Pretoria, home to the Union Buildings where the office of the President is located, is one of three capital cities in South Africa. The others are Cape Town and Bloemfontein. The city was first called Pretoriusdorp after Voortrekker (Afrikaans for “pioneer”) leader Andries Pretorius, though … Read MorePretoria, South Africa (1855- )
Lusaka is the largest city in the Republic of Zambia with a population of 1.8 million. It serves as Zambia’s capital and the country’s commercial center. The city is located in the agricultural region of central Zambia and is connected through train and road to … Read MoreLusaka, Zambia (1913- )
Mbabane is the administrative capital of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and is located on the Mbabane River and its tributary the Polinjane River in the Mdimba Mountains. It is the second largest city in the country after Manzini. Mbabane’s name comes from an African Chief, Mbabane … Read MoreMbabane, Swaziland (1887- )
Bissau is the capital of the nation of Guinea-Bissau. It is located on the Geba River estuary on the Atlantic Ocean, on a peninsula that used to be an island. In 2007 its population was estimated at approximately 407,000 people. Bissau is also the largest … Read MoreBissau, Guinea-Bissau (1687- )
Lilongwe, named after the Lilongwe River that runs through the town, became the official capital of the landlocked country of Malawi in 1975. In 2012 Lilongwe city had an estimated population of 781,000 people making it the largest city in the country. Lilongwe is located … Read MoreLilongwe, Malawi (15th Century- )
In the wake of Nelson Mandela’s passing on December 5, 2013, tributes came forth from around the world and more than 100 heads of state attended his memorial service in South Africa. One such tribute, a eulogy to Madiba (his clan name), was paid at … Read MoreI Remember Madiba: Paul Suzman Eulogizes Nelson Mandela
When Great Zimbabwe began its economic and military decline in the late 1400s, some of the city’s elites migrated 200 miles north to the Zambezi River and established the short-lived Shona state of Monomotapa (Mutapa). The state emerged around 1500 under Nyatsimba Mutota, the first … Read MoreMonomutapa (ca. 1450-1917)
The Changamire dynasty of rulers emerged from the Shona people who had founded the state of Monomutapa around 1500. Named after its founder Changa (also known as Changamir), Changamire had been a province of Monomutapa but with the rise of civil wars and the Portuguese … Read MoreChangamire (ca. 1500-1830)
Site of some of the oldest hominid fossils, The Great Rift Valley in East Africa refers to a massive land depression, formed approximately twenty million years ago when two parallel fault lines pulled apart. The rift stretches along East Africa from the Jordan River Valley in southwest … Read MoreRift Valley in East Africa
From approximately 1000 to 1500 AD, a number of city-states on the eastern coast of Africa participated in an international trade network and became cosmopolitan Islamic cultural centers. The major autonomous, but symbiotic, city-states stretched over 1,500 miles from Mogadishu (in modern day Somalia) in … Read MoreEast African City States (1000-1500)
