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Mpumalanga (əmˌpuːməˈlɑːŋɡə) is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares borders with the South African provinces of Limpopo to the north, Gauteng to the west, the Free State to the southwest, and KwaZulu-Natal to the south. The capital is Mbombela. Mpumalanga was formed in 1994, when the area that was the Eastern Transvaal was merged with the former bantustans KaNgwane, KwaNdebele and parts of Lebowa and Gazankulu. Although the contemporary borders of the province were only formed at the end of apartheid, the region and its surroundings have a history that extends back thousands of years. Much of its history, and current significance is as a region of trade. Archeological sites in the Mpumalanga region indicate settlement by humans and their ancestors dating back 1.7 million years. Rock paintings, engravings and other archeological evidence throughout the province indicate that Mpumalanga has a long history of human habitation by groups of hunter gathers. Excavations not far from the Mpumalanga border in the Origstad district, show evidence of Middle Stone Age habitation dating back to 40,000 years ago. The Lion Cavern, in Ngwenya on the Eswatini border, shows evidence of people mining iron ore in the Mpumalanga region and surrounding areas from at least 28 000 years ago. Evidence from mine shafts and trade goods shows that there was notable industry in tin, copper, gold, iron, ochre, and bronze. The Lydenburg Heads, from around 500 CE, are Africa's oldest Iron Age artworks south of the equator and were found in Mpumalanga. Evidence from a site near Mbombela shows evidence of agricultural societies from between the 6th to 17th century. Bokoni stone-walled sites on the Mpumalanga highveld are indicative of a large precolonial agropastoral society between ~1500 and 1820 CE.

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South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa, is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania.

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