Ciskei (/səsˈkaɪ/, /sɪsˈkaɪ/ or /sɪsˈkeɪ/) was a nominally independent state – a Bantustan – in the south east of South Africa. It covered an area of 7,700 square kilometres (3,000 sq mi), almost entirely surrounded by what was then the Cape Province, and possessed a small coastline along the shore of the Indian Ocean.<br>Under South Africa's policy of apartheid, land was set aside for black peoples in self-governing territories.<br><br>"Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" (lit. 'Lord Bless Africa') is a Christian hymn originally composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Xhosa clergyman at a Methodist mission school near Johannesburg.
