until Saturday, 29 December 2012. The squad consists of 31 players - the 24 that was selected for the international friendly match against Malawi last weekend (Saturday, 22 December) in Durban and an additional seven more ... 1 ... 4 ... Thabo NTHETHE Bloemfontein Celtic (SA) 6 ... 11 ... 22....(size: 8.8Kb)
Sowetan Live
28 Dec 2012
The French racing scene is a tough one to get into, but by partnering with La Pomme, we'll have the benefits of the instant infrastructure ... This opened a window for African cyclists to compete in major international events ... His teammate, Arran Brown, won the MTN OFM Classic in a sprint finish in Bloemfontein in November, and six days later Brown won the final leg of the Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge in Durban ... ....(size: 5.0Kb)
All Africa
27 Dec 2012
Independent online (SA)
27 Dec 2012
Johannesburg - The death toll on South African roads is skyrocketing daily, with head-on crashes and drunken driving being blamed for most of the deaths. Four people were killed when a VW Polo and a Nissan bakkie collided head-on the Pretoria Road in Kempton Park yesterday ... Three people were injured. A pedestrian was killed in Navalsig, Bloemfontein, and a further three were killed on the outskirts of Paul Roux in a head-on collision ... ....(size: 5.6Kb)
Independent online (SA)
27 Dec 2012
Cape Town - Two Cape Town police officers were killed in a car crash while on duty on Christmas Day. Constable Quinton Snell, 33, and Glynis Lorenzo, 38, died when their patrol van was hit by a BMW on Tuesday morning ... According to reports, ... Gillian Ohlson posted ... Also in the province, a pedestrian was killed in Navalsig, Bloemfontein and a further three were killed outside Paul Roux when their cars were involved in a head-on collision ... ....(size: 5.7Kb)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
27 Dec 2012
But, obliquely, this premier vacation retreat does shine a kind of sidelight. In all of the hundreds of thousands of printed, verbalized and digitized words devoted to scrutinizing the A.N.C's twice-a-decade elective conference at Bloemfontein, the country's onetime obsession with race seemed conspicuously absent ... Of course, nothing here is that simple ... Zuma and others at the A.N.C. conference ... Ramaphosa ... Mr ... Mr ... At the A.N.C ... ....(size: 5.3Kb)
Independent online (SA)
27 Dec 2012
Johannesburg – South African cycling was progressive this year, with individuals and teams making headway on the international stage and dominating local podiums ... “This was an unexpected win for me,” Lill said after the race ... His teammate, Arran Brown, won the MTN OFM Classic in a sprint finish in Bloemfontein in November, and six days later Brown won the final leg of the Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge in Durban ... ....(size: 5.5Kb)
Independent online (SA)
27 Dec 2012
Janet Heard. After life in black and white, Bloemfontein cartoonist Mogorosi Motshumi found colour in Cape Town. The 55-year-old underground artist began drawing at the age of five or six. He risked “being lashed” by teachers for doodling in his exercise books ... “I came to Greatmore to get out of my comfort zone ... INTO THE LIGHT ... Photo. Michael Walker. Gallo Images ... But his newfound colour phase is likely to fade ... NEW PALETTE ... ....(size: 7.7Kb)
Orange News
27 Dec 2012
Getting your shot in the first-team is part of the ongoing battle for rugby hopefuls, but in 2012 this group of starlets were given their chance. Their fine efforts have not gone unnoticed by us here at Planet Rugby and we have consequently cobbled together a XV that although is lacking in caps, it makes up for in fearless exuberance ... Rules are rules ... 11 Willie le Roux (Cheetahs) - Simply superb in Bloemfontein this year ... ....(size: 6.6Kb)
Independent online (SA)
24 Dec 2012
Bloemfontein -. Twenty-eight people were injured when two cars and a minibus collided about 50km north of Bloemfontein, ......(size: 0.8Kb)
Sowetan Live
24 Dec 2012
At midnight they went straight to the DJ booth and Matheba was sitting with her man, while he played music . They were spotted last Tuesday night in Bloemfontein at 2nd Avenue Cafe getting cosy ... An onlooker at the club said ... ....(size: 1.4Kb)
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009) |
