Administrators, upwizcampeditors
0
edits
Victoria Falls: Difference between revisions
From Chalo Chatu, Zambia online encyclopedia
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''Victoria Falls''', or '''Mosi-oa-Tunya'''Tonga: ''the Smoke that Thunders''), is a waterfall in southern Africa on the [[Zambezi River]] at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. | '''Victoria Falls''', or '''Mosi-oa-Tunya'''Tonga: ''the Smoke that Thunders''), is a waterfall in southern Africa on the [[Zambezi River]] at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. | ||
==Naming== | |||
[[David Livingstone]], the Scottish missionary and explorer, is believed to have been the first European to view Victoria Falls on 16 November 1855 from what is now known as [[Livingstone Island]], one of two land masses in the middle of the river, immediately upstream from the falls on the Zambian side.<ref name="Livingstone!!! Tourism.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.livingstonetourism.com|title=Livingstone Tourism Association, Victoria Falls, Zambia - Livingstone, Zambia|work=livingstonetourism.com}}</ref> Livingstone named his discovery in honour of [[Queen Victoria|Queen Victoria of Britain]], but the indigenous name, Mosi-oa-Tunya—"the smoke that thunders"—continues in common usage as well. The nearby national park in Zambia is named ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'',<ref name=wicezm>''National Parks and Nature Reserves of Zambia'', [http://www.nationalparks-worldwide.info/zambia.htm World Institute for Conservation and Environment].</ref> whereas the national park and town on the Zimbabwean shore are both named ''Victoria Falls''.<ref name=wicezw>''National Parks and Nature Reserves of Zimbabwe'', [http://www.nationalparks-worldwide.info/zimbabwe.htm World Institute for Conservation and Environment].</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Medium Term Plan (MTP): January 2010 – December 2015|publisher=Government of Zimbabwe|url=http://www.kubatana.net/docs/econ/goz_medium_term_plan_100706.pdf|accessdate=2013-05-15}}</ref> The [[World Heritage List]] officially recognizes both names.<ref name="WW"/> | |||
In 2013, the government of Zimbabwe declared its intention to officially rename the falls "Mosi-oa-Tunya", citing continuity with other renamings such as [[Harare]] (from Salisbury), and Zimbabwe (from [[Rhodesia]]).<ref name=Mosi2013>{{cite news|last=Shoko|first=Janet|title=Zimbabwe to rename Victoria Falls in anti-colonial name bid|url=http://www.theafricareport.com/Southern-Africa/zimbabwe-to-rename-victoria-falls-in-anti-colonial-name-bid.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tar-home+%28The+Africa+Report.com+-+Latest+news%29&utm_content=FaceBook|accessdate=18 December 2013|newspaper=The Africa Report|date=17 December 2013}}</ref> | |||
