Republic of Congo Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time to cast my net a little wider. This time the Republic of Congo and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital. Confusion with the previous look at the cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo is understandable, the two are separated by the river common to both names, said river also all that divides the two capital cities - albeit a very wide river.

Brazzaville was founded on September 10th 1880 by the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who clearly gave his name to the place. There had been a Bateke village named Nkuna here previously but the French Empire wanted this site as a statement to defy the Belgian-occupied Leopoldville across the river., today known as Kinshasa.

Pointe-Noire is also clearly French and means 'black point'. However the name already existed, named by Portuguese navigators who used the headland of black rocks as a maritime marker and knew it as Ponta Negra.

Dolisie was founded to function as a link between the ocean and the railway, indeed initially this had been little more than a station, albeit an important one. It is named after a lieutenant of Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, one Albert Dolisie.

Nkayi was the original name of the settlement which became Jacob in 1887, this the French engineer who surveyed the route for the Congo-Ocean Railway. It changed back to its native name in 1975. This may well share an origin with the district of Nkayi in Matebeleland, in which case this could mean 'where are you going'. However a question for a place name would be most unusual, possibly unique, and thus perhaps this is a misinterpretation and should be 'where you are going'.

Pool is a department named after the Pool Malebo, at 14 miles across a very wide stretch of the Congo. It had previously been known as the Stanley Pool after explorer Henry Morton Stanley. Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Democratic Republic of Congo Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time to cast my net a little wider. This time the Democratic Republic of Congo and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

Kinshasha took its present name from a small village named Kinchassa once found near the site of a city with a present-day population of over eight million, the original name thought to have come from 'the salt market'. The name changed in 1966 when Joseph-Desire Mobutu began 'Africanizing' names from colonial rule. Previously it had been known as Leopoldville in honour of King Leopold II of Belgium, although the settlement began as a trading post founded by Henry Morton Stanley, a name most often associated with finding the missionary and explorer Dr David Livingstone.

Lubumbashi is another with a comparatively recent name change, it formerly known as Elisabethville and named after Queen Elisabeth, consort of the Belgian King Albert I. Its modern name comes from the nearby Lubumbashi river, a name never understood and hardly surprising when considering the indigenous tribes of the Democratic Republic of Congo may officially be said to speak the Bantu languages, although this is a language group with at least 75 distinct languages and a minimum of 250 distinct dialects and sub-groups.

Mbuji-Mayi is the modern name and means 'goat water' and indeed there are a large number of goats in an area well watered by the Sankuru river. Formerly the place was known as Bakwanga, the name of the clan living in the area when first developed as a mining community, nothing further is known on this name.

Bukavu is a part of the ancient Bushi kingdom, the latter speaking of 'the nobility of Shi', while the modern name replaced the French name of Costermansville and comes from the Bashi bu nkafu or 'the farm of cows'.

Kananga had been known as Luluaburg as it lies on the Lulua river. The modern name is from the Tshiluba word kanangayi or 'a place for peace or love' and continues to be a meeting place for chieftains to settle disputes and agree treaties.

Kisangani had been known as Stanleyville, again a reminder of Henry Morton Stanley, with the modern version a Swahili transaltion of the local boyoma or 'city on the island'.

Matadi is from the local Kikongo language and means 'stone'. This refers to the steep inclines everyone needs to negotiate when travelling to or from Matadi, leading to a delightful local saying which maintains anyone living in Matadi has to be fully conversant with the verbs meaning 'to go up', 'to come down' and 'to sweat'.

Mbandaka was known as Equateurville when founded by Henry Morton Stanley in 1883, as it was thought to lie on the equator. The present name comes from a prominent local leader.

Baraka comes from a Swahili word and means 'lucky'. This seems an unusual idea for a place with no paved roads, no running water, no electricity, and was the centre for the cross-border Maoist insurgency for more than two decades.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.