Natal << nuh TAL >> is a historic region on the east coast of South Africa. The region has been the home of Zulu people for centuries. The region’s full name is Terra do Natal, which means Land of Christ’s Birth in Portuguese. The name was chosen by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama when he sighted the region on Christmas Day, 1497.
Between 1818 and 1828, a Zulu leader named Shaka established a powerful state known as KwaZulu (Zululand) in northern Natal. The southern part of Natal became a British colony in 1843. White settlers opened sugar plantations and encouraged workers to come from India to Natal. In 1879, after two bloody wars between the Zulu and the Natal colonial authorities, Zululand was made part of the British colony of Natal.
The British gave the government of Natal to the white minority in the region even though more Zulu and Indians lived there. In 1910, Natal became one of the four provinces in the new Union of South Africa. The three other provinces were Cape Province, Orange Free State, and Transvaal. In 1994, black people took over the South African government. That same year, South Africa increased the number of its provinces to nine. The Natal area remained a province, but the province’s name was changed to KwaZulu-Natal. The province of KwaZulu-Natal covers about 35,000 square miles (91,000 square kilometers). Pietermaritzburg is its capital. The port city of Durban is its largest city.
See also Bantu; Durban; KwaZulu-Natal; Pietermaritzburg; Zulu.
