Doorns

Doorns is a toponym used for several rural settlements in southern Africa. The name derives from the Afrikaans doorn, meaning thorn, and is often applied to places located in thorny savanna or scrubland.

Typical features of Doorns communities include small populations, agricultural land, and local farms arranged around a central trading or meeting point. The communities are usually governed as part of larger municipalities and provinces, with services and infrastructure that vary by locality. The plural form Doorns appears in some places as a collective designation for a cluster of farms or a small community rather than a single formal town.

The settlements commonly emerged in the late 19th and 20th centuries during European settlement and agricultural development, often in connection with railway routes or land distribution policies. Economically they rely on agriculture, livestock farming, and related services, with landscapes characterized by open veld and thorny vegetation. Demographically they are often Afrikaans-speaking, with other language communities present in some areas.

See also Doorn, a related placename in Dutch-language contexts.