historical region in the northeast section of present KwaZulu/Natal (KwaZulu-Natal) (formerly Natal) province, South Africa, and the home of the Zulu (q.v.) people.

The Zulu belonged to the Mtetwa empire, under its leader Dingiswayo (reigned 1809–17). On Dingiswayo's death the Zulu leader Shaka (reigned 1816–28) established his people's dominance over their neighbours and, using a well-disciplined and efficient fighting force, conquered most of what is now KwaZulu/Natal. During the reign of Shaka's successor, Dingane, the Zulu empire was penetrated by the Boers, who formed an alliance with Dingane's brother, Mpande, and deposed Dingane in 1840. The state survived, but under King Mpande (1840–72) portions of Zulu (Zulu War) territory were taken over by the Boers and by the British (British Empire), who moved into Natal in 1838 and annexed it in 1843. War broke out when Mpande's successor, Cetshwayo, refused to disband the Zulu army and to place himself under British control in 1878. Despite stiff resistance, the British defeated the poorly armed Zulu in July 1879, occupied the remainder of their country, and divided Zululand into 13 small kingdoms.

Zululand was made a British crown colony in 1887 under the Native Law of Natal, and rebellions were put down in 1888 and 1906. By the Natal Native Code of 1894, two-thirds of the Zulu's land was confiscated, and they were confined to native reserves. The incorporation of Zululand into Natal in 1897 ended its separate existence. Under the apartheid system, a Bantu Homeland (later called a black state) named KwaZulu was established for the Zulu in the 1970s and was composed of discrete areas of the historical Zululand. With the abolition of the apartheid system, KwaZulu in 1994 was reincorporated into Natal province, which was renamed KwaZulu/Natal.