Cape Town InformationBasic facts about the Mother CityRead all the basic facts in my Cape Town Information Guide: Cape Town, also called Kaapstad (Afrikaans) or iKapa (Xhosa), lies at the southwestern tip of South Africa on the Cape Peninsula and is the capital of the province Western Cape. The Western Cape Province is one of the nine provinces of the Republic of South Africa and can be compared in size with the size of England. The City Bowl, which is Cape Town's business district, has got a picturesque setting on the Cape Peninsula as it is framed by the Table Mountain range to the South, the Atlantic Ocean to the West and the Indian Ocean to the South East. Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa, with the National Parliament located next to the Company Gardens. From January to June the National Parliament meets in Cape Town, the second half of the year it moves to Tswane (Pretoria).
Click here to see my Cape Town photos
Mother City or Tavern of the Seas are the nicknames of the city whose motto is "Bona Spes" (Latin: Good Hope). The Mother is City is South Africas oldest city and was founded in 1652 when the Dutch East India Company established here the first settlement in Southern Africa. Cape Town is with Johannesburg the biggest transport hub in Southern Africa with an International Airport which receives a huge upgrade this year and the Cape Town port is very popular along the busiest trade route in the world with its working harbour. The port also has got the second biggest container port in Southern Africa. The city will be hosting several soccer matches for the FIFA world cup 2010 in the newly constructed
Greenpoint Stadium.
Geography Location: 33S 18E, same latitude with Santiago/Chile and Perth or Newcastle/Australia Third biggest city in South Africa after Johannesburg and Durban Highest point: Table Mountain at 1,063m above sea level
Click here for my Cape Town maps Population 3.5 millions in Cape Town Metropolitan area (5.2 m in the Western Cape) 48% Coloureds, 32% Black Africans, 19% White and 1% Indian/Asian Unemployment: 23,4% Analphabetism: 15%
More info about the population of South Africa and its ethnic groups
Main LanguagesAfrikaans 41%, Xhosa 29%, English 28%
More info about languages in South Africa: official languages, home languages and more.
Government Mayor of Cape Town: Dan Plato (DA) Premier of the Western Cape:
Helen Zille
(DA)
More info about the South African elections in 2009 TimeCape Town's time zone is UTC (Greenwich Mean Time) +2 7 hours ahead of New York/USA 2 hours ahead of London/UK 1 hour ahead from Germany/France/EU 7 hours behind Perth/Australia There is no daylight savings time in South Africa, but beware of the other countries changing in March and October CurrencySouth African Rand (ZAR). 1 Rand has got 100 Cents.
More info about the South African currency
Public HolidaysBanks, government offices and smaller stores will be closed on public holidays, while the bigger supermarkets or shopping centres will keep their usual sunday opening hours.Please click for detailed tables with the public holidays in South Africa and the school holidays. Electricity220/230V AC (you will need adapters for American appliances). South African plugs have tree round pins.Cape Town Information: Telephone country code: 0027 for South Africa city code: 021 for Cape Town residential or business number: seven digits Useful Cape Town information: You always have to dial 021+7 digit telephone number (even within Cape Town itself). So even to ring your neighbor you have to include the city code. Calling a cell phone (hand phone) number you will have to simply dial the 10digit cell number: e.g. 0712345678 To dial from South Africa outside to other countrys, you simply dial your country code starting 00 e.g. for England: 00+44 or Germany 00+49 There are payphones all around Cape Town, but you will need Calling Cards, which you can buy at supermarkets. Cape Town Information: WeatherCape Town has got a Mediterranean climate with four definite seasons. There are no winter frosts in the Cape Town area.
Read more about Cape Town weather and weather forecast
Cape Town Information: Emergency Numbers For all emergencies: 107 Calls from Cell phones: 021 480 7700
Cape Town information: Other important emergency numbers to remember
Interested in more South Africa Facts? Then go to my page about the South Africa Flag and the other South African National Symbols. This interesting information will come within a special Cape Town context. Enjoy reading :-)
Interesting Facts regarding the South African National Symbols
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