Lifestyle - 2 days ago

15 African Countries That Changed Their Names After Colonialism

567

When colonial powers swept across Africa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, they did not just seize land and resources, they renamed entire nations. These new names often honoured European explorers, reflected colonial ambitions, or simply described a territory’s most exploitable asset, as was the case with the Gold Coast. For the people who lived there, the names were daily reminders of conquest.

As African nations gained independence, many chose to shed those identities and reclaim something of their own. Some turned to ancient empires. Others drew inspiration from rivers, deserts, and the ethnic groups who had always called the land home. A few simply corrected a colonial mispronunciation or standardised their name on the global stage.

1. eSwatini – Formerly Known as Swaziland

In 2018, King Mswati III officially renamed the country from Swaziland to the Kingdom of eSwatini. The decision was partly practical, the old name caused persistent confusion with Switzerland but it was also deeply symbolic. “eSwatini” is the original Swazi name for the kingdom and translates roughly to “land of the Swazis.” After more than 50 years of independence, it was a long-overdue reclamation.

2. Cabo Verde – Formerly Known as Cape Verde

In 2013, the government formally requested that the international community adopt the Portuguese name “Cabo Verde” in place of its English translation “Cape Verde.” The move was not about independence, Cabo Verde had been independent since 1975 but about standardising the country’s official identity worldwide and honouring the Portuguese-language heritage that defines the archipelago’s culture.

3. Namibia – Formerly Known as South-West Africa

For decades, the territory was known simply as South-West Africa, a blunt descriptor used during German and later South African administration. When the country gained independence in 1990, it took the name Namibia, drawn from the Namib Desert one of the world’s oldest deserts and a landscape central to the nation’s geography and identity. The name was also a neutral choice that avoided elevating any single ethnic group above the others.

4. Burkina Faso – Formerly Known as Upper Volta

The name Upper Volta was a purely geographical label given by French colonisers, referring to the upper basin of the Volta River. In 1984, revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara replaced it with Burkina Faso, a name that blends two local languages: Mooré and Dioula. Together they mean “the land of upright and honest people.” The renaming was part of Sankara’s broader anti-imperialist programme to restore African pride and sever symbolic ties to colonial rule.

5. Zimbabwe – Formerly Known as Southern Rhodesia

Few colonial names carried as much political weight as Rhodesia, which honoured Cecil Rhodes- the British mining magnate and arch-imperialist who orchestrated the colonisation of the region. After a prolonged independence struggle, the country became Zimbabwe in 1980. The name comes from “Great Zimbabwe,” the ancient stone city that served as the capital of a powerful medieval empire and stands as one of the most significant archaeological sites in sub-Saharan Africa.

6. Benin – Formerly Known as Dahomey

Fifteen years after gaining independence from France, the country changed its name from Dahomey to Benin in 1975. Dahomey referred to a pre-colonial kingdom in the south of the country, but it was not representative of the nation as a whole. The new name, Benin, was chosen to represent the Bight of Benin, The body of water that borders the country’s southern coast and connects its diverse regions under a shared geographical identity.

7. Zambia – Formerly Known as Northern Rhodesia

Like Zimbabwe to the south, Zambia carried the name of Cecil Rhodes until independence arrived in 1964. The country shed the name Northern Rhodesia and adopted Zambia, inspired by the Zambezi River – the fourth-longest river in Africa, which flows through the heart of the country and has sustained its people for thousands of years.

8. Botswana – Formerly Known as Bechuanaland

The British protectorate of Bechuanaland became the Republic of Botswana in 1966. The new name reflects the Tswana people, who make up the largest ethnic group in the country. Rather than accepting a name shaped by colonial administration, Botswana chose an identity rooted in the people who had always been there.

9. Lesotho – Formerly Known as Basutoland

When the British protectorate of Basutoland achieved independence in 1966, it became Lesotho, A name that translates directly to “the land of the Sotho people.” The renaming was straightforward and meaningful: the country belongs to the Sotho, and its new name said exactly that.

10. Malawi – Formerly Known as Nyasaland

The British colonial name Nyasaland referenced Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi), but the new name went further in its symbolism. When independence came in 1964, the country adopted the name Malawi, believed to derive from the historic Maravi Empire or from a local word meaning “flaming waters” — a poetic reference to the way sunlight catches the surface of the vast lake at dusk.

11. Democratic Republic of the Congo – Formerly Known as Zaire (and Belgian Congo)

No country on this list has changed its name more times or more dramatically. It began as the Congo Free State under King Leopold II of Belgium, a territory synonymous with brutal exploitation. It became the Belgian Congo after international pressure, then gained independence as the Republic of the Congo in 1960. Under dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, it was renamed Zaire in 1971 as part of his “authenticity” campaign to strip the country of Western influences.

12. Ghana – Formerly Known as Gold Coast

The British name “Gold Coast” said everything about colonial intent – the region was valuable for what could be extracted from it, not for the civilisations that had flourished there. In 1957, when the country became the first sub-Saharan African colony to gain independence, its leaders chose the name Ghana to honour the ancient Ghana Empire, a powerful West African kingdom that had dominated trans-Saharan trade centuries before European contact.

13. Mali – Formerly Known as French Sudan

The territory known as French Sudan had been administered as part of various French colonial configurations for decades. Upon independence in 1960, it took the name Mali in deliberate tribute to the Mali Empire – the medieval state that, at its height, controlled more gold than any other on earth and whose city of Timbuktu was a global centre of Islamic scholarship and commerce.

14. Tanzania – Formerly Known as Tanganyika and Zanzibar

Tanzania’s name has a unique origin: it was invented. In 1964, the mainland territory of Tanganyika and the island nation of Zanzibar merged into a single republic. Rather than choosing one name over the other, their leaders created a new word by combining the first syllables of each territory – Tan, from Tanganyika; zan, from Zanzibar and adding the suffix “ia.” The result, Tanzania, belongs equally to both halves of the union.

15. Djibouti – Formerly Known as French Territory of the Afars and Issas

Before independence from France in 1977, this small nation in the Horn of Africa was officially the French Territory of the Afars and Issas a name that acknowledged its two main ethnic communities but remained entirely colonial in character. The country took the name Djibouti from its capital city and primary port, which had long been the economic and cultural heart of the territory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which African country was the first to change its name after colonialism? Ghana holds this distinction. When the Gold Coast gained independence from Britain in 1957 becoming the first sub-Saharan African nation to do so it immediately adopted the name Ghana, honouring the ancient Ghana Empire.

Why did so many African countries change their colonial names? Colonial names were often imposed to reflect European interests: resource extraction, the names of colonisers, or simple geographical descriptions. When African nations gained independence, renaming was a way to reclaim sovereignty, honour indigenous history, and signal a clean break from the past.

Which African country has changed its name the most times? The Democratic Republic of the Congo has had more name changes than any other country on the continent. It has been known as the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Republic of the Congo, Zaire, and finally the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1997.

What does “Burkina Faso” mean in English? Burkina Faso combines words from two local languages. Mooré and Dioula to mean “the land of upright and honest people.” The name was chosen in 1984 by President Thomas Sankara as part of a broader effort to reject colonial symbolism.

When did Swaziland change its name to eSwatini? Swaziland officially became the Kingdom of eSwatini on 19 April 2018, when King Mswati III announced the change on the country’s 50th independence anniversary. The name eSwatini is the original Swazi name for the kingdom.