| Bloemfontein | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s): The city of roses | |
 Bloemfontein
|
|
| Coordinates: 29°06′S 26°13′E / 29.1°S 26.217°E / -29.1; 26.217Coordinates: 29°06′S 26°13′E / 29.1°S 26.217°E / -29.1; 26.217 | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | Free State |
| Municipality | Mangaung |
| Established | 1846[1] |
| Area[2] | |
| • Total | 333.69 km2 (128.84 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,395 m (4,577 ft) |
| Population (2001)[2] | |
| • Total | 328,773 |
| • Density | 990/km2 (2,600/sq mi) |
| Racial makeup (2001)[2] | |
| • Black African | 72.6% |
| • Coloured | 5.0% |
| • Indian | 0.2% |
| • White | 22.2% |
| First languages (2001)[2] | |
| • Sotho | 36.5% |
| • Afrikaans | 25.0% |
| • Tswana | 19.0% |
| • Xhosa | 14.3% |
| • Other | 5.2% |
| Time zone | SAST (UTC+2) |
| Area code(s) | 051 |
Bloemfontein ( /ˈblʊmfɒnteɪn/, Dutch for "fountain of flowers" – lit., "blooms") is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.
Bloemfontein is popularly and poetically known as "the city of roses", owing to the abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there.[3][4] The city's Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning "place of cheetahs" and it has been included in the Mangaung Local Municipality since 2000[dated info].
Bloemfontein is situated on dry grassland at 29°06′S 26°13′E / 29.1°S 26.217°E / -29.1; 26.217, at an altitude of 1,395 m (4,577 ft) above sea level. The city is home to 369,568 residents, while the Mangaung Local Municipality has a population of 645,455.
Contents |
History[link]
Though historically a predominantly Afrikaner settlement, Bloemfontein was officially founded in 1846 as a fort by British army major Henry Douglas Warden as a British outpost in the Transoranje region, at that stage occupied by various groups of peoples including Cape Colony Trek Boers, Griqua and Basotho. Although modern day Bloemfontein has a reputation for its flowers in an otherwise arid region, the origin of the city's name is unclear. Popular legends include an ox named "Bloem" owned by one of the pioneer farmers that was taken by a lion near a fountain on his property, while another story names Jan Blom (1775–1858), a Korana KhoiKhoi leader who inhabited the area.[5] Bloemfontein literally means fountain of flowers or flower spring in Dutch. With colonial policy shifts, the region changed into the Orange River Sovereignty (1848–1854) and eventually the Orange Free State Republic (1854–1902). From 1902–1910 it served as the capital of the Orange River Colony and since that time as the provincial capital of the Free State. In 1910 it became the Judicial capital of the Union of South Africa.
Founding and early days[link]
Warden originally chose the site largely because of its proximity to the main route to Winburg, the spacious open country, and the absence of horse sickness. Bloemfontein was the original farm of Johannes Nicolaas Brits born 21 February 1790, owner and first inhabitant of Bloemfontein. Johann – as he was known – sold the farm to Maj Warden.[citation needed]It is located in South africa , Martim Reymao
1854–1898[link]
As the capital of the Orange Free State Republic the growth and maturing of the Republic resulted in the growth of the town. Numerous public buildings that remain in use today were constructed. This was largely facilitated by the excellent governance of the Republic (which acquired the term model republic) and the compensation from the British for the loss of the diamond rich Griqualand area.[citation needed]
A railway line was built in 1890 connecting Bloemfontein to Cape Town.
The writer J. R. R. Tolkien was born in the city on 3 January 1892, though his family left South Africa following the death of his father, Arthur Tolkien, while Tolkien was still a child (1895). He recorded that his earliest memories were of "a hot country."
Second Anglo-Boer War/South African War[link]
In 1899 the city was the site of the Bloemfontein Conference, which failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second Boer War. The conference was a final attempt to avert a war between Britain and the South African Republic. With its failure the stage was set for war, which broke out on 11 October 1899.
The rail line from Cape Town provided a centrally located railway station, and proved critical to the British in occupying the city later.
