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KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language) and Natal Province.
It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean. It shares borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg, and its largest city is Durban, which is also the city with the largest port in sub-saharan Africa. It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, after Gauteng.
Two areas in KwaZulu-Natal have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park. These areas are important to the surrounding ecosystems.
During the 1830s and early 1840s, the northern part of what is now KwaZulu-Natal was established as the Zulu Kingdom. The southern part was, briefly, the Boer Natalia Republic before the British took over control in 1843, renaming it as the Colony of Natal in 1843. The Zulu Kingdom remained independent until 1879.
KwaZulu-Natal is the birthplace of many notable figures in South Africa's history, such as Albert Luthuli, the first non-white and the first person from outside Europe and the Americas to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1960); Pixley ka Isaka Seme, the founder of the African National Congress (ANC) and South Africa's first black lawyer; John Langalibalele Dube, the ANC's founding president; Harry Gwala, ANC member and anti-apartheid activist; Mac Maharaj, Grammy award-winning group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Grammy award-winning DJ Black Coffee, ANC member, anti-apartheid activist and Little Rivonia Trial defendant; Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the founder of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP); Anton Lembede, the founding president of the ANC Youth League; Jacob Zuma, the former President of South Africa; Bhambatha, a 19th-century Zulu chief who became an anti-apartheid icon; and Shaka Zulu.
The coastal regions typically have subtropical thickets and deeper ravines; steep slopes host some Afromontane Forest. The midlands have moist grasslands and isolated pockets of Afromontane Forest. The north has a primarily moist savanna habitat, whilst the Drakensberg region hosts mostly Alpine climate grassland.
The province contains rich areas of biodiversity of a range of flora and fauna. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The iSimangaliso Wetland Park, along with uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park and Ndumo, are wetlands of international importance for bird migration species and are designated as Ramsar sites. South Africa signed the 1971 Ramsar Convention to try to conserve and protect important wetlands because of their importance to habitats and numerous species.
The former Eastern Cape enclave of the town of Umzimkulu and its hinterland have been incorporated into KwaZulu-Natal following the 12th amendment of the Constitution of South Africa. The amendment also made other changes to the southern border of the province.
The northwesterly line of equal latitude and longitude traverses the province from the coast at Hibberdene () to northeast Lesotho.
The province became the first to include a portion of road that is made of partial plastic, the equivalent of nearly 40,000 recycled milk cartons.
The temperature drops towards the hinterland, with Pietermaritzburg being similar in the summer, but much cooler in the winter. Ladysmith in the Tugela River Valley reaches in the summer but may drop below freezing point on winter evenings. The Drakensberg can experience heavy winter snow, with light snow occasionally experienced on the highest peaks in summer. The Zululand north coast has the warmest climate and highest humidity, supporting many sugar cane farms around Pongola.
Domestically, it borders the following provinces:
[[File:KwaZulu-Natal dominant language map.svg|thumb |Dominant languages in KwaZulu-Natal ]]
The KwaZulu-Natal Province is divided into one metropolitan municipality and ten district municipalities. The district municipalities are in turn divided into 44 local municipalities. The local seat of each district municipality is given in parentheses:
In 2012, the Ingonyama Trust owns 32% of the land in KwaZulu-Natal, in many municipalities. This amounts to about three million hectares, occupied by over 4 million people. The Zulu king is the chairman of the Trust.
Beaches of world-class quality are to be found along virtually every part of South Africa's eastern seaboard, with some of the least-developed gems found in the far southern and far northern ends of the province. Marina Beach (and its adjoining resort San Lameer) was recognised in 2002 as a Blue Flag beach.
Some visitors come for the annual late autumn or early winter phenomenon on the KwaZulu-Natal coast of the "sardine run". Referred to as "the greatest shoal on earth", the sardine run occurs when millions of migrate from their spawning grounds south of the southern tip of Africa northward along the Eastern Cape coastline toward KwaZulu-Natal. They follow a route close inshore, often resulting in many fish washing up on beaches. The huge shoal of tiny fish can stretch for many kilometres; it is preyed upon by thousands of predators, including game fish, , dolphins and . Usually, the shoals break up and the fish disappear into deeper water around Durban. Scientists have been unable to answer many questions surrounding this exceptional seasonal event.
]] On Christmas Day 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama saw the coast of Natal and named the site after the Portuguese word for Christmas, Natal. The Nguni people branch of the Bantu peoples occupied this area from the early 1300s.
The first European settlers, mostly British, established Port Natal, a trading post. They made almost no attempt to develop the interior, whose inhabitants had been Mfecane by the Zulu people king, Shaka. The Afrikaner Voortrekkers entered the area via the Drakensberg passes in 1837. These Afrikaners defeated the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838 and thereafter established the Republic of Natal. Thus, the territory was once part of a Natalia Republic between 1839 and 1843 until its annexation by Britain. Many Afrikaner inhabitants left for the interior after the annexation and were replaced by immigrants, mainly from Britain.
From 1860 onwards, increasing numbers of Indians, mainly Tamils, were brought in by the British mainly to work in the sugar plantations on the coast. The colony acquired Zululand (the area north of the Tugela River) after the Zulu War of 1879. The lands north of the Buffalo River were added in 1902. Boer forces entered the area during the South African War (1899 to 1902)also known as the second laid siege to Ladysmith. They failed to build on their initial advantage and for three months the line between the opposing forces followed the course of the Tugela River. In 1910, the colony became a province of the Union of South Africa and in 1961 of the Republic of South Africa.
