Cape Town
Cape Town (
Afrikaans:
Kaapstad /ˈkɑːpstɑt/;
Xhosa:
iKapa) is the
third most populous city in
South Africa, forming part of the
metropolitan municipality of the
City of Cape Town. It is the provincial
capital of the
Western Cape, as well as the
legislative capital of South Africa, where the
National Parliament and many government offices are located. Cape Town is famous for its
harbour as well as its natural setting in the
Cape floral kingdom, including such well-known landmarks as
Table Mountain and
Cape Point. Often regarded as one of the world's most beautiful cities because of its geography, Cape Town is the most popular South African destination for
tourism.
Cape Town originally developed as a victualling station for
Dutch ships sailing to
Eastern Africa,
India, and
Asia.
Jan van Riebeeck's arrival on
6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in
sub-Saharan Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the
Castle of Good Hope. It was the largest city in South Africa until the growth of
Johannesburg and
Durban.
According to the
2001 Census, the city has a population of 2.9 million.
Cape Town's land area of 2,499
square kilometres (965
sq mi) is larger than other South African cities, resulting in a comparatively lower population density of 1,158 people per square kilometre (2,999/sq mi).
Cape Town is
twinned with
Nice,
France.
The first known people of the Western Cape area arrived from the north around
100,000 B.C. Little is known of the history of the region's first residents, as there is no written history of the area before it was first mentioned by
Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in 1486.
Vasco da Gama recorded a sighting of the
Cape of Good Hope in 1497, but the area did not have regular contact with Europeans until 1652, when the
Netherlands'
Jan van Riebeeck and other employees of the
Dutch East India Company (
Dutch:
Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie, VOC) were sent to the Cape to establish a way-station for ships travelling to the
Dutch East Indies. The city grew slowly during this period, as it was hard to find adequate labourers. This labour shortage prompted the city to import slaves from
Indonesia and
Madagascar; many of whom would come to form the first of the
Cape Coloured communities.
The British successfully gained outright control of Cape Town in 1795, during the
Battle of Muizenberg. Under the terms of a
peace agreement negotiated after the war, the Cape was returned to the Dutch in 1803. The war resumed later that year, and British forces re-occupied the Cape, after winning the
Battle of Blaauwberg in
1806. In the
1814 peace treaty which ended the war in Europe, the Cape was permanently incorporated into the
British Empire. As the territory under British control grew even larger outward from the city, it became the capital of the newly formed
Cape Colony.
The discovery of
diamonds in
Griqualand West in
1869, and
gold on the
Witwatersrand in
1886, near the present-day city of
Johannesburg prompted a massive
gold rush. Johannesburg grew rapidly as the country was flooded with immigrants. Tensions also emerged between the
Boers, who had taken part in the
Great Trek and established republics in the centre of the country; the new migrants, known as
uitlanders; and the British colonial government. This conflict resulted in the
Second Anglo-Boer War. After the British won this war and acquired control of the gold and diamond industries, they unified the Cape Colony with the two defeated Boer Republics (the
South African Republic and the
Orange Free State) and the British colony of
Natal to form the
Union of South Africa, which was proclaimed in 1910 with Cape Town as its legislative capital, a function it has continued to serve for the
Republic of South Africa from 1961 to the present.
In 1948, the
National Party was elected on election promises of
racial segregation laws, collectively known by the
Afrikaans word
apartheid. As a consequence of the
Group Areas Act, which classified all areas of the country and city according to race, formerly multi-racial suburbs were either purged of unlawful residents or demolished. The most infamous example of this in Cape Town is
District Six, which was demolished in 1965, prompting the forced removal of over 60,000 residents after it was declared a whites-only region.
Many of these resident were relocated to the
Cape Flats. Under apartheid, the Cape was considered a "
Coloured labour preference area", to the exclusion of
Black Africans.
Cape Town was home to many leaders of the anti-apartheid movement, despite many of the group's leaders' internment on
Robben Island, a penitentiary island 10 kilometres out to sea from the city, where many famous political prisoners were held for many years. In one of the most famous moments marking the end of apartheid,
Nelson Mandela made his first public speech in decades on
11 February 1990 from the balcony of
Cape Town City Hall hours after being released. His speech heralded the beginning of a new era for the country, and the first
democratic election was held four years later, on
27 April 1994. Since 1994, the city has struggled with major problems such as
HIV/
AIDS,
tuberculosis, and a surge in violent
drug-related
crime, which has given the city one of the highest
homicide rates in the world. At the same time, the economy has surged to unprecedented levels due to the boom in the
tourism and the
real estate industries.
