Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape
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Port Elizabeth (Afrikaans: Port Elizabeth; Xhosa: Ibhayi) is a city in South Africa, situated in the Eastern Cape Province, at . The city is located on Algoa Bay, and is one of the major seaports in South Africa.
Port Elizabeth is just south of the expanding Addo Elephant National Park, and boasts the highly successful Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, formed in 2005 by the merger of the University of Port Elizabeth, PE Technicon and the city’s branch of Vista University.
Since 1998, Port Elizabeth has been in a friendship partnership with the Swedish City of Gothenburg, fostering development of common fields of interest such as solid waste management, public libraries, sport and tourism.
In 2000 Port Elizabeth became the sixth sister city to Jacksonville, Florida.
The furthest death attributed to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami occurred on 26 December 2004 at Blue Horizon Beach, outside Port Elizabeth, 8,000 km (5,000 miles) away from the source of the earthquake that caused the giant wave.
History
Port Elizabeth, often shortened to "PE", and nicknamed "The Friendly City" or "The Windy City", was founded in 1820 by Sir Rufane Donkin, the Acting Governor of the Cape Colony, and populated with 4,000 British settlers arriving by sea. The new seaport town was named after Donkin's late wife, Elizabeth. (It was not named for Elizabeth I as is sometimes mistakenly believed). The British built a concentration camp here during the Second Boer War to house Boer women and children.In 2001, the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (NMMM), was formed, an administrative area covering Port Elizabeth, the neighbouring towns of Uitenhage and Despatch and the surrounding agricultural areas. This metropolitan area has a population of 1.5 million.
Port Elizabeth, Despatch and Uitenhage is now known as Nelson Mandela Bay.
Trade and Industry
Home of South Africa's motor vehicle industry, Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage host General Motors, Volkswagen, Ford, Continental Tires and many more automotive companies. Most other industries in the NMMM are geared towards the motor vehicle industry, providing parts such as wiring harnesses, catalytic converters and tires to the vehicle manufacturers.Transport
Port Elizabeth Airport (IATA airport code PLZ, ICAO airport code FAPE) serves the city, but is not an international airport. International visitors to the city, one of South Africa's major tourist venues, must fly to either Johannesburg or Cape Town and then take a domestic flight to PE. In preparation for the World cup 2010 the runway is being extended with a view to accomodating international flights.
Progress Aerodrome, a smaller facility, is mostly used by civilians and student pilots as a training and recreational facility.
Construction of a second seaport is underway and will increase the count to two in the near future. The newer international harbour, Coega, will support an increase in the size of the city's industries and the addition of new industries.
PE lies on the N2 road which runs from Cape Town to Durban roughly following the coast. It also lies on the country’s railway network.
Sport
The city has a wealth of fine sporting facilities, catering for association football (soccer), rugby, cricket, hockey and many other sports. It’s coastal location also makes it a base for many watersports.PE is the location of the St George’s Park cricket ground, which holds test cricket matches. Its official name is now Sahara Oval St George's.
World Cup 2010
Port Elizabeth has planned the 50,000-seat Port Elizabeth Stadium for the 2010 Football World Cup which will be hosted in South Africa. The local training venues are to be:- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University stadium (formerly University of Port Elizabeth)
- EPRFU Stadium
- Adcock Stadium
- Dan Qeqe Stadium
- Zwide Stadium
- Wolfson Stadium
Attractions and Tourism
The Donkin Reserve was created in honour of Sir Rufane Donkin's wife, Elizabeth, after whom the city is named. It is a park on a hill overlooking the central district of the city and the waterfront and contains a lighthouse and a small stone pyramid. The latter bears a touching inscription which reads "To the memory of one of the most perfect of human beings who has given her name to the Town below.". The Lighthouse was built in 1861 and is now used as the city’s tourist information office.Fort Frederick was built from stone in 1799 by British troops to protect against a possible landing of French Troops. The fort is named after Frederick, the Duke of York. It was originally armed with two eight pound guns and has a guardhouse and powder magazine.
The Horse Memorial was erected to honour the many horses and mules which died during the Second Boer War between 1899 and 1902.
Many of these wonderful attractions can be seen whilst taking a 5 km stroll along the Donkin Heritage Trail which makes its way through the city centre.
The city also boasts many more modern attractions, as well as markets selling items from tourist souvenirs to food and local craftwork.
The city is due to undergo a facelift, with the current harbour, surrounding waterfront and historic city centre being upgraded before the 2010 Football World Cup in a way expected to make them a rival for the popular Cape Town waterfront. The city is one of the venues for World Cup games, and many more visitors are expected to come to the city.
