Cape Town
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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 April 6, 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.
According to the 2001 Census, the city has a population of 2.9 million. Cape Town's land area of 2,499 km² is larger than other South African cities, resulting in a comparatively lower population density of 1,158 people per km². Cape Town is twinned with Nice, France.
History
The first known people of the Western Cape area arrived from the north around 100,000 BC [[Citing sources citation needed]]. 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 Bartholomew Diaz 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, thus forcing the importing of 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 three years later, and lasted until 1814 with a British victory. As a result of the British victory, 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 gold and diamonds on the Witwatersrand 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 two Anglo-Boer Wars. After the British won both wars and acquired control of the gold and diamond industries, they unified the Cape Colony with the South African Republic, Natalia, and the Orange Free State to form the Union of South Africa, which was proclaimed in 1910 with Cape Town as its legislative capital.
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 famous 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 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 elections was held four years later, on April 27, 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.#redirect [[Template:Fact]] At the same time, the economy has surged to unprecedented levels due to the boom in the tourism and the real estate industries.
Geography and climate
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 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 1000 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 mm (20 in) of rain per annum, while mountain areas can average as much as 1500 mm (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).
Government
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.
Demographics
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.
Coloured 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.
Economy
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.
Tourism
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. 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. Surfing 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 higest 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. Whale watching 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. Heaviside's dolphins 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.
Communications and media
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. 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.
Sports teams and stadia
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.
Transport
- Air
As of June 2006, Cape Town International Airport is being upgraded to handle an expected increase in air traffic as tourism numbers 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.
- Sea
Simon's Town Harbour on the False Bay coast of the Cape Peninsula is the main base of the South African Navy.
- Rail
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
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
- Taxis
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.
Universities
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.
References
External links
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