Difference between revisions of "Cape Town" - New World Encyclopedia
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[[Image:FacadeStellenbosch.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A typical Cape Dutch styled house in [[Stellenbosch]]]] | [[Image:FacadeStellenbosch.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A typical Cape Dutch styled house in [[Stellenbosch]]]] | ||
[[Image:Cape Town International Convention Centre.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The main entrance to the [[Cape Town International Convention Centre]]]] | [[Image:Cape Town International Convention Centre.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The main entrance to the [[Cape Town International Convention Centre]]]] | ||
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[[Image:Cape Town Station, Interior 1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The interior of [[Cape Town Railway Station]]]] | [[Image:Cape Town Station, Interior 1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The interior of [[Cape Town Railway Station]]]] | ||
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The '''Castle of Good Hope''' is a [[star fort]] which was built on the original coastline of [[Table Bay]]. Built by the [[Dutch East India Company|VOC]] between 1666 and 1679, the Castle is the oldest building in South Africa. It replaced an older [[fort]] made out of [[clay]] and [[timber]] that was built in 1652 by [[Jan van Riebeeck]] upon his arrival | The '''Castle of Good Hope''' is a [[star fort]] which was built on the original coastline of [[Table Bay]]. Built by the [[Dutch East India Company|VOC]] between 1666 and 1679, the Castle is the oldest building in South Africa. It replaced an older [[fort]] made out of [[clay]] and [[timber]] that was built in 1652 by [[Jan van Riebeeck]] upon his arrival | ||
Revision as of 22:09, 16 August 2008
| Cape Town Kaapstad Template:Af icon iKapa (Xhosa) |
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| Nickname: The Mother City, or The Tavern of the Seas | |||
| Motto: Spes Bona (Latin for "Good Hope") | |||
| Location of the Metropolitan Municipality of Cape Town in Western Cape Province | |||
  Cape Town |
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| Coordinates: 33°55′S 18°25′E | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Country | South Africa | ||
| Province | Western Cape Province | ||
| Municipality | City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality | ||
| Founded | 1652 | ||
| Government [1] | |||
| - Type | City council | ||
| - Mayor | Helen Zille | ||
| - City manager | Achmat Ebrahim | ||
| Area [2] | |||
| - Total | 2,454.72 km² (947.8 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2007)[3] | |||
| - Total | 3,497,097 | ||
| - Density | 1,425/km² (3,690.7/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | SAST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 8000 | ||
| Area code(s) | +27 (0)21 | ||
| Website: http://www.capetown.gov.za/ | |||
Cape Town (Afrikaans: Kaapstad; Xhosa: iKapa) is the second most populous city in South Africa. 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. Famous for its harbour, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point, Cape Town is one of the most popular South African destinations for tourism.
Cape Town was originally developed as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East more than 200 years before the Suez Canal opened in 1869. Jan van Riebeeck's arrival in 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose, and became the largest city in South Africa, until overtaken by Johannesburg.
Geography
The centre of Cape Town is located at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, about 30 miles (50km) north of the Cape of Good Hope. Table Mountain forms a dramatic backdrop to the city bowl, with its plateau over 3300 feet (1000 meters) 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 colloquially known as the "tablecloth".
Cape Town's land area is 948 square miles (2455 square kilometers).
The peninsula consists of a dramatic mountainous spine jutting southwards into the Atlantic Ocean, ending at Cape Point. There are over 70 peaks above 1000 feet (300 meters) (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 Flats lie on what is known as a rising marine plain, consisting mostly of sandy geology which shows that at one point Table Mountain itself was an island. Elevation
The Cape Peninsula has a Mediterranean climate with well-defined seasons. In winter, which lasts from May to September, large cold fronts come across from the Atlantic Ocean with heavy precipitation and strong north-westerly winds. Summer, which lasts from November to March, 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 only times when Cape Town can be uncomfortably hot is when the Berg Wind, meaning "mountain wind" blows from the Karoo interior for a couple weeks in February or early March. Temperatures in July range from 48°F to 63°F (9°C to 17°C), and in January 61°F to 79°F (16°C to 26°C). Mean annual precipitation is 24 inches (600mm).
Environmental issues involve water. The lack of important arterial rivers or lakes requires extensive water conservation and control.
History
The first known inhabitants of the Western Cape area arrived around 100,000 B.C.E. These were Stone Age hunter-gatherers who used stone tools and fire. They survived the Ice Age, when water levels were around 120 metres lower than their current levels and the Cape was covered in forests due to increased humidity. Fossils from around 8000 B.C.E. indicate that by that period the inhabitants of the region had developed bows and arrows which they used to hunt. Nearly 6000 years later, a large migration of tribes further inland brought the inhabitants of the Cape into contact with skilled agriculturalists, prompting them to grow crops.
The first Europeans to discover the Cape were the Portuguese, with Bartholomeu Dias arriving in 1486 after journeying south along the east coast of Africa. The next recorded European sighting of the Cape was by Vasco da Gama in 1497 while he was searching for a route that would lead directly from Europe to Asia. Table Mountain was given its name in 1503 by Antonio da Saldanha, a Portuguese admiral and explorer. He called it Taboa da caba ("table of the cape"). The original name given to the mountain by the first Khoi inhabitants was Hoeri 'kwaggo ("sea mountain"). The Khoi people were herders, hunters, and gatherers.