On 13 March 1900, following the Battle of Paardeberg, British forces captured the city and built a concentration camp nearby to house Boer women and children. The National Women's Memorial, on the outskirts of the city, pays homage to the 26,370 women and children as well as 1,421 old men[6] (Also 14,154 black people, though some sources feel that the records are unsatisfactory, and that this number could be as high as 20,000[7]) who died in these camps in various parts of the country.[8]
Recent history[link]
Until 1994 the city was the sole judicial capital of South Africa. It remains the seat for the Supreme Court Of Appeal (formerly the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court) and is therefore generally regarded[who?] as the judicial capital. It is also an administrative centre with many private hospitals and educational institutions.
Government[link]
Bloemfontein forms part of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, which was upgraded from a Local Municipality in 2011.
Geography and climate[link]
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Bloemfontein is located in central South Africa on the southern edge of the Highveld at an elevation of 1,400 metres (4,600 ft), bordering on the semi-arid region of the Karoo. The area is generally flat with occasional hills (koppies in Afrikaans) and the general vegetation is Highveld grassland. Bloemfontein experiences a semi-arid climate, with hot summer days (Jan: max:32 °C (90 °F) min:19 °C (66 °F); frequent afternoon thunderstorms) and cooler, dry winters, often with frosts (July: max:14 °C (57 °F) min:−3 °C (27 °F)). Snow is uncommon but as recently as August 2006 it snowed in the city, with snowfalls occurring again at the airport on 26 July 2007.
| Climate data for Bloemfontein | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 39 (102) |
39 (102) |
35 (95) |
33 (91) |
30 (86) |
25 (77) |
24 (75) |
29 (84) |
34 (93) |
35 (95) |
37 (99) |
38 (100) |
39 (102) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31 (88) |
29 (84) |
27 (81) |
23 (73) |
20 (68) |
17 (63) |
17 (63) |
20 (68) |
24 (75) |
26 (79) |
28 (82) |
30 (86) |
24 (75) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 15 (59) |
15 (59) |
12 (54) |
8 (46) |
3 (37) |
−2 (28) |
−2 (28) |
1 (34) |
5 (41) |
9 (48) |
12 (54) |
14 (57) |
8 (46) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 6 (43) |
4 (39) |
1 (34) |
−3 (27) |
−9 (16) |
−9 (16) |
−10 (14) |
−10 (14) |
−7 (19) |
−3 (27) |
0 (32) |
3 (37) |
−10 (14) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 83 (3.27) |
111 (4.37) |
72 (2.83) |
56 (2.2) |
17 (0.67) |
12 (0.47) |
8 (0.31) |
15 (0.59) |
24 (0.94) |
43 (1.69) |
58 (2.28) |
60 (2.36) |
559 (22.01) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 84 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 297.6 | 251.4 | 257.3 | 249.0 | 266.6 | 249.0 | 272.8 | 285.2 | 279.0 | 291.4 | 297.0 | 319.3 | 3,315.6 |
| Source no. 1: South African Weather Service[9] | |||||||||||||
| Source no. 2: Hong Kong Observatory (sun only 1961-1990).[10] | |||||||||||||
Suburbs[link]
Bloemfontein suburbs include Heidedal to the east and southeast, Bainsvlei, Woodland Hills Wildlife Estate, Bayswater, Brandwag, Ehrlichpark, Fauna, Fichardtpark, Fleurdal, Gardeniapark, Generaal De Wet, Hospitaalpark, Kiepersol, Langenhoven Park, Lourierpark, Park West, Pellissier, Uitsig, Universitas, Westdene, Wilgehof and Willows to the south of the city. To the north of Bloemfontein, you will find Langenhovenpark, Arboretum, Bayswater, Dan Pienaar, Helicon Heights, Heuwelsig, Hillsboro, Hillside, Hilton, Naval Hill, Navalsig, Noordhoek, Pentagon Park, Panorama Park,Waverley. The predominantly black suburbs are; Rocklands, Phahameng, Phelindaba, Bloemanda, Bochabela and the most historic Batho where the Maphikela House (where the African national Congress – ANC started) is situated.
