A Kraal (or Kral, afrikaans, from port. curral for cattle corral) ) was originally a circular settlement with a strictly regulated social structure. Kraale existed mainly in southern Africa. They were mostly surrounded by a palisade-like thorny wall.
Today, Kraal is only the cattle-goat, which was once in the middle of the settlement. However, one finds the word from time to time in place names in South Africa.
Source: The Story of South Africa by Edward Sylvester Ellis, George Burnett Barton, Frank Wilinson. THE HISTORICAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE DARK CONTINENT BY THE EUROPEAN POWERS AND THE CULMINATING CONTEST BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC IN THE TRANSVAAL WAR. OCEANIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, SYDNEY, N. S. W. 1899, BY JONES BROS. PUBLISHING CO.