The area did not have regular contact with Europeans until April 6, 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck and other employees of the Dutch East India Company 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 labour. This labour shortage prompted the city to import slaves from Indonesia and Madagascar. Many of these became ancestors of the first Cape Coloured communities. The Dutch called the indigenous Khoi people "Hottentots".
During the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the Netherlands was repeatedly occupied by France, and Great Britain moved to take control of Dutch colonies. Britain captured Cape Town in 1795, but the Cape was returned to the Netherlands by treaty in 1803. British forces occupied the Cape again in 1806. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Cape Town was permanently ceded to Britain. It became the capital of the newly formed Cape Colony, whose territory expanded very substantially through the 1800s.
The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West in 1869, and the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in 1886, prompted a flood of immigrants to South Africa. Conflicts between the Boer republics in the interior and the British colonial government resulted in the Second Boer War of 1899-1901. Britain won the war. In 1910, Britain established the Union of South Africa, which unified the Cape Colony with the two defeated Boer Republics and the British colony of Natal. Cape Town became the legislative capital of the Union, and later of the Republic of South Africa.
In the 1948 elections, the National Party won on a racial segregation platform known as apartheid. This led to the Group Areas Act, which classified all areas according to race. Formerly multi-racial suburbs of Cape Town were either purged of unlawful residents or demolished. The most infamous example of this in Cape Town was District Six. After it was declared a whites-only region in 1965, all housing there was demolished and over 60,000 residents were forcibly removed. Many of these residents were relocated to the Cape Flats and Lavendar Hill. Under apartheid, the Cape was considered a "Coloured labour preference area", to the exclusion of "Bantus" (blacks).
Cape Town was home to many leaders of the anti-apartheid movement. On Robben Island, a penitentiary island about six miles (10km) out to sea from the city, many famous political prisoners were held for years. In one of the most famous moments marking the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech in decades on February 11, 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 April 27, 1994.
Nobel Square in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront features statues of South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize winners - Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela. Since 1994, the city has struggled with problems such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, a surge in violent drug-related crime and more recent xenophobic violence, 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.
Government
South Africa is a republic in which the president is both the chief of state and head of government, and is elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term. The bicameral Parliament consists of the National Assembly of 400 members, elected by popular vote under a system of proportional representation to serve five-year terms, and the National Council of Provinces of 90 seats, with 10 members elected by each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms.
Cape Town is a metropolitan municipality 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, while the other 105 councillors are elected by a party-list proportional representation system. The mayor is chosen by the city council.
Helen Zille of the Democratic Alliance was named mayor after the 2006 local government elections, when the Democratic Alliance was the largest single party with 90 of the 210 seats on the council, ahead of the African National Congress which took 81 seats, but with no party holding a majority. The Independent Democrats led by Patricia de Lille initially took 23 seats.
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, which include Cape Town, The South Peninsula, the Blaauwberg region, Tygerberg, Oostenberg, and Helderberg.
After the unification, 16 subcouncils were formed which were increased to the present 23. Subcouncils are consist of geographically clustered wards with proportional councillors assigned to them and led by a subcouncil chairman who is elected by a majority vote of each subcouncil.
Economy
South Africa is a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors. Cape Town is the economic centre of the Western Cape, serves as the regional manufacturing centre, has the primary harbour and airport in the area, and has a large government presence in the city, both as the capital of the Western Cape and the seat of the National Parliament.
Cape Town has four major commercial nodes, with Cape Town Central Business District containing the majority of job opportunities and office space. Century City, the Bellville/TygerValley strip and Claremont commercial nodes are well established and contain many offices and corporate headquarters as well. Most companies headquartered in the city are insurance companies, retail groups, publishers, design houses, fashion designers, shipping companies, petrochemical companies, architects and advertising agencies.
Cape Town has a petroleum refinery, as well as chemical, fertilizer, cement, and automobile-assembly factories. Other industries involve ship repair, food processing, wine making and the manufacture of clothing, plastics, and leather goods.
Koeberg nuclear power station provides most electricity for Cape Town, which also has a coal-fired power station and two gas turbines. Oil and natural gas was discovered off the coast in the Atlantic Ocean. The city’s water comes from dams on Table Mountain and Steenbras, as well as from Riviersonderend, Voëlvlei, and Wemmershoek.
Cape Town is the most popular tourist destination in South Africa due to its good climate, natural setting, and relatively well-developed infrastructure. The city has several natural features that attract tourists, most notably Table Mountain, the dramatic headland at the end of the Cape Peninsula, Chapman's Peak Drive, Cape Town's beaches, as well as several notable cultural attractions. Tourism accounts for 9.8 percent of the GDP of the province and employs 9.6 percent of the province's workforce. Approximately 1.5 million tourists visited in Cape Town during 2004, bringing in a total of $US1.27-billion in revenue.
