By Frank Kamuntu
Every location on the planet has a name that locals and visitors alike use to refer to it.
Many African countries/places gained their identities from either the inhabitants or the colonists, as is the case in any other country. Almost every country in Africa was dominated by Europeans, who came to the continent in search of riches and to conduct exploration.
List Of Countries & Meaning Of Their Names
Algeria, comes from Algiers (al-Jazair), means The Islands
Angola, comes from the title “Ngola” held by the kings of Ndongo, a tributary of the king of Kongo
Benin, is after the body of water on which the country lies, the Bight of Benin.
Botswana, comes from Tswana, an ethnic group making 71.6% of its population? Literally meaning “The Place Where Tswanas Live”
Burkina Faso, means “the land of upright people”. A name in their own language adopted after Thomas Sankara’s revolution.
Burundi, comes from the kingdom of Burundi, ruled by “mwamis” (kings) before colonial times.
Cameroon, comes from the name Portuguese explorers gave to the area Rio dos Camarões “River of Prawns”…
Cape Verde, comes from Verde “Green”, the name Portuguese explorers gave to one of the uninhabited islands in 1444.
Central African Republic or Centrafrique, means just that… A republic in central Africa…
Chad, comes from the Lake Chad, a kanuri name meaning “big space of water”.
Comoros, comes from qamar, arabic for “moon”.
Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), comes from their huge herds of elephants and the ivory trade flourishing at colonial time. Coast Of Elephants?
Congo, comes from the kingdom of Kongo (DRC-Congo Bazza-Angola), a democratic & well organized kingdom destroyed by colonization.
Djibouti, comes from a Somali expression Jab Buti “the fall of the ogre” or Gabooti “a set of baskets”.
Egypt, comes from Hikuptah ‘Memphis’, a capital during the Middle Kingdom.
Guinea, comes from an English gold coin issued from 1663 to 1813 using gold from Western Africa…
Eritrea, comes from the Italian form of the Greek name Erythraía, meaning “red [land]“.
Ethiopia, comes from Greek (Aithiopia), from (Aithiops) “charred complexion”, from (aitho) “I burn” + (ops) “eye,face, complexion”
Gabon, comes from “Gabão”, Portuguese for “cloak”, which is roughly the shape of the estuary of the Komo River by Libreville.
Gambia, comes from ‘Gambura’ meaning ‘place of the king’.
Ghana, means Warrior King and was the title accorded to the kings of the medieval West African Empire.
Kenya, comes from the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba names for Mount Kenya, “Kirinyaga”, “Kirinyaa” and “Kiinyaa”.
Lesotho, translates roughly into “the land of the people who speak Sesotho”. A Bantu language is spoken in Southern Africa.
Liberia, comes from Latin Liber-ia, “the country of the free.”
Libya, comes from the historical name for Northwest Africa, from Greek (Libúe).
Madagascar, comes from the Malagasy language, the island of Madagascar is called Madagasikara.
Malawi, comes from Chichewa “malawi”, flames, after the appearance of the sunrise over Lake Malawi; or from Maravi, an early Malawi tribe.
Mali, comes from the Mandinka who called ther homeland Manden, the Mandinka people became the Malinke.
Mauritania, comes from Latin Mauritania, from Maurus “Moor” (several historic populations from North Africa “Berber people”).
Mauritius, comes the name of some Dutch prince Maurice of Nassau… Dutch named it so. Can you believe it? SMH
Morocco, comes from medieval Latin “Morroch”, which referred to the name of the former Almoravid and Almohad capital, Marrakesh.
Mozambique, comes from Musa Al Big/Mossa Al Bique/Mussa Ben Mbiki, an Arab trader who 1st visited the land & later lived there SMH.. So Mozambicans take their NATIONAL IDENTITY from some random Arab trader who had a Spaza shop / Ligablo on their land?
Namibia, comes from Namib which is of Nama origin and means “vast place”.
Niger, comes from the Tuareg name for Niger River “egerew nigerewen”, used along the middle reaches of the river around Timbuktu.
Nigeria, was taken from the Niger River running through the country. Touaregs named Nigeria too…
Rwanda… I know it comes from the kingdom of Barwanda?
São Tomé and Príncipe, is named in honour of Saint Thomas by Portuguese explorers who arrived at the island on his feast day.
Sénégal,comes from the Wolof phrase sunu gaal, which means “our canoe”.
Seychelles, the islands were named after Jean Moreau de Séchelles, Louis XV’s Minister of Finance.
Sierra Leone, comes from the hills surrounding Freetown Harbour, Serra de Leão (Portuguese for Lion Mountains).
Somalia, comes from Samaale, the oldest common ancestor of several Somali clans.
South Africa, comes from ermmm a country in the south of Africa…
Sudan, comes from the plural of the arabic word “Aswad” meaning Blackman… (sudá:n)… So South Sudan takes up from them too
Swaziland , as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati of the Dlamini clan? If I am not mistaken.
Tanzania, comes from the names of the two states TANganyika and ZANzibar that united in 1964.
Togo, comes from Togodo (The Other Shore), today’s Togoville, a German colonial town, first capital of the country east of Lomé.
Tunisia, comes from the capital Tunis taken from the Phoenician goddess Tanith (aka Tunit)…
Uganda, takes its name from the Buganda kingdom, also destroyed by colonization.
Zambia, comes from the Zambezi River (River of God), God in my language Lingala is Nzambe 🙂
Zimbabwe, is derived from dzimba-dza-mabwe, the Karanga dialect of Shona meaning “large houses of stone”.
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1 comment
The kingdom of Buganda is still in existence and KABAKA Muwenda Mutebi ll reigns.