Abuja(Settlement)Western African, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, English From Abu-Ja, a nickname of 19th-century monarch Abubakar Jatau (sometimes referred to as "Abu"), who founded what is now the city of Abuja in 1828. By some accounts, he was described as having fair skin, which possibly earned him the nickname Ja meaning "red" in Hausa... [more]
Agadir(Settlement)Arabic (Maghrebi), Berber, English, French Means "fortified fortress, wall" in Central Atlas Tamazight, ultimately from Phoenician gdr meaning "wall, compound". This is the name of a city in Morocco.
Anfa(Settlement)Berber Means "hill" or "top" in Tamazight. This is the Berber name for Casablanca, which was used as the city's official name before the 1755 Lisbon earthquake destroyed the area... [more]
Bombo(Mountain & Other)Kongo, Literature, Popular Culture The name of a hill in westernmost DRC and the meaningful rename of a little known Tarzan inspired character.
Bulawayo(Settlement)Shona Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe and is also a province in the Matabeleland region. It was founded by a king named Lobengula around 1840. The city's name means 'place of slaughter'.
Bwindi(Other)Kiga, African, Eastern African Bwindi is the name of a popular National Park in Southwestern Uganda. It means “a dark place” in the Kiga language.
Djakarta(Settlement)Dutch (Archaic), Afrikaans, Icelandic Archaic Dutch form of Jakarta as well as the modern Afrikaans and Icelandic form of the name. The modern Dutch form is written exactly the same as the English form.
Eswatini(Country)Swazi, English Means "land of the Swazis" Swazi. Since 2018, this is the official name of the landlocked country in Southern Africa. formally known as the Kingdom of Swaziland, the nation renamed itself the Kingdom of Eswatini, reflecting the extant Swazi name for the state "eSwatini", to mark the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence, and was partially intended to prevent confusion with the similarly named country, Switzerland.
Indië(Country)Dutch (Archaic), Afrikaans Archaic Dutch and modern Afrikaans form of India. The modern Dutch form is written exactly the same as the English form.... [more]
Kanga(Settlement & Other)Kongo, Popular Culture, Literature Even though it is also the name of a hill range in westernmost Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kanga is best known internationally as the name of a certain Kangaroo from Winnie the Pooh books and the basis for the name Kaänga.
Klein-Asië(Region)Afrikaans Afrikaans form of Asia Minor. It is literally a direct translation of the region's name, since it consists of the Afrikaans adjective klein meaning "small, little" combined with the Afrikaans noun Asië meaning "Asia".
Lagos(Political Subdivision & Settlement)Western African, Hausa, Igbo, English From Portuguese lagos meaning "lakes". This is the name of a city in Nigeria as well as a state of the same name.
Mediterranean(Region & Body of Water)English, Ganda, Scots From the Latin term Mediterrāneum meaning "in the middle of land", composed of Latin medius "middle", terra "land, earth" and āneus "having the nature of". The Mediterranean Sea is located between Europe, Africa and a small part of Asia... [more]