Namibia renamed the prominent tourist area the Caprivi Strip Thursday in a move to eradicate its German colonial history.
The 450-kilometre area popular for its tropical rivers and wildlife is now called the Zambezi Region, after the river that forms the northern border with Angola, President Hifikepunye Pohamba announced.
The region had been named after Count Leo von Caprivi, chancellor of former colonial master Germany from 1890 to 1894.
The southern African nation was a German colony from 1884 to 1919, then administered by white-minority South Africa until 1990.
A tiny German population still lives in the country.
Two other towns bearing the names of Germany’s colonial politicians were changed to local languages.
Schuckmannsburg in the former Caprivi region was changed back to its original Lohonono.
Harbour town Luederitz is now called !Nami=Nüs, which means “embrace” in local Khoekhoegowab, a Khoisan language.
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