Which African capital was originally named 'Salisbury'?

The African capital originally named “Salisbury” was Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. The settlement was founded in 1890 as Fort Salisbury by the Pioneer Column of the British South Africa Company.

The name honoured the 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, who was then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The fort grew into a colonial administrative and commercial centre, and the shorter name Salisbury became standard. It served as the capital of Southern Rhodesia and later Rhodesia during the colonial and minority-rule periods.

After Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980, the government renamed Salisbury Harare on 18 April 1982, the second anniversary of independence. The new name was drawn from the Shona chief Neharawa, whose name is commonly associated with the meaning “he who does not sleep.” This was part of a wider renaming programme intended to replace colonial-era place names. Harare remains Zimbabwe’s largest city and political centre.