Botswana(Country)Tswana, English, Shona, German, French, Italian, Catalan, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian Means "place of the Tswana people" in the Tswana language, from the locative prefix bo- combined with the name of Tswana people, itself of uncertain origin, possibly from tswa "to go out" or tshwana "to resemble". This is the name of a country in the south of Africa. During the British colonial period the region was called Bechuanaland, which was more accurately rendered as Botswana when the country achieved independence in 1966.
Buganda(Region & Political Subdivision)Ganda The name of a region within Uganda and also the root of the country's name (see Uganda).
Comoros(Country)English From French Comores, derived from Arabic qamar meaning "moon". This is the name of an island country off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.
Congo(River & Country)English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Danish From Kongo, of uncertain origin, the name of a kingdom in central Africa that existed from the 14th to 19th century. The Congo River (also called the Zaire River) was named after the kingdom. Belgian and French colonies were established in the 19th century, named after the river, which eventually led to two African countries, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and the Republic of the Congo.
Ghana(Country)English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Arabic, Indonesian, Malay From the name of the Ghana Empire, which was located in the southwestern Sahara and existed up to the 13th century. Ghana, meaning "warrior" in Mande, was actually the title of the rulers, while the empire itself was more properly known as Awkar. In 1957 this was adopted as the name of the newly independent country of Ghana, formerly the British colony Gold Coast, despite the fact that the country lies outside the empire's territory.
Namib(Region)Khoekhoe, English Means "desert, vast place" in Khoekhoe. This is the name of a desert in southwestern Africa, mainly in the country of Namibia.
Pretoria(Settlement)Afrikaans, Dutch, English From the surname Pretorius. This is the name of a city in South Africa, named after the 19th-century Boer leader Andries Pretorius.
Sumal(Country)Arabic Arabic form of Somalia, usually written with the definite article: الصومال (al-Ṣūmāl).
Tanganyika(Region & Country)Swahili, English From Swahili tanga "sail" and nyika "wilderness". This is the name of a region in East Africa. It was a German then British colony until 1961 when it gained independence. In 1964 it united with the island of Zanzibar to create the new country of Tanzania.
Tataouine(Settlement)French, English From Tamazight Tittawin, possibly from tit meaning "eye". This is a city in Tunisia. It is the source of the name of the desert planet Tatooine from the fictional Star Wars universe.
Timbuktu(Settlement)English, Arabic, Bamileke Meaning uncertain. It could be derived from Songhai meaning "hollow, hole", or from Berber meaning "place of small dunes". This is the name of a city in central Mali. Descriptions of the city's wealth and remoteness first reached Europe from the 16th-century Berber author Leo Africanus. Since then the city has been used in Western Culture as a symbol for a distant, mysterious place.
Zambezi(River)Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Shona, English The name of a river in the south of Africa, of uncertain meaning. It could possibly be from the name of the Bisa people of Zambia. According to the explorer David Livingstone it meant "great river".
Zimbabwe(Country & Settlement)Shona, Ndebele, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian From the Shona language, possibly from dzimba "houses" and ibwe "stone". Great Zimbabwe was an ancient city, falling into ruin in the 15th century. It was located in the country of Zimbabwe, which was named after the ancient city in 1980 when it gained independence from the United Kingdom. It was formerly called Southern Rhodesia by the British.