Mahikeng


Mahikeng,

formerly

Mafikeng

or

Mafeking

(both: măf`əkĭng), city (2011 pop. 290,269), capital of North West prov., N central South Africa, near the border of Botswana. It is the market for the surrounding cattle-raising and dairy-farming area and is an important railroad depot. Mafikeng was founded as Mafeking in 1885 on the site of an African settlement. In the South African WarSouth African War
or Boer War,
1899–1902, war of the South African Republic (Transvaal) and the Orange Free State against Great Britain. Background
..... Click the link for more information.  (1899–1902) the British garrison there, under Lord Baden-Powell withstood a BoerBoer
[Du.,=farmer], inhabitant of South Africa of Dutch or French Huguenot descent. Boers are also known as Afrikaners. They first settled (1652) near the Cape of Good Hope in what was formerly Cape Province.
..... Click the link for more information.  (Afrikaner) siege for 217 days; the fort is now a national monument. The city was the extraterritorial capital of the Bechuanaland protectorate until it became independent as BotswanaBotswana
, officially Republic of Botswana, republic (2015 est. pop. 2,209,000), 231,804 sq mi (600,372 sq km), S central Africa. It is bordered by Namibia on the west and north, by Zambia at a narrow strip in the north, by Zimbabwe on the east, and by South Africa on the east
..... Click the link for more information.  in 1965. In 1980 what was then Mafikeng was incorporated into the so-called homeland of BophuthatswanaBophuthatswana
, former black "homeland" and nominal republic, c.17,000 sq mi (44,000 sq km), N South Africa. Bophuthatswana comprised seven separate areas, one along the Botswana border, the remainder enclaves within N and central South Africa.
..... Click the link for more information. , and became part of the much larger Mmabatho, the city that was Bophuthatswana's capital. Mmabatho was the capital of North West prov. from 1994 (when Bophuthatswana was abolished and the province was created); in 1996 the city was renamed Mafikeng. Mahikeng, the original local African name, became the city's name in 2012. A campus of North-West Univ. is there.