When the homeland of KwaZulu, which means "Place of the Zulu" was re-incorporated into the Natal province after the end of apartheid in 1994, the province of Natal, which had existed between 1910 and 1994, was renamed KwaZulu-Natal. The province is home to the Zulu monarchy; the majority population speak Zulu language. It is the only province in South Africa that has the name of its dominant ethnic group as part of its name. As with Eastern Cape, most White South Africans in KwaZulu-Natal are of British descent and less than a quarter of whites in the province are of Boer/Afrikaner descent.South Africa as a Multi-Ethnic Society By Godfrey Mwakikagile pg. 136South Africa and Its People By Godfrey Mwakikagile pg. 152
The star represents the Star of Bethlehem, due to Vasco da Gama naming the region "Natalia", a reference to the birth of Christ, on Christmas Day in 1497. The strelitzia flower on the shield symbolizes the province's beauty. The assegai and knobkierrie behind the shield represent protection and peace. The base of the crown element is a type of headdress traditionally worn by Zulu elders, that represents wisdom and maturity. The element itself is a Zulu-style grass hut. The motto is Masisukume Sakhe, Zulu for "Let us stand up and build". My country South Africacelebrating our national symbols and heritage, Department of Education (South Africa), .
This was the former site of St Mary's Church, built in the 1860s. The congregation built a new church in 1884 at the corner of Burger Street and Commercial Road. The old building was demolished in 1887 to provide space for the legislative complex.
When governance was granted to Natal in 1893, the new Legislative Assembly took over the chamber used by the Legislative Council since 1889. Further extensions to the parliamentary building were made. The building was unoccupied until 1902, when it was used without being officially opened, due to the country's being engulfed in the Anglo-Boer war. The war forced the Legislative Assembly to move the venue of its sittings, as its chamber was used as a military hospital.
The Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council buildings have both been protected as provincial landmarks. They formed a colonial Parliament of two houses: a Council of 11 nominated members and an Assembly of 37 elected members. The Natal Parliament was disbanded in 1910 when the Union of South Africa was formed, and the Assembly became the meeting place of the Natal Provincial Council. The council was disbanded in 1986.
The Provincial Legislature consists of 80 members.
Inkatha Freedom Party's Thami Ntuli was officially inaugurated as the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal on 18 June 2024.
| +Historic Breakdown of Population by Group !Population Group !1996 !2001 !2011 !2022 | ||||
| Black African | 82.8% | 85.2% | 86.9% | 84.8% |
| Indian/Asian | 9.3% | 8.3% | 7.4% | 9.3% |
| White | 6.6% | 5.0% | 4.2% | 4.1% |
| Coloureds | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.5% |
| Other | n/a | n/a | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| + ! colspan="2" | Religious Affiliation (2022) |
| Christianity | 74.9% |
| Traditional African | 13.6% |
| Hinduism | 4.2% |
| Islam | 1.9% |
| Buddhism | 0.1% |
| Atheism | 0.1% |
| Agnosticism | 0.1% |
| No religious affiliation | 3.4% |
| Other | 1.8% |
Sugar refining is Durban's main industry. Sheep, cattle, dairy, citrus fruits, maize, sorghum, cotton, bananas, and are also raised. There is an embryonic KwaZulu-Natal wine industry. Other industries, located mainly in and around Durban, include textile, clothing, chemicals, rubber, fertiliser, paper, vehicle assembly and food-processing plants, tanneries, and Petroleum refineries.
To the north, Newcastle is the province's industrial powerhouse, with Mittal Steel South Africa (previously ISPAT/ISCOR) and the Karbochem synthetic rubber plant dominating the economy. In 2002, Newcastle became the largest producer of chrome chemicals in Africa with the completion of a chrome-chemical plant, a joint-venture project between Karbochem and German manufacturing giant Bayer.
Other large operations include a diamond-cutting works, various heavy engineering concerns, the Natal Portland Cement (NPC) slagment cement factory, and the Newcastle Cogeneration Plant (old Ingagane Power Station). This was recommissioned as Africa's first gas-fired power station by Independent Power Southern Africa (IPSA), and it supplies the Karbochem Plant with electricity. The textile industry is a major employer in the Newcastle area, with over 100 factories belonging to ethnic Taiwanese and Chinese industrialists. Maize, livestock and dairy farmers operate on the outskirts of the city. Coal is mined in the Newcastle area.
Offshore mining of heavy mineral sands including minerals with a concentration of significant economic importance at several locations, such as rutile, ilmenite and zircon are threatening the marine ecology of KwaZulu-Natal's coast, including the Tugela Banks. The fishing economy of the prawn and nurse fisheries are also threatened. Richards Bay Minerals: History, www.rbm.co.za
Ecology tourism is increasingly important to the economy of KwaZulu-Natal. The area's rich biodiversity and efforts at conservation have been recognised. Tourists have come to see the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These two major parks and that of Ndumo have wetlands of international importance listed as Ramsar sites for conservation.
In many of these larger reserves, large animals ranging from several antelope species to elephant, African buffalo and hippopotamus can be found. Predators include lions, African leopard, and Cape wild dogs.
The scaly yellowfish ( Labeobarbus natalensis) is a fish found in the Tugela River system as well as in the Umzimkulu River, Umfolozi River and the Mgeni River. It is a common endemism species in KwaZulu-Natal Province and it lives in different habitats between the Drakensberg foothills and the coastal lowlands.
Carissa macrocarpa (Natal plum) is a shrub native to South Africa, where it is commonly called the "large num-num". In the Zulu language or isiZulu, as well as in the Bantu tribes of Uganda, it is known as the Amathungulu or umThungulu oBomvu. In Afrikaans, the fruit is called noem-noem.
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