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Durban is a vibrant cosmopolitian city in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. It is also known by Zulu-speakers as eThekwini, the meaning of which is unclear (guesses range from 'lagoon' to 'the one-testicled one'). Since 2000, a number of towns, including Durban, have been part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
Durban is being marketed as "South Africa's Playground". It has a population of about 3.1 million people with diverse cultures including a large Indian community making Durban the second largest city in South Africa. While Johannesburg has embraced its new Afro-centric nature, and Cape Town has held on to its Euro-centric culture, Durban has emerged as an Ethno-centric city - a polyglot of Eastern, Western and African cultures, each of which give Durban a distinctly unique flavour.
Durban is primarily a 'holiday city'/beach resort, but at the same time is South Africa's busiest container port and has a substantial industrial sector. The port is one of the world's largest natural deep water ports. The long continuous stretch of hotels that line the city's beachfront is known as Durban's Golden Mile.
Places of interest in Durban include:
Roma Revolving Restaurant, similar to London's Post Office Tower (although smaller in scale), is a prominent building from the port with, as the name suggests, a rotating circular restaurant room that provides 360 degree views of the city.
The port, waterfront and Beachfront.
City Hall.
Durban Horse Race Course.
Berea.
Umhlanga Rocks.
The BAT centre
The new aquarium, Durban's Aquarium - uShaka Marine World, one of the largest Aquariums in the world.
Sahara Stadium Kingsmead is a major test match and one-day cricket venue.
Outside of the city centre is the Valley of a Thousand Hills a dramatic geographical rock formation created by the Mngeni River and its tributaries.
The Zulus called the almost land-locked lagoon "Thekwini" (lagoon) and used to set out elaborate fish traps in the shallows. On December 25, 1497, Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama anchored at present day Durban and named the natural harbour "Rio De Natal" (Christmas River). It was also called "Parva de Pescaria" (the fisheries) because of the fish traps.
In 1824, British traders and adventurers Lieutenant Francis Farewell and Mr Henry Fynn and their party left the Cape Colony in order to establish an ivory trading business in Natal. Later that year Nathaniel Isaacs went on a mission to rescue them, and together they established a trading post after land was granted to them by King Shaka of the Zulus, which they named Port Natal. The small settlement grew into a town and in 1835, Port Natal was renamed Durban in honor of then Cape Colony Governor, Sir Benjamin d"Urban. The Voortrekkers arrived over the Drakensberg mountains in 1838 and after a series of battles the Cape government built a fort. The area was finally annexed to the Cape Colony in 1844. In the late 1800s, the British shipped in thousands of indentured labourers from India and other Asian countries to work on the sugarcane fields. The Indian population has grown and is now the densest concentration of Indians outside India.
In the 1990s, Durban usurped Cape Town's position as South Africa's second-largest city, although the two are very similar in size.
Durban International Airport provides air transportation for the city. There are plans to move the location of the airport to La Mercy, a site north of the metro area not too far from Gateway, one of the largest shopping centres in the Southern Hemisphere. Durban International Airport is served by all major South African Airlines. Links within the country and to Swaziland, Mozambique and Mauritius exist.
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