Durban

Durban is a vibrant cosmopolitian city in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. It is also known by the Zulu word , (the meaning of which is unclear, but most likely is "lagoon" from the word itheku, or "at the harbour", although other shadier theories have been put forward). Since 2000, a number of towns, including Durban, have been part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.

Famous references

• Mohandas Gandhi, India's famous political and symbolic figure (who fought for his country's independence from Britain) worked as a lawyer in Durban and stayed in the country for 20 years. The tactic of passive resistance, used effectively in India to gain independence from the British in 1947, was first employed by Gandhi in South Africa to protest the racial discrimination that was endemic there (and which eventually led to Apartheid).
• Ela Gandhi, grandaughter of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, is a citizen.
• Michael W. Melvill (born in Durban,November 1941) is one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space, flight 15P on June 21, 2004, thus becoming the first commercial astronaut and the 433rd person to go into space. He was also the pilot on SpaceShipOne's flight 16P, the first competitive flight in the Ansari X Prize competition.