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Journal Em Emalb's Journal: Africa 12

Journal by Em Emalb

African countries have had some [voice type=Boston Southie] wicked awesome [voice type=Barry White, erm normal] country names in the past.

Check out a few of these:

Ethiopia used to be Abyssinia

Botswana used to be Bechuanaland

Nigeria used to be Biafra. (Wonder if Jello knew that?)

South Africa used to be Bophuthatswana.

And my personal favorite?

Benin used to be Dahomey.

Das right ya'll. Da Homey.

In case you were wondering, this is where Homey the Clown was born.

Why do I bring this stuff to your attention? Hell if I know. All I know is I FELT COMPELLED TO. Please help me. ;)

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  • Of course the first thing that jumps into my head after reading the list is...

    Istanbul was Constantinople
    Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
    Been a long time gone, Constantinople
    Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

    Every gal in Constantinople
    Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
    So if you've a date in Constantinople
    She'll be waiting in Istanbul

    Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
    Why they changed it I can't say
    People just liked it better that way

    So take me back to Constantinople
    No, you can't go
  • What was djibouti called before?! (I dunno, I don't think you can get any better than Djibouti!)

    Em Emalb: Djibouti?
    Mekka B: No... did you?

    • Re:What about (Score:3, Interesting)

      by TechnoLust ( 528463 )
      That was ALWAYS my fav in Geography. I can barely point out the US of A on a map, but I could draw djibouti's borders on a topochart!

      I used to go around chanting Djibouti in Geography class, much to my teaher's chagrin.

  • Was a rebel region of Nigeria [wikipedia.org], 1967-1970, not a former name for Nigeria. And yes, it inspired Jello.
    • dang.

      guess I need to actually read the whole article next time eh?

      damn you google and your instant responses!

      good to know
    • I remember hearing Jello talk about how as a child he heard about the Biafra Rebellion, and that it was an influence in his life. Just like watching the Vietnam war on TV, and seeing protestors beat up by police in his hometown. So I think it is safe to say that that his how he came up with the name.

      I came across this Jello Biafra Bio recently. [angelfire.com] You and (more to the point) Em should find it interesting.

      Also note that before the Green Party decided to go with Ralph Nader in 2000, Jello Biafra was the pop
  • And Zimbabwe and Zambia are more properly called Rhodesia, after the man who discovered them.
    • As opposed to the name that the natives gave it before he discovered them, right?

      "I claim this land in the name of England"
      "You can't claim this. It's ours. We live here."
      "Oh yeah, but do you have a flag?"
      "Well, no."
      "Then I claim this land in the name of England." (plants a Union Jack in the ground)

      -Ab

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