The median annual income of working adults aged 20–65 was $US3289 (South African rand 25,774. Males have a median annual income of ZAR 28 406 versus ZAR 22 265 for females. South Africa's per capita GDP was estimated at $US9800 in 2007.
The Western Cape 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.
The Port of Cape Town 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. It 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. Simon's Town Harbour on the False Bay coast of the Cape Peninsula is the main base of the South African Navy.
Cape Town International Airport serves both domestic and international flights, and is the second-largest airport in South Africa. As of June 2006, the airport was 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 Shosholoza Meyl is the passenger rail operations of Spoornet and operates two long-distance passenger rail services from Cape Town. 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.
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. Cape Town also has a system of freeway and dual carriageway M-roads.
Bus services operate throughout Cape Town, as do two kinds of taxis: metered taxis and minibus taxis, which are often poorly maintained, and make frequent unscheduled stops to pick up passengers, which can cause accidents.
Demographics
The city had a population of 3,497,097 in 2007, and was listed as the 113th most-populous metropolitan area in the world, equal with San Diego in the United States. With a land area of 948 square miles (2455 square kilometers) Cape Town had population density of 3689 people per square mile (1425 per square kilometre). In 2001, there were 759,767 formal households, of which 80.1 percent used electricity as the main source of energy, 87.4 percent had a flush or chemical toilet, 94.4 percent had refuse removed at least once a week, and 16.1 percent were headed by one person.
Coloured people, who are mostly from British and Zulu heritage, 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. With a relatively young population, 46.6 percent is under the age of 24, while five 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.
The majority of Cape Town residents (41.4 percent) speak Afrikaans at home, 28.7 percent speak Xhosa, 27.9 percent speak English, 0.7 percent speak Sotho, 0.3 percent speak Zulu, 0.1 percent speak Tswana and 0.7 percent of the population speaks a non-official language at home.
The city is predominantly Christian (76.6 percent). 10.7 percent have no religion, 9.7 percent are Muslim, 0.5 percent are Jewish, 0.2 percent are Hindu, and 2.3 percent have other or undetermined beliefs.
Overall, 38 percent of residents aged 20 and over have completed high school, 4.2 percent of residents 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.
Public primary and secondary schools in Cape Town are run by the Western Cape Education Department. This provincial department is divided into seven districts; four of these are "Metropole" districts – Metropole Central, North, South, and East – which cover various areas of the city. There are also many private schools, both religious and secular, in Cape Town.
Cape Town is served by three public universities: the University of Cape Town, the University of the Western Cape and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. 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. The University of Cape Town is an English speaking institution, which has over 9000 students and has an MBA programme that is ranked 51st by the Financial Times in 2006.
Of interest
The Castle of Good Hope is a star fort which was built on the original coastline of Table Bay. Built by the VOC between 1666 and 1679, the Castle is the oldest building in South Africa. It replaced an older fort made out of clay and timber that was built in 1652 by Jan van Riebeeck upon his arrival
Cape Town is 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 the Netherlands, Germany and France, 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 most popular sports by participation are cricket, association football, swimming, and rugby union. Cape Town has hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, and World Championships in various sports such as athletics, fencing, weightlifting, hockey, cycling, canoeing, gymnastics and others. Cape Town is also a host to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in 2010, further enhancing its profile as a major events city.
Looking to the future
Although Cape Town’s economy has surged to unprecedented levels due to the boom in the tourism and the real estate industries, daunting economic problems remain. Nearly 20 percent of Cape Town residents are unemployed, and of these 58.3 percent of the are black, and 38.1 percent are coloured.
The lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups is linked to the poor uptake of education — 38.9 percent of residents aged 20 and over have only had some high school education.
But more fundamentally, prosperity is likely to increase once the city deals with violent drug-related crime, reduces the homicide rate from one of the highest rates in the world, and wins the struggle against tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS.
Notes
- ↑ Pollack, Martin (2006-05-31). Achmat Ebrahim is the new city manager of Cape Town. City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
- ↑ Municipal Demarcation Board, South Africa Retrieved on 2008-03-23.
- ↑ Statistics South Africa, Community Survey, 2007, Basic Results Municipalities (pdf-file) Retrieved on 2008-03-23.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Field, Sean, Renate Meyer, and Felicity Swanson. 2007. Imagining the city: memories and cultures in Cape Town. Cape Town: HSRC Press. ISBN 9780796921796
- Hammer, J., and P.-A. Pettersson. 2008. "Inside Cape Town". SMITHSONIAN. 39 (1): 56-67. ISSN 0037-7333
- Johannes, Calvin P. E. 2002. The history of the black townships and squattercamps of Cape Town. Cape Town: Southern Tip Tours. OCLC 51778873
- McDonald, David A. 2008. World city syndrome: neoliberalism and inequality in Cape Town. Routledge studies in human geography, 18. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415958578
External links
- Official website of the City of Cape Town
- Cape Gateway, official website of Western Cape Province
- Travel guide to Cape Town from Wikitravel
- Official Cape Town Tourism website
- Cape Town Information Centre
- Cape Town Travel Guide
- Cape Town photographs
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