Nelson Mandela was buried in Qunu, South Africa, after his death in 2013.
Qunu was the rural Eastern Cape village where Mandela spent much of his childhood. He described it as the place where he had lived the happiest years of his boyhood. His state funeral took place in December 2013, followed by a private burial ceremony attended by family, dignitaries, and traditional leaders.
Qunu is not Mandela’s birthplace: he was born in nearby Mvezo in 1918. The two villages are both in the Eastern Cape and are frequently mixed up in brief accounts of his life. Mandela’s burial site is part of a wider memorial and heritage landscape connected with his family and early years.
He died at his home in Johannesburg on 5 December 2013, aged 95. His body was then taken to the Eastern Cape for the funeral and burial in accordance with family wishes.