Victoria Falls: Difference between revisions

| location = [[Livingstone, Zambia]] Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

| coords =  

   | designation1_free1value = [[Zambia]] and Zimbabwe

[[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 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>

European settlement of the Victoria Falls area started around 1900 in response to the desire of [[Cecil Rhodes]]' [[British South Africa Company]] for [[mineral rights]] and imperial rule north of the Zambezi, and the exploitation of other natural resources such as timber forests north-east of the falls, and ivory and animal skins. Before 1905, the river was crossed above the falls at the [[Old Drift cemetery|Old Drift]], by [[Dugout (boat)|dugout canoe]] or a barge towed across with a steel cable. Rhodes' vision of a [[Cape-Cairo railway]] drove plans for the first bridge across the Zambezi and he insisted it be built where the spray from the falls would fall on passing trains, so the site at the Second Gorge was chosen. See the main article [[Victoria Falls Bridge]] for details.<ref name="Spectrum"/> From 1905 the railway offered accessible travel to whites from as far as the [[Cape Town|Cape]] in the south and from 1909, as far as the [[Belgian Congo]] in the north. In 1904 the [[Victoria Falls Hotel]] was opened to accommodate visitors arriving on the new railway.  The falls became an increasingly popular attraction during [[British Empire|British]] colonial rule of [[Northern Rhodesia]] (Zambia) and [[Southern Rhodesia]] (Zimbabwe), with the town of [[Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe|Victoria Falls]] becoming the main tourist centre.