Sports[link]
Stadia[link]
The Free State Stadium and the surrounding sports complex is the main sports venue in the city and province. The venue was the hosting stadium of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa matches played in Bloemfontein. There are several other sports venues in the city, however, including facilities belonging to the university, schools and sports clubs.
Football[link]
Bloemfontein is joint home (together with nearby Botshabelo) to Premier Soccer League team Bloemfontein Celtic. Some of the matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup were played at the Free State Stadium, including the historic 4–1 defeat of England by Germany in the round of 16.
Rugby[link]
Bloemfontein's Free State Stadium is home to two rugby union teams; the Central Cheetahs franchise who compete in Super Rugby and the Free State Cheetahs who play in the domestic Currie Cup. The Free State Cheetahs won the Currie Cup in 2005 against the Blue Bulls, they drew the final with the Blue Bulls in 2006 and retained the Currie Cup title in 2007 by beating the Golden Lions resulting in the Free State Cheetahs remaining Currie Cup champions until 2008 when the failed to make the final for the first time since 2004. 2009 saw the Cheetahs return to the Currie Cup final but they were unable to beat the Blue Bulls at Loftus Versfeld.
Cricket[link]
The Knights cricket team representing the Free State and Northern Cape in various series is located at Chevrolet Park, part of the Free State Stadium complex. Bloemfontein features as a regular venue for touring international and local cricket teams.[citation needed]
Soaring[link]
One of the most active soaring communities in South Africa and the world is using the New Tempe Airport north of Bloemfontein.[citation needed]
Motor sports[link]
Bloemfontein has a motocross track run by the Bloemfontein Off Road Club, as well as a go-kart circuit (M&F Raceway), which is run by Bloemfontein Kart Club.
Education[link]
Bloemfontein offers many institutions of learning, from pre-schools to Universities and colleges. Classes are taught in different schools in different languages, some schools even teaching all classes in two languages. These languages are mostly Afrikaans, English or Sesotho.
Primary education[link]
- Grey College Primary School
- Bloemfontein Primary School
- Laerskool Universitas (TJOKKIES)
- Willem Postma Primary School
- Laerskool Sentraal Primary
- Rutanang Primary School
- Brebner Primary School
- Fichardt Park Primary School
- Jim Fouché Primary School
- Gonyane primary
- Morafe primary
- Legae primary
- Rekgonne primary
- Laerskool Dr Viljoen
Secondary education[link]
- St. Andrew's School, Bloemfontein|St. Andrew's School
- Grey College, Bloemfontein|Grey College Secondary School
- Eunice High School
- Bloemfontein High School
- CVO Skool Dankbaar in Bain's Vlei is a private Calvinist school, affiliated with the BCVO
- Hoërskool Fichardtpark in Fichhardtpark
- Technical High School Louis Botha
- Hoërskool Jim Fouché
- Hoërskool Sand du Plessis
- St. Michael's School, Bloemfontein|St. Michael's School
- Hoërskool Sentraal
- C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje
- Brebner High School
- Tsoseletso High School
- Kaelang Secondary School
- Heatherdale Secondary School
- Atlehang Senior Secondary School
- Hoërskool Dr Viljoen
Tertiary education[link]
There is a Further Education and Training College called Motheo FET College which comprises three main campuses(Thaba N'chu, Hillside view and Bloemfontein)and the satellite campuses in Zastron,Philippolis and Botshabelo.
The largest tertiary institutions in Bloemfontein are the of University of the Free State and the Central University of Technology. Private Colleges include Damelin, Boston City Campus, and the Qualitas Career Academy.
Recreational[link]
Visitors to Bloemfontein have the unique opportunity to interact with cheetahs, lions, leopards, and tigers, as well as with other animals that have been rescued at the Cheetah Experience in the suburb of Bainsvlei, only 5mins from the centre of Bloemfontein..
One can also enjoy a day or a sleep over at the Bloemfontein Zoo. Zoo Snoozes are only one of the activities arranged by Friends of the Bloemfontein Zoo.
Boyden Observatory, a unique astronomy research and educational centre outside the city, offers public open evenings on certain nights during the year, arranged by the Friends of Boyden Observatory. Groups can also visit the observatory for exclusive evenings on appointment.