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A NASA satellite image of Cape Town and its environment taken by a Landsat satellite in February 2000 |
The centre of Cape Town is located at the northern end of the
Cape Peninsula.
Table Mountain forms a dramatic backdrop to the city bowl, with its plateau well over one kilometre (3,300
ft) high; it is surrounded by near-vertical cliffs,
Devil's Peak and
Lion's Head. Sometimes a thin strip of cloud forms over the mountain, and owing to its appearance, it is affectionately known as the "tablecloth". The peninsula consists of a dramatic mountainous spine jutting southwards into the
Atlantic Ocean, ending at
Cape Point. There are over 70 peaks above 1,000 feet (304.8
m) (the American definition of a
mountain) within Cape Town's official city limits.
Many of the suburbs of Cape Town are on the large plain of the
Cape Flats, which joins the peninsula to the mainland.
The
Cape Peninsula has a
Mediterranean climate with well-defined
seasons. In
winter, which lasts from May to August, large
cold fronts come across from the
Atlantic Ocean with heavy
precipitation and strong north-westerly winds. The winter months are cool, with an average minimum temperature of 7 °
C (45 °
F). Most of the city's annual rainfall occurs in wintertime, but due to the mountainous topography of the city, rainfall amounts for specific areas can vary dramatically. The valleys and coastal plains average 515
millimetres (20
in) of rain per annum, while mountain areas can average as much as 1,500 millimetres (60 in) per annum. Summer, which lasts from November to February, is warm and dry. The Peninsula gets frequent strong winds from the south-east, known locally as the
Cape Doctor, because it blows away pollution and cleans the air. The south-easterly wind is caused by a
high-pressure system which sits in the
South Atlantic to the west of Cape Town, known as the South-Atlantic High. Summer temperatures are mild, with an average maximum of 26 °C (79 °F).
Cape Town's local government is the
City of Cape Town, which is a
metropolitan municipality. Cape Town is governed by a 210-member
city council, which reports to a 28-member executive council. The executive council, in turn, is presided over by a city manager and an executive mayor. The city is divided into 105 electoral wards; each ward directly elects one member of the council, whilst the other 105 councillors are elected by a
party-list proportional representation system. The
mayor is chosen by the city council.
The current mayor is
Helen Zille of the
Democratic Alliance. In the most recent
local government elections, the Democratic Alliance was the largest single party with 90 of the 210 seats on the council, ahead of the
African National Congress's 81 seats, but with no party holding a majority. A subsequent by-election has increased the DA's seats to 91.
Before the unification of Cape Town's local government into the so-called "Unicity", it was divided into six regional "Administrations"; many functions of the Unicity are still divided according to the old Administrations. The administrations include
Cape Town, which has the regions of
City Bowl, the Atlantic Seaboard, the southern suburbs,
Pinelands,
Langa and
Mitchell's Plain.
The South Peninsula includes
Hout Bay,
Wynberg,
Constantia,
Fish Hoek,
Kommetjie,
Noordhoek and
Simon's Town. The
Blaauwberg region includes
Milnerton,
Tableview, and
Bloubergstrand.
Tygerberg has its own region, with
Durbanville,
Bellville, and
Khayelitsha added to it.
Oostenberg includes
Kraaifontein,
Brackenfell,
Kuilsrivier,
Blue Downs, and
Eerste Rivier. The last administration,
Helderberg, includes
Somerset West,
Strand, and
Gordon's Bay.
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Geographical distribution of home languages in Cape Town |
According to the
South African National Census of 2001, the population of Cape Town is 2,893,251 people. There are 759,767 formal households, of which 87.4 percent have a flush or chemical
toilet, and 94.4 percent have
refuse removed by the municipality at least once a week. 80.1 percent of households use
electricity as the main source of energy. 16.1 percent of households are headed by one person.
people account for 48.13 percent of the population, followed by
Black Africans at 31 percent,
Whites at 18.75 percent, and
Asians at 1.43 percent. 46.6 percent of the population is under the age of 24, whilst 5 percent are over the age of 65. The median age in the city is 26 years old, and for every 100 females, there are 92.4 males. 19.4 percent of city residents are
unemployed; 58.3 percent of the unemployed are black, 38.1 percent are Coloured, 3.1 percent are White and 0.5 percent are Asian.
