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why do African countries, such as Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and others that were colonized, still have cities with Dutch, German and English names? These countries have gained their independence, why do they keep holding on to their colonized history...Are they proud of that? Why don't these African countries give their cities and towns names of their native language, take pride in their native languages and forget their colonial past.
There are still significant populations of Dutch and English descendants in these countries. Is their history to be erased because they are a minority? Maybe they believe it's inappropriate, perhaps even unfair, to deny the contributions made by the Dutch, Germans, and English in having founded and developed these cities over the first century of their existence.
why do African countries, such as Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and others that were colonized, still have cities with Dutch, German and English names? These countries have gained their independence, why do they keep holding on to their colonized history...Are they proud of that? Why don't these African countries give their cities and towns names of their native language, take pride in their native languages and forget their colonial past.
Things do/have been renamed and are still being renamed. I'm not sure if I'd go ahead and rename everything. I mean if I look at Oliver Tambo International airport.
It went from Jan Smuts Airport -> Johannesburg International Airport -> Oliver Tambo International airport
All the signs and map books need to get updated to do that. I thought having it as Johannesburg International Airport was perfectly acceptable but then it got renamed not too long after. A huge waste of money in my opinion compared to where that money could have been spent.
@Bold text - We have 11 official languages. Which should they use?
Thank goodness, at least Leopoldville was changed to Kinshasha.
Belgian King Leopold was a horrible genocidal monster, responsible for millions of Congolese deaths as his overseers worked the natives to death brutally, harvesting rubber and ivory. https://en.wikipedia/wiki/King_Leopold's_Ghost
I think that in most cases, the African cities that have European names were areas in Africa where large numbers of Europeans settled and the indigenous societies were not as developed..For example Lagos, Ibadan, Kano were cities and
towns that existed before the colonial era and that area did not get a large influx of European settlers. The indigenous cultures were strong enough to resist a lot of Europeanization or incorporate it into indigenous cultures.
Thank goodness, at least Leopoldville was changed to Kinshasha.
Belgian King Leopold was a horrible genocidal monster, responsible for millions of Congolese deaths as his overseers worked the natives to death brutally, harvesting rubber and ivory. https://en.wikipedia/wiki/King_Leopold's_Ghost
And nothing as changed in the last 100 years. The current leadership as overseen the death of millions of Congolese just since 1998.
why do African countries, such as Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and others that were colonized, still have cities with Dutch, German and English names? These countries have gained their independence, why do they keep holding on to their colonized history...Are they proud of that? Why don't these African countries give their cities and towns names of their native language, take pride in their native languages and forget their colonial past.
My guess is that African countries have bigger problems than "city names"
As dowsieboi already mentioned, the 2 biggest factors are cost and consensus. I can't think of a single African country with a single language or a single dialect.
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