1. A region of southeast Africa on the Indian Ocean. Originally home to Zulus and other Bantu peoples, the region was sighted by Vasco da Gama in 1497 and settled by British traders in 1823 and by the Boers after 1836. Annexed by the British to Cape Colony in 1843, Natal became a separate colony after 1856 and a founding province of South Africa in 1910.

2. A city of northeast Brazil on the Atlantic Ocean north of Recife. Founded in the late 1590s, it grew rapidly in World War II as a base for flights connecting with Africa.