Durban is the third largest city in South Africa, of importance as an industrial center and above all as a port. Thanks to its subtropical climate, its long beaches, the warm water of the Indian Ocean and an excellent infrastructure it can also claim to be South Africa's pleasure capital; and with more than 2 million
visitors every year it is the country's leading holiday resort. The city owes its cosmopolitan air, however, not so much to its visitors as to the ethnic variety of its population. Almost half the inhabitants are Asians, mainly Indians, and about 200,000 are white. Under the apartheid regime most of the black population was relegated to the townships surrounding the city.
Durban is a modern city with wide streets, tall office and apartment blocks and many parks and gardens. Only a few old Victorian buildings survive amid newer developments. The "liveliest city in the country", Durban is well worth seeing, but if you are thinking of staying in this area you should be aware that the seafront is one long succession of hotels and that the parks and places of entertainment are almost always crowded: for a quieter and more restful stay the seaside resorts north and south of the city are to be preferred.
On Christmas Day in 1497 Vasco da Gama discovered the bay which he called Port Natal ("Christmas" in Portuguese); but the first settlement here was established only in 1823 by a few British traders. Although it lay in Zulu tribal territory the Zulus accepted its existence as a place for trade, mainly in ivory. The settlement developed, and the town was officially founded in 1835 and named after the then Governor of the Cape, Sir Benjamin D'Urban.
The first voortrekkers reached the area in 1837 and founded Pietermaritzburg, 80km/50 mi northwest of Durban. This further white intrusion gave rise to increasing Zulu resistance, and there were bloody massacres, in the course of which Durban was abandoned. After their victory over the Zulus at Blood River (December 16th 1838) the Boers established the first voortrekker republic of Natal, of which Durban was a part. This provoked British resistance. A British force was defeated in the battle of Congella in 1842 and then besieged in their fort (the Old Fort in Durban) for a month; but they were saved by the arrival of reinforcements brought in by Richard King in an adventurous 600-mile ride from Grahamstown. The voortrekkers were defeated and withdrew to the north, settling in what is now the Orange Free State and the Transvaal.
In May 1843 Natal was incorporated in the Cape Colony, and thereafter Durban prospered.
In 1860 the first Indians arrived, brought in as contract laborers to make good the shortage of manpower to work the rapidly expanding sugar plantations. Their numbers grew rapidly, and by 1883 there were more than 30,000 Indians in Natal, many of whom remained in the country after their contracts expired. Among the immigrants was Mahatma Gandhi, a young lawyer who arrived in 1893 and for 21 years fought for the rights of the Indian minority in South Africa.
The first railroad line in South Africa, between Durban and Cape Point, was opened in 1860.
A good starting-point for a walking tour of the city is the "Golden Mile", the coastal boulevard (now with traffic-calming measures). The liveliest spot is at the junction of West Street with Marine Parade. The main shopping and business streets are West Street and Smith Street, parallel one-way streets running east-west. They lead to the Indian business quarter round Gray and Victoria Streets, on the west side of the city (about 2.5km/11.5mi from the seafront).
Erskine Parade, the southward continuation of Marine Parade, leads to the Point district, the old harbor quarter on the north side of the port, which is bounded on the south side by the promontory known as the Bluff.
To the northwest, on the slopes of Berea Hill, is the elegant suburb of Berea, and to the west the poor district of Pinetown.
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