There are calls for Port Elizabeth Airport to be upgraded to an international airport, to ease the journey time and effort of tourists wishing to visit the city.
Visit [ http://www.nmbt.co.za] for the official tourism website for Nelson Mandela Bay Metro which incorporates Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage & Despatch. There you will find a comprehensive guide to the sites and attractions of Port Elizabeth and a comprehensive database of accommodation in Port Elizabeth.
Demographics
As of the census of 2001, there are 1,005,776 people and 260,798 households residing in Port Elizabeth. The racial makeup of the city is Black African 58.90%, Coloured 23.48%, Indian/Asian 1.12%, and White 16.51%.15.3% of all households are made up of individuals. The average household size is 3.86.
In the city the population is spread out with 26.2% under the age of 15, 20.2% from 15 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 16.5% from 45 to 64, and 5.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 26 years. For every 100 females there are 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.3 males.
In the city 29.7% of residents speak Afrikaans at home, 12.1% speak English, 0.1% speak IsiNdebele, 57.3% speak IsiXhosa, 0.1% speak IsiZulu, 0.1% speak Sepedi, 0.3% speak Sesotho, 0.0% speak Setswana, 0.0% speak SiSwati, 0.0% speak Tshivenda, and 0.0% speak Xitsonga. 0.2% of the population speaks a non-official language at home.
89.4% of residents are Christian, 6.1% have no religion, 1.5% are Muslim, 0.4% are Jewish, and 0.3% are Hindu. 2.3% have other or undetermined beliefs.
6.7% of residents aged 20 and over have received no schooling, 13.0% have had some primary school, 7.5% have completed only primary school, 39.6% have had some high school education, 24.4% have finished only high school, and 8.7% have an education higher than the high school level. Overall, 33.1% of residents have completed high school.
52.0% of housing units have a telephone and/or cell-phone in the dwelling, 44.9% have access to a phone nearby, and 3.2% have access that is not nearby or no access. 79.5% of households have a flush or chemical toilet. 86.1% have refuse removed by the municipality at least once a week and 3.1% have no rubbish disposal. 46.7% have running water inside their dwelling, 79.7% have running water on their property, and 98.7% have access to running water. 65.0% of households use electricity for cooking, 59.5% for heating, and 75.0% for lighting. 73.1% of households have a radio, 67.8% have a television, 11.8% own a computer, 61.8% have a refrigerator, and 31.7% have a cell-phone.
28.2% of the population aged 15-65 is unemployed. Of the unemployed persons, 78.5% are Black African, 18.7% are Coloured, 0.4% are Indian/Asian, and 2.4% are White. 37.2% of Black Africans are unemployed, 23.5% of Coloureds, 9.8% of Indians/Asians, and 4.0% of Whites.
The median annual income of working adults aged 15-65 is R 21 837 ($3,282). Males have a median annual income of R 25 056 ($3,766) versus R 18 241 ($2,743) for females. The median annual income by race is R 12 808 ($1,925) for Black Africans, R 20 182 ($3,033) for Coloureds, R 44 065 ($6,623) for Indians/Asians, and R 56 909 ($8,554) for Whites. The annual income distribution in Port Elizabeth is:
- No income 2.2%
- R 12 – R 4,800 ($2 - $721) 8.3%
- R 4,812 – R 9,600 ($723 - $1,443) 13.8%
- R 9,612 – R 19,200 ($1,445 – $2,886) 22.8%
- R 19,212 – R 38,400 ($2,888 - $5,772) 21.2%
- R 38,412 – R 76,800 ($5,774 - $11,543) 17.7%
- R 76,812 – R 153,600 ($11,545 - $23,087) 9.5%
- R 153,612 – R 307,200 ($23,089 - $46,174) 3.1%
- R 307,212 – R 614,400 ($46,176 - $92,348) 0.8%
- R 614,412 or more ($92,350+) 0.6%
External links
- [Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality]
- [Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality (Port Elizabeth)]
- [Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism] Official Tourism Body: Accommodation and Attractions.
- [Port Elizabeth on MeetSOUTHAFRICA.COM]- Photo's of Port Elizabeth and tourism information
- [MyPE] - where Port Elizabethans share information
- [Port Elizabeth’s entry in the 1911 encyclopedia]
- [Sunday Times article on creation of Nelson Mandela
- [Calabash Tours] - Township Tours Port Elizabeth
- * Mapping from [Multimap] or [GlobalGuide]
- * Aerial image from [TerraServer]
- * Satellite image from [WikiMapia] or [Google Maps]
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