Africa-Press – South-Africa. Cape Town – Africa is a beautiful continent, rich in culture and with a great variety of languages.
But have you have you ever wondered how some African cities earned their nicknames? Many cities have been given alternate names over the years. New York’s “The Big Apple” and Paris’ famous “City of Love” are well known. But how do cities get their nicknames?
Hotel group Jurys Inn have uncovered the history behind the alternative names of over 100 of the world’s most iconic cities. Let’s take a look at some for cities across Africa:
The capital city of Morocco, Rabat, has been dubbed the “Washington of North Africa”. It earned this because its wide boulevards, parks, monuments, embassies and government buildings reminded many of the US capital. Rabat is also the seat of the Moroccan royal family.
Khartoum is known as the “Triangular Capital”. Sudan’s capital acquired the nickname due to the fact that it is located at the convergence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile, where the two rivers form a triangle.
Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar, is known as the “City of the Thousand”. The nickname is a translation; the city was named Antananarivo to honour the soldiers of a 17th century king who once guarded it.
Johannesburg is famously known as the “City of Gold” because it sits atop one of the world’s largest known gold deposits. The main Witwatersrand gold reef was discovered in 1884, and Johannesburg was established two years later.
Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, has the beautiful nickname “City of Acacias”. Many of the this Indian Ocean port’s streets and avenues are lined with these lush green trees.
The many species of flowers and plants growing in and around Ghana’s second-largest city, Kumasi, have earned it the nickname “The Garden City”.
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