Atop Naval Hill is the Franklin Game Reserve. It was named after John Franklin, South African Senator, attorney and Mayor of Bloemfontein in the 1930s.
Media[link]
Newspapers[link]
Radio[link]
Famous people[link]
Many famous persons are associated with Bloemfontein; these include:
- Allan Donald, South African cricketer
- Francois Steyn, rugby player
- Hansie Cronje, controversial South African cricket captain
- J. R. R. Tolkien CBE was born in Bloemfontein on 3 January 1892. Tolkien is famous for his fantasy epics The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. When aged 3, Tolkien left South Africa for England.[11]
- Juan Smith, rugby player
- Leon Schuster, filmmaker, comedian and musician, born and schooled in Bloemfontein
- Morne van Wyk played for South Africa Proteas Cricket team[12]
- Os du Randt, rugby player
- Ryk Neethling, Olympic gold medalist swimmer
- Shaun Morgan and Dale Stewart, musicians and founding members of the band Seether
- Zola Budd, international long distance athlete, born in the city and attended Sentraal High School
- Willem Jackson, played for South Africa Bafana Bafana soccer team
- Tony Kgoroge, South African actor, performances in movies including Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, Invictus, Lord of War and Skin.
- Gerrit Badenhorst,is a powerlifter and strongman competitor.
- Lucas Maree, Afrikaans musician and songwriter
- Coenie de Villiers, Afrikaans musician and songwriter
Religion[link]
Bloemfontein has a large and diverse Christian population. The city houses several churches and denominations:
- It is the seat of the Anglican Diocese of the Free State
- Afrikaans Baptist Church (Afrikaans: Afrikaanse Baptiste Kerk)
- Dutch Reformed Church (Afrikaans: Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk)
- Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bloemfontein is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bloemfontein
- Seventh-day Adventist Church, Southern African headquarters.
- Christian Revival Church (CRC), is the largest church in bloemfontein with over 30 000 members. It has 40 daughter churches across South Africa, Europe, America & Australia. The church is led by Pastor At Boshoff, together with his wife Nyretta .
- New Covenant Ministries International led by Chris Gerber. Is a vibrant New Testament Church known by the name Fountainhead Church International.
Community Service Organizations[link]
- Round Table 158 Bloemfontein The first Round Table was formed in Norwich, England in 1927. The founder, Louis Marchesi, was a young member of Norwich Rotary Club who felt a need existed for a club where the young business men of the town could gather on a regular basis. At their meetings they could exchange ideas, learn from the experiences of their colleagues and play a collective part in the civic life of Norwich. From a very early stage it was agreed that Round Table would be a non-religious, non-political club and this has continued to this day.
- Child Welfare Bloemfontein Child Welfare Bloemfontein & Childline Free State is a non-profit organisation that was founded in 1914 by a group of volunteers who identified a need for welfare services among the community. In 2004, Child Welfare Bloemfontein celebrated its 90th birthday. Over the past 90 years, many community programmes have been successfully implemented.
- [1] FREEMASONS – The Masonic Centre, Bloemfontein, was built during the 1970s when all the Masonic Lodges in Bloemfontein, sold their individual properties. The Centre was erected to facilitate all Masonic activities in Bloemfontein and surrounding areas. All four Constitutions that is active in South Africa, gather at the Centre. The Lodges that has ownership of the Centre is Lodge Unie (est. 1864); the Rising Star Lodge (est. 1865); Thistle Lodge (est.1903); Emerald Lodge (est. 1905); Lodge Dagbreek (est. 1932) & Lodge Oranje (est. 1964). Various side degrees are catered for at the Centre which includes the Mark, Ark, the Royal Arch & Rose Croix. Bloemfontein has a rich Masonic history especially in the Anglo Boer War (1899–1902), with members such as Lord Kitchener, Rudyard Kipling and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, visiting Lodges in Bloemfontein.[citation needed]
.
References[link]
- ^ "Chronological order of town establishment in South Africa based on Floyd (1960:20-26)". pp. xlv-lii. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-07212011-123414/unrestricted/05back.pdf.
