Natal

Former province of South Africa to 1994, bounded on the east by the Indian Ocean. The capital was Pietermaritzburg. In 1994 the province became part of KwaZulu-Natal Province.

History Vasco da Gama is reputed to have passed what is now Durban on Christmas Day, 1497, naming the country Terra Natalis (‘of [Christ's] birth’); evidence, however, points to the fact that it was Pondoland where da Gama landed.

In 1823 Lieutenant Farewell landed in the bay, and later Henry Francis Fynn was sent overland to obtain a grant of territory from Shaka, the paramount chief of the Zulus, who gave them permission to settle. Shaka was assassinated in 1828 by Dingaan, his half-brother, whose followers were hostile to the white settlers and their African allies. Matters were not settled until 1831 when the Zulus recognized Henry Francis Fynn as a white leader. In 1835 Dingaan granted a concession of land to Captain Gardiner, who formed a British colony at Durban.

In 1837 the Boers, trekking northwards from Cape Colony, first entered Natal, and having defeated the Zulus at Blood River in December 1838, attempted to establish a republic. In 1840 they issued a proclamation taking possession of all land between the Tugela and Black Umvolozi rivers. The British government refused to acknowledge the independence of the new state, and in 1842 a small force was sent to drive the Boers out, but was repulsed. One of the settlers, Richard King, rode through the Boer lines to Grahamstown (966 km/600 mi away) and so secured relief.

On 8 August 1843 Natal was finally proclaimed a British colony (annexed to Cape Colony) and the Boers moved westwards to the Transvaal. In 1856 Natal was declared an independent colony. In 1879 Cetewayo, king of the Zulus, was defeated and captured. Zululand was annexed to Natal in 1897.

In 1881 the Transvaal Boers invaded the country and defeated the British at Majuba Hill. Zululand was annexed to Natal in 1897. In the war of 1899–1902, Natal was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting: Elandslaagte, Glencoe, Ladysmith, and the second battle of Majuba Hill. After the war, in 1903, Utrecht, Vrijheid, and part of Wakkerstroom were transferred from the Transvaal to Natal.

In 1906 there was a Zulu uprising along the Tugela River which was suppressed with great loss to the Zulus. In 1907 there was another outbreak, which ended in the arrest of the son of Cetewayo, Dinizulu (d. 1913).

On 31 May 1910 the colony of Natal was merged in the Union of South Africa, becoming an original province of the Union.

In 1994, a state of emergency was imposed in Natal in the run-up to the first multiracial elections, after escalating violence by the Zulu-based Inkatha party threatened to derail the election process.

Natal

Seaport and capital of Rio Grande do Norte federal unit (state), northeast Brazil; situated on the banks of the Potengi River on the Atlantic coast 410 km/255 mi southeast of the port of Fortaleza; population (2000) 712,300. There are textile and salt-refining industries, and cotton, sugar, salt, and hides are exported. Tourism is important. The Fort of the Three Kings is a pentagonal monument, so named because of the founding of the city in 1597 on 6 January, the Epiphany. There is also a cathedral (1768) and a university, founded in 1958.

Tourism is significant as the region has few other major industries. Natal has some of the most spectacular beaches in the northeast, especially the dunes at Genipabu Beach.