41.4 percent of Cape Town residents speak
Afrikaans at home, 28.7 percent speak
Xhosa, 27.9 percent speak
English, 0.7 percent speak
Sesotho, 0.3 percent speak
Zulu, 0.1 percent speak
Setswana and 0.7 percent of the population speaks a non-official language at home. 76.6 percent of residents are
Christian, 10.7 percent have no religion, 9.7 percent are
Muslim, 0.5 percent are
Jewish and 0.2 percent are
Hindu. 2.3 percent have other or undetermined beliefs.
4.2 percent of residents aged 20 and over have received no
schooling; 11.8 percent have had some
primary school; 7.1 percent have completed only primary school; 38.9 percent have had some
high school education; 25.4 percent have finished only high school and 12.6 percent have an education higher than the high school level. Overall, 38.0 percent of residents have completed high school. The median annual income of working adults aged 15-65 is
ZAR 25 774. Males have a median annual income of ZAR 28 406 versus ZAR 22 265 for females.
Cape Town is the economic centre of the Western Cape and serves as the regional manufacturing centre. It is also has the primary harbour and airport in the Western Cape. The large government presence in the city, both as the capital of the Western Cape and the seat of the National
Parliament, has led to increased revenue and growth in industries that serve the government. Cape Town hosts many
conferences, particularly in the new
Cape Town International Convention Centre, which opened in June 2003. The city has recently enjoyed a booming real estate and
construction market, with many people buying summer homes in the city as well as relocating there permanently. The
central business district is under an extensive urban renewal programme, with numerous new buildings and renovations taking place under the guidance of the
Cape Town Partnership.
High school attendance rates and the city's well-established higher education infrastructure have helped Cape Town to attract foreign investors, as there are more people with internationally recognised certification and diplomas.
The Western Cape also generates a quarter of the South African agricultural sector's total gross income and more than half of South Africa's exports. Much of the
produce is handled through the
Port of Cape Town or
Cape Town International Airport. Most major ship-building companies have offices and manufacturing locations in Cape Town.
The Province is also a centre of energy development for the country, with the existing
Koeberg nuclear power station providing energy for the majority of Cape Town's needs. Recently, scientists have discovered
oil and
natural gas off of the coast in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Western Cape is an important tourist region in South Africa; the tourism industry accounts for 9.8 percent of the
GDP of the province and employs 9.6 percent of the province's workforce. In 2004, over 1.5 million international tourists visited the area.
Cape Town is one of the most popular
tourist destinations in South Africa due to its good climate, natural setting, and relatively well-developed infrastructure.
[ ] The city has several well-known natural features that attract tourists, most notably
Table Mountain , which forms the majority of
Table Mountain National Park and is the back end of the
City Bowl. Reaching the top of the mountain can be achieved either by hiking up, or by taking the
Table Mountain Cableway.
Cape Point is recognised as the dramatic headland at the end of the
Cape Peninsula.
Many tourists also drive along
Chapman's Peak Drive, a narrow road that links
Noordhoek with
Hout Bay, for the views of the Atlantic Ocean and nearby mountains. It is possible to either drive or hike up
Signal Hill for closer views of the City Bowl and Table Mountain.
Many tourists also visit
Cape Town's beaches, which are popular with local residents. Due to the city's unique geography, it is possible to visit several different beaches in the same day, each with a different setting and atmosphere. Beaches located on the Atlantic Coast tend to have very cold water as the water is mostly
glacial melt from
Antarctica. The water at
False Bay beaches is often warmer by up to 10°C (18°F).
Both coasts are equally popular, although the beaches in affluent
Clifton and elsewhere on the Atlantic Coast are better developed with restaurants and cafés.
The most famous beach in Cape Town,
Boulders Beach, is known for its colony of
African penguins.
is also popular and the city hosts the
Red Bull Big Wave Africa surfing competition every year.
The city also has several notable cultural attractions. The
Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the
docks of the
Port of Cape Town, is now one of the city's most popular shopping venues, with several hundred shops and the
Two Oceans Aquarium.
Part of the V&A's charm, as it is locally known, is that the Port continues to operate and visitors can watch ships enter and leave. The V&A also hosts the Nelson Mandela Gateway, through which
ferries depart for
Robben Island.
It is possible to take a ferry from the V&A to
Hout Bay,
Simon's Town and the
Cape Fur Seal colonies on Seal and Duiker Islands. Several companies offer tours of the
Cape Flats, a mostly Coloured
township, and
Khayelitsha, a mostly black township.
Cape Town is also noted for its architectural heritage, with the highest density of
Cape Dutch style buildings in the world. Cape Dutch style, which combines the architectural traditions of France, the Netherlands, and
Germany, is most visible in
Constantia, the old government buildings in the Central Business District, and along
Long Street.