- ^ a b c d The figures are a sum of the census places Bloemfontein, Mangaung Part 1.
- ^ Bloemfontein: Did you know?
- ^ Bloemfontein: General Information
- ^ Bridget Hilton-Barber (2001). Weekends with Legends. New Africa Books. p. 98. ISBN 0-86486-471-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=te1461s33IwC.
- ^ Arthur Clive Martin (1957). The Concentration Camps, 1900–1902: Facts, Figures and Fables. H. Timmins. p. 31. http://books.google.com/books?id=lKkwAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1.
- ^ Black Concentration Camps
- ^ Concentration Camps during Anglo-Boer War
- ^ a b "Climate data for Bloemfontein". South African Weather Service. http://old.weathersa.co.za/Climat/Climstats/BloemfonteinStats.jsp. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ Climatological Information for Bloemfontein, South Africa, Hong Kong Observatory, accessed 5 May 2012.
- ^ J. R. R. Tolkien#Childhood
- ^ http://www.mornevanwyk.co.za
External links[link]
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloemfontein
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
Abram Louis Fischer, commonly known as Bram Fischer, (23 April 1908 Bloemfontein - 8 May 1975 Bloemfontein) was a South African lawyer of Afrikaner descent, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti-apartheid figures, including Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia Trial.
Contents |
Tributes[link]
Fischer is widely acknowledged as a key figure in the anti-apartheid struggle.
Nelson Mandela wrote, Fischer was one of the "bravest and staunchest friends of the freedom struggle that I have ever known."[1] From a prominent Afrikaner family, he gave up a life of privilege, rejected his heritage, and was ostracized by his own people, showing "a level of courage and sacrifice that was in a class by itself.[2]
In Country of My Skull, Antjie Krog writes, "He was so much braver than the rest of us, he paid so much more, his life seems to have touched the lives of so many people - even after his death.”[3]
In her account of her detention and solitary confinement by the South African Security Branch in 1963, Ruth First writes about being questioned about Fischer during an interrogation. She told her interrogators: "Bram is a friend, a very dear friend of mine, a wonderful man, and - thank God for the reputation of your people that you have at least one saving grace - he's an Afrikaner."[4]
Fischer was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1967.
In 2003 Fischer became the first South African ever to be posthumously reinstated to the Bar.
In 2004, despite opposition from alumni and management, Fischer was awarded a posthumous honorary degree by Stellenbosch University.
New College (University of Oxford), where Fischer was a student, holds an annual Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture to honour his legacy.
Family and Education[link]
Fischer came from a prominent Afrikaner family; his father was Percy Fischer, a Judge President of the Orange Free State, and his grandfather was Abraham Fischer, a prime minister of the Orange River Colony and later a member of the cabinet of the unified South Africa.[5]
Prior to studying at Oxford University (New College) as a Rhodes scholar during the 1930s, he was schooled at Grey College and Grey University College in Bloemfontein, he was a resident of House Abraham Fischer which is named after his grandfather Abraham Fischer. During his stay at Oxford, he travelled on the European continent, including a trip in 1932 to the Soviet Union. In a letter to his parents during his trip, he noted similarities between the position of Russian farmers that he encountered along the Volga river and South African blacks.
In 1937, Fischer married Molly Krige, a niece of Jan Smuts; the couple had three children. One of their sons died of cystic fibrosis in adolescence.[6] Molly herself became involved in politics and was detained without trial in the state of emergency declared after the Sharpeville massacre. In 1963, Bram and Molly were driving to Cape Town for their daughter's 21st birthday. Bram swerved the car to avoid hitting a speeding motorcyclist on the road. The car veered off the road and overturned into a river, causing Molly to drown. Bram was devastated and inconsolable, devoting himself more than ever to his secret life as a leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP).
