₦airaland Forum

The five regions of Africa:
1.West Africa
2.East Africa
3.Central Africa
4.North Africa
5. south Africa ( the country or the region confusing , big time !)

Can South Africans just find another name for their country. There are so many names could
choose from if they wanted.

We have managed the name for over 100 years. We can manage it if not changed.

The name South Africa is now a brand and majority of people would still call it by it's present name.

For instance, how many people use the name,"Eswatini," today? Please explain what that means?

grandstar:
We have managed the name for over 100 years. We can manage it if not changed.

The name South Africa is now a brand and majority of people would still call it by it's present name.

For instance, how many people use the name,"Eswatini," today? Please explain what that means?

My love for emtee no be here...

FELA in Versace guy too... ❤️
Every good person for Southside
One love still IDC.

Call it
Several possible names :
1. iSimanga or iSiman derived from iSimangaliso Wetland Park: Located in KwaZulu-Natal


2. Map or Mapu derived from Mapungubwe Heritage Site: Located in Limpopo


3. Sudwa or Sudwaland derived from Sudwala in the Mpumalanga province

panafrican:
The five regions of Africa:
1.West Africa
2.East Africa
3.Central Africa
4.North Africa
5.South Africa (the country or the region confusing, big time !)

Can South Africans just find another name for their country. There are so many names could choose from if they wanted.

The ENTIRE countries in the region (Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, eSwatini, Lesotho, Botswana, etc) are officially called the "Southern Africa" region.

So, the region "Southern Africa" is very DISTINCT from the country "South Africa."

I grew up with several volumes of encyclopedias in my family home library decades back (before we all started using the Internet for personal use from the early 1990s) so I knew this distinction quite well.

In summary, there isn't ANY confusing here.

Hope that helps.

Konquest:
The ENTIRE countries in the region (Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, eSwatini, Lesotho, Botswana, etc) are officially called the "Southern Africa" region.

So, the region "Southern Africa" is very DISTINCT from the country "South Africa."

I grew up with several volumes of encyclopedias in my family home library decades back (before we all started using the Internet for personal use from the early 1990s) so I knew this distinction quite well.

In summary, there isn't ANY confusing here.

Hope that helps.

OP's point is that all other regions follow the geographical nomenclature without the "ern". Like West Africa instead of Western Africa.

South Africa by taking monopoly of a regional name has inadvertently caused the rest of that region to be called South-ern Africa

It should be called Kwazululia

grandstar:
We have managed the name for over 100 years. We can manage it if not changed.

The name South Africa is now a brand and majority of people would still call it by it's present name.

For instance, how many people use the name,"Eswatini," today? Please explain what that means?

I personally use eSwatini instead of Swaziland in my communications and it's use is catching up in official circles and the international media. It's the people on the street level in some countries that start scratching their heads and wondering "What country is that?" ... And you have to tell them the eSwatini is the former Swaziland.
The eSwatini king actually said the change of name was made to eSwatini because some foreigners were confusing "Swaziland" for "Switzerland."

In India, Bombay is NOW known as Mumbai while Burma (where brave Nigerian soldiers in the British Empire Army distinguished themselves against Japanese military occupation in World War 2) is called Myanmar today and it's NOT sounding odd in my ears anymore. I wonder when Lagos State would become "Eko State" OR should "Ibile State" be used instead to represent the 5 divisions of the state? Yoruba folks for decades have refered to Lagos State as "Ipinle Eko" in the major news reports and conversations, so, "Eko State" might just kick in officially.

I quite agree with the BOLDED part of your post though. Because of the multi-ethnic nature of the Republic of South Africa the White folks who constitute about 8% (Brown-skinned indigenous Africans are 81% of the RSA population) might also want to resist the change of name of "Republic of South Africa" to a more native African name because in actual sense, there is evidence that some of the Boers of Dutch descent and some smaller German immigrants (After the British dislodged them from their trading strongholds in Gold Coast, West Africa) were the first to settle in some of the tiny coastal lands of Republic of South Africa like the Cape Region from the mid-to late 1600s just a short number of years before some Bantu migrants moved further down South to merged with the Khoisan (formerly called Hottentots or Bush men) who were the FIRST in that area between Namibia and South Africa.

No doubt, the Zulus, Xhosas, Ndebeles, Pedis, Tsongas, Khoisans, etc, are indigenous to many parts of that country called Republic of South Africa, but the Dutch and small German migrants' descendants of the 1600s also have a right of existence in that country now.

NothingDoMe:
OP's point is that all other regions follow the geographical nomenclature without the "ern". Like West Africa instead of Western Africa.

South Africa by taking monopoly of a regional name has inadvertently caused the rest of that region to be called South-ern Africa

Indeed, I understand full well his point of view which you have perfectly verbalized and summarized here. This is why that country is officially known as the "Republic of South Africa" (or RSA) to distinguish it from the entire region itself. It's on the street level that the country is called "South Africa" or any of the other popular colloquial terms such as "Mzansi" meaning "South" from the Xhosa language, and "Azania" which is a name of Greek origin used within the African consciousness movement. Azania means "land of the Black people."

Konquest:
I personally use eSwatini instead of Swaziland in my communications and it's use is catching up in official circles and the international media. It's the people on the street level in some countries that start scratching their heads and wondering "What country is that?" ... And you have to tell them the eSwatini is the former Swaziland.
The eSwatini king actually said at that time when the change of name was made to eSwatini because some foreigners were confusing "Swaziland" for "Switzerland."

In India, Bombay is NOW known as Mumbai while Burma (where brave Nigerian soldiers in the British Empire Army distinguished themselves against Japanese military occupation in World War 2) is called Myanmar today and it's NOT sounding odd in my ears anymore. I wonder when Lagos State would become "Eko State" OR should "Ibile State" be used instead to represent the 5 divisions of the state? Yoruba folks for decades have refered to Lagos State as "Ipinle Eko" in the major news reports and conversations, so, "Eko State" might just kick in officially.

I quite agree with the BOLDED part of your post though. Because of the multi-ethnic nature of the Republic of South Africa the White folks who constitute about 8% (Brown-skinned indigenous Africans are 81% of the RSA population) might also want to resist the change of name of "Republic of South Africa" to a more native African name because in actual sense, there is evidence that some of the Boers of Dutch descent and some smaller German immigrants (After the British dislodged them from their trading strongholds in Gold Coast, West Africa) were the first to settle in some of the tiny coastal lands of Republic of South Africa like the Cape Region from the mid-to late 1600s just a short number of years before some Bantu migrants moved further down South to merged with the Khoisan (formerly called Hottentots or Bush men) who were the FIRST in that area between Namibia and South Africa.

No doubt, the Zulus, Xhosas, Ndebeles, Pedis, Tsongas, Khoisans, etc, are indigenous to many parts of that country called Republic of South Africa, but the Dutch and small German migrants' descendants of the 1600s also have a right of existence in that country now.

Thank you so much for this.

I learnt something new, actually many things.

I appreciate educated responses like these.

It should be called The Republic of Xenophobia

grandstar:
Thank you so much for this.

I learnt something new, actually many things.

I appreciate educated responses like these.

@grandstar

My pleasure bro. Enjoy your weekend.