The annual
Cape Town Minstrel Carnival, also known by its
Afrikaans name of
Kaapse Klopse, is a large
minstrel festival held annually on
January 2 or "Tweede Nuwe Jaar" (Afrikaans: Second New Year). Competing teams of minstrels parade in brightly coloured costumes, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The
Artscape Theatre Centre is the main performing arts venue in Cape Town.
Cape Town's transport system links it to the rest of South Africa; it serves as the gateway to other destinations within the province. The
Cape Winelands and in particular the towns of
Stellenbosch,
Paarl and
Franschhoek are popular day trips from the city for sightseeing and
wine tasting.
is popular amongst tourists:
Southern Right Whales can be found off the coast during the breeding season (August to November) and
Bryde's Whales can be seen any time of the year.
The nearby town of
Hermanus is known for its Whale Festival, but whales can also be seen in False Bay.
s are endemic to the area and can be seen from the coast north of Cape Town;
dusky dolphins live along the same coast and can occasionally be seen from the ferry to Robben Island.
Several newspapers, magazines and
printing facilities have their offices in the city.
Independent News and Media publishes the major
English language papers in the city, the
Cape Argus and the
Cape Times.
Naspers, the largest media conglomerate in South Africa, publishes
Die Burger, the major Afrikaans language paper.
[ ]Cape Town has many local community newspapers. Some of the largest community newspapers in English are the
Athlone News from
Athlone, the
Atlantic Sun, the
Constantiaberg Bulletin from
Constantiaberg, the
City Vision from
Bellville, the
False Bay Echo from
False Bay, the
Helderberg Sun from
Helderberg, the
Plainsman from Michells Plain, the
Sentinel News from Hout Bay, the
Southern Mail from the Southern Peninsula, the
Southern Suburbs Tatler from the
Southern Suburbs,
Table Talk from Table View and
Tygertalk from Tygervalley/Durbanville. Afrikaans language community newspapers include the
Landbou-Burger and the
Tygerburger.
Vukani, based in the
Cape Flats, is published in
Xhosa.
[ ]Cape Town is also a centre for broadcast media and has several
radio stations that only broadcast within the city.
Good Hope FM (94-97
MHz FM) and
KFM (94.5 MHz FM) mostly play
pop music, while Fine Music Radio (101.3 FM) plays fine
classical music and
jazz. Heart FM (104.9 MHz FM),the former P4 Radio, plays Jazz and R&B. Bush Radio is a community radio station (89.5
MHz FM). The
Voice of the Cape (95.8 MHz FM) and
Cape Talk (567
kHz MW) are the major
talk radio stations in the city.
Cape Town also has it's own internet magazine,
CapeTownMagazine.com.
Cape Town's most popular sports by participation are
cricket,
association football,
swimming, and
rugby.
The
Stormers represent
Western Province and
Boland in the
Southern Hemisphere's
Super 14 rugby union competition. Cape Town is the home of the
Western Province Rugby Union, who play at
Newlands Stadium and compete in the
Currie Cup. Cape Town also regularly hosts the national team, the
Springboks, and hosted matches during the
1995 Rugby World Cup, including a semi-final.
Football, which is better known as
soccer in South Africa, is also popular. Two
clubs from Cape Town play in the
Premier Soccer League (PSL), South Africa's premier league. These teams are
Ajax Cape Town, which formed as a result of the 1999 amalgamation of the
Seven Stars and the
Cape Town Spurs; and
Santos. Cape Town will also be the location of several of the matches of the
FIFA 2010 World Cup, which is to be held in South Africa.
In cricket, the
Cape Cobras represent Cape Town at the
Newlands Cricket Ground. The team is the result of an amalgamation of the
Western Province Cricket and
Boland Cricket teams. They take part in the
Supersport and
Standard Bank Cup Series.
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The N2, also known as the Eastern Boulevard, as it enters the City Bowl and ends in the Central Business District |
;Air
Cape Town International Airport serves both domestic and international flights. It is the second-largest airport in South Africa and serves as a major gateway for travellers to the Cape region. Cape Town has direct flights to most cities in South Africa as well as a number of international destinations.
As of June 2006, Cape Town International Airport is being upgraded to handle an expected increase in air traffic as tourism numbers will increase in the lead-up to the
2010 FIFA World Cup.
The renovations include several large new parking garages, a revamped domestic departure terminal and a new international terminal. The airport's cargo facilities are also being expanded and several large empty lots are being developed into
office space and hotels.