Professional and political activies[link]
Fischer joined the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the 1940s and soon rose to leadership positions within the party. The SACP had a close relationship with the African National Congress (ANC) and in 1943, Fischer co-authored revisions to the constitution of the ANC. In 1946 he was charged with incitement arising out of his position as a leader of the SACP and the African Mine Workers' Strike of that year.[7]
Alongside Issy Maisels and others, Fischer played an integral role on the defense team in the Treason Trial of 1956-1961 where Mandela and many other anti-apartheid activists were acquitted on 29 March 1961. In his autobiography, Mandela affectionately recalls Fischer reading the left wing publication New Age at his table during the trial proceedings.[8]
Fischer led Nelson Mandela's legal defense team at the Rivonia Trial of 1963-1964. By a coincidence, Fischer had not being present at the raid on Liliesleaf, although he had in fact been part of the trusted Rivonia inner circle.[9] A number of documents seized by authorities were in his handwriting.[10]
Mandela and co-defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment sentence instead of the death penalty, which the state prosecutor Percy Yutar had been asking for. This was considered a victory for the defence. International pressure also played a role.[11] At this time, Fischer's role as leader of the SACP was unknown even to his closest white friends.
After the verdict, Bram Fischer visited the Rivonia trial prisoners on Robben Island to discuss the question of an appeal in their case. Wishing not to protect the prisoners, he did not tell them of his wife’s death one week earlier. After the meeting, Mandela learned about Mrs Fischer's death and wrote to Fischer, a letter that his prison guards never delivered.[12] A few days later Fischer was himself arrested, held in solitary confinement for three days and then released. On 23 September 1964, he was again arrested and joined the 12 white men and women facing charges of being members of the now illegal South African Communist Party.
Fischer was arrested in September 1964 and charged with the crime of membership of the SACP. He was released on bail to handle a patent case in London. He applied for bail to attend to his case. In his appeal to Court in the bail application he stated:
- "I am an Afrikaner. My home is in South Africa. I will not leave my country because my political beliefs conflict with those of the Government."[13]
Fischer returned to South Africa face trial despite pressure put in him to forego his £5,000 bail and go into exile. One day, after proceedings began, he did not arrive at Court and instead sent a letter to his counsel, Harold Hanson which was read out in court. He wrote:
- "By the time this reaches you I shall be a long way from Johannesburg and shall absent myself from the remainder of the trial. But I shall still be in the country to which I said I would return when I was granted bail. I wish you to inform the Court that my absence, though deliberate, is not intended in any way to be disrespectful. Nor is it prompted by any fear of the punishment which might be inflicted on me. Indeed I realise fully that my eventual punishment may be increased by my present conduct..."
- "My decision was made only because I believe that it is the duty of every true opponent of this Government to remain in this country and to oppose its monstrous policy of apartheid with every means in his power. That is what I shall do for as long as I can..."
- "What is needed is for White South Africans to shake themselves out of their complacency, a complacency intensified by the present economic boom built upon racial discrimination. Unless this whole intolerable system is changed radically and rapidly, disaster must follow. Appalling bloodshed and civil war will become inevitable because, as long as there is oppression of a majority, such oppression will be fought with increasing hatred."[14]
Fischer went underground to support the liberation struggle against apartheid. In doing so, went against the advice of Mandela, who had advised him to support the struggle in the courtroom, "where people could see this Afrikaner son of a judge president fighting for the rights of the powerless. But he could not let others suffer while he remained free. [...] Bram did not want to ask others to make a sacrifice that he was unwilling to make himself."[15]
Fischer was struck off the advocate's roll in 1965 in a trial completed in his absence. Advocates Harold Hanson, Sydney Kentridge and Arthur Chaskalson defended him at the hearing.
Imprisonment and death[link]
Fischer carried on underground activities for almost a year. He was arrested in November 1965, nine months after his return to South Africa and after 290 days underground. In March 1966 he was put on trial for a second time on charges of furthering the aims of communism and conspiracy to overthrow the government. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was imprisoned in Pretoria Prison.[16]
During his incarceration, he contracted cancer. A fall induced by the effects of the cancer in September 1974 left Fischer with a fractured neck, femur, partial paralysis, and an inability to talk. It was not until December of that year, that the authorities had him transferred to a hospital. When news of his illness was publicised, the public lobbied government for his release. Fischer was placed under house arrest at his brother's home in Bloemfontein in April 1975. He died a few weeks later. The prisons department had Fischer's ashes returned to them after the funeral and they have never been located.