;SeaCape Town has a long tradition as a port city. The city's main
port is located in
Table Bay directly to the north of the central business district. The port is a hub for ships in the southern Atlantic: it is located along one of the busiest shipping corridors in the world. The
Port of Cape Town is also a busy container port, second in South Africa only to
Durban. In 2004, it handled 3,161 ships and 9.2 million tonnes of
cargo.
on the
False Bay coast of the
Cape Peninsula is the main base of the
South African Navy.
;Rail
The
Shosholoza Meyl is the passenger rail operations of
Spoornet and operates two long-distance passenger rail services from Cape Town: a daily service to and from
Johannesburg via
Kimberley and a weekly service to and from
Durban via
Kimberley,
Bloemfontein and
Pietermaritzburg. These trains terminate at
Cape Town Railway Station and make a brief stop at
Bellville. Cape Town is also one terminus of the luxury tourist-oriented
Blue Train.
Metrorail operates a
commuter rail service in Cape Town and the surrounding area. The Metrorail network consists of 96 stations throughout the suburbs and outskirts of Cape Town.
;Road
Three
national roads start in Cape Town: the
N1 which links Cape Town with
Bloemfontein,
Johannesburg,
Pretoria and
Zimbabwe; the
N2 which links Cape Town with
Port Elizabeth,
East London and
Durban; and the
N7 which links Cape Town with the
Northern Cape Province and
Namibia. The N1 and N2 both start in the Central Business District, and split to the east of the CBD, with the N1 continuing to the north east and the N2 heading south east past
Cape Town International Airport. The N7 starts in
Mitchells Plain and runs north, intersecting with the N1 and the N2 before leaving the city.
Cape Town also has a system of
freeway and
dual carriageway M-roads, which connect different parts of the city. The
M3 splits from the N2 and runs to the south along the eastern slopes of
Table Mountain, connecting the City Bowl with
Muizenberg. The
M5 splits from the N1 further east than the M3, and links the Cape Flats to the CBD. The
R300, which is informally known as the
Cape Flats Freeway, links
Mitchells Plain with
Bellville, the N1 and the N2.
;Buses
Golden Arrow Bus Services operates scheduled bus services throughout the Cape Town metropolitan area. Several companies run long-distance bus services from Cape Town to the other cities in South Africa.
;TaxisCape Town has two kinds of taxis:
metered taxis and
minibus taxis. Unlike many cities, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the city to solicit fares and instead must be called to a specific location.
Minibus taxis are the standard form of transport for the majority of the population who cannot afford private vehicles.
Although essential, these taxis are often poorly maintained and are frequently not road-worthy. These taxis make frequent unscheduled stops to pick up passengers, which causes accidents when drivers to the rear are unable to stop in time.
With the high demand for transport by the working class of South Africa, minibus taxis are often filled over their legal passenger allowance, making for high casualty rates when minibuses are involved in accidents. Minibuses are generally owned and operated in fleets, and inter-operator violence flares up from time to time, especially as
turf wars occur over lucrative taxi routes.
Cape Town has a well-developed
higher education system of
public universities. Cape Town is served by two public universities: the
University of Cape Town (UCT) and the
University of the Western Cape (UWC).
Stellenbosch University, while not in the city itself, is 50 kilometres from the City Bowl and has additional campuses, such as the Tygerberg Faculty of Health Sciences and the Bellville Business Park closer to the City.
Both the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University are leading universities in South Africa. This is due in large part to substantial financial contributions made to these institutions by both the public and private sector.
Since the
African National Congress has come into governmental power, some restructuring of Western Cape universities has taken place and as such, traditionally non-white universities have seen increased financing, which has benefitted the University of the Western Cape.
The public
Cape Peninsula University of Technology was formed on
January 1,
2005, when two separate institutions"
Cape Technikon and
Peninsula Technikon" were merged together. The new university offers education primarily in
English, although one may take courses in any of South Africa's official languages. The institution generally awards the
National Diploma.
Government
* Official website of the City of Cape Town
* Cape Gateway, official website of Western Cape Province
;News
* Independent Online
** Cape Argus
** Cape Times
* Die Burger
;Other
* Official Western Cape and Cape Town tourism guide
* CapeInfo.com - Comprehensive information on Cape Town
* Cape Town Travel Guide
* CyberCapeTown.com Cape Town's information guide & tourism portal
* CapeTownMagazine.com - Cape Town's Internet magazine & Newsletter