Works about Fischer[link]
Burger's Daughter, a novel by Pulitzer prize and Nobel prize winner and fellow South African, Nadine Gordimer, is based on the life of Bram Fischer's daughter; he is the "Burger" of the title. Fischer is also the subject of Stephen Clingman's Bram Fischer: Afrikaner Revolutionary, which won the Alan Paton Award in 1999, and Martin Meredith's Fischer' Choice. South African director Sharon Farr's documentary, Love, Communism, Revolution & Rivonia - Bram Fischer’s Story, won the Encounters Film Festival Audience Award for Best South African Documentary in August 2007.
References[link]
- ^ Mandela, Nelson (1995). Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. p. 79.
- ^ Mandela, Nelson (1995). Long Walk To Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. p. 340, see also 411.
- ^ Krog, Antjie (1998 [2000]). Country of my Skull: Guilt, Sorrow and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa. Three Rivers Press. pp. 269–270.
- ^ First, Ruth (1965 [2009]). 117 Days. Penguin. pp. 117.
- ^ Clingman, Stephen (1998). Bram Fischer: Afrikaner revolutionary. David Philip Publishers. ISBN 0-86486-677-1.
- ^ Mandela, Nelson (1995). Long Walk To Freedom. Little, Brown. pp. 339.
- ^ SA Communist Party SA History http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/organisations/sacp/chronology.htm
- ^ Mandela, Nelson (1995). Long Walk To Freedom. Little, Brown. pp. 202.
- ^ Mandela, Nelson (1995). Long Walk To Freedom. Little, Brown. pp. 305.
- ^ "Biographies of Special South Africans: Bram Fischer". Zar.co.za. http://zar.co.za/fischer.htm.
- ^ Mandela, Nelson (1995). Long Walk To Freedom. Little, Brown. pp. 330.
- ^ Mandela, Nelson (1995). Long Walk To Freedom.
- ^ "SACP". Bram Fischer, Q.C.. http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=2350.
- ^ SACP. "Letter sent by Bram Fischer to his Counsel in February 1965 when he went underground, and read to the court". http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?include=docs/biography/2006/bramug.html.
- ^ Mandela, Nelson (1995). Long Walk To Freedom. Little, Brown. pp. 411.
- ^ Sisulu, Elinor (2003). Walter and Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime. Abacus. pp. 266.
17. Haasbroek, Hannes. (2011). ’n Seun soos Bram. Cape Town: Umuzi
External links[link]
- SACP bio of Bram Fischer, with picture
- Bram Fischer's "A Message from Underground"
- First Bram Fischer Memorial Lecture, by Nelson Mandela on June 9, 1995
- "The Rivonia Trial" - article by Sunder Katwala from The Observer, dated Sunday, February 11, 2001
- http://www.mg.co.za/article/2003-10-16-bram-fischer-reinstated-on-roll Bram Fischer on Roll
- http://www.lrc.org.za/Articles/Articles_Detail.asp?Art_ID=205 Bram Fischer posthoumusly reinstated to roll of attorneys
- http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=qw1099930862755B216 Academic fight brews over honours for Fischer
- http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,9294,2-7-1442_1620129,00.html Fischer issue comes to a head
- [http://"The Problem of Communism in Southern Africa", in Paul Trewhela, Inside Quatro: Uncovering the Exile History of the ANC and SWAPO, Jacana Media, Johannesburg, 2009]
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Fischer, Bram |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 23 April 1908 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | 8 May 1975 |
| Place of death | |
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Wiki Summary
Bloemfontein ( /ˈblʊmfɒnteɪn/, Dutch for "fountain of flowers" – lit., "blooms") is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.
Bloemfontein is popularly and poetically known as "the city of roses", owing to the abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there. The city's Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning "place of cheetahs" and it has been included in the Mangaung Local Municipality since 2000[dated info].
Bloemfontein is situated on dry grassland at 29°06′S 26°13′E / 29.1°S 26.217°E / -29.1; 26.217, at an altitude of 1,395 m (4,577 ft) above sea level. The city is home to 369,568 residents, while the Mangaung Local Municipality has a